R20m Irma Stern painting a pinboard

Irma Stern's Arab in Black was found in a London flat, covered in letters, postcards and bills. Picture: Supplied by Bonhams.

Irma Stern's Arab in Black was found in a London flat, covered in letters, postcards and bills. Picture: Supplied by Bonhams.

Published Jul 23, 2015

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Cape Town - A painting by South African artist Irma Stern, valued at an estimated R20 million, was being used as a kitchen noticeboard in a London flat.

It has been described as a “fantastic find” by a local art expert.

Imre Lamprecht, head of the art department at Stephan Welz & Co, said the fact that it had such great provenance would add to its value.

In the early 1960s, the painting Arab in Black was put up for auction to raise money for the defence of Nelson Mandela and his co-defendants in their treason trial.

Mandela had been arrested in 1955 on a charge of high treason, which carried the death penalty, and the Treason Trial Defence Fund was set up to raise money for legal fees and to support the defendants’ families.

“Collectors will fork out a lot for this piece,” Lamprecht said on Wednesday. “I know a few who wouldn’t mind having it in their collection.”

The painting was originally owned by art collector, Betty Suzman, whose father, Max Sonnenberg MP, founded Woolworths.

Betty was the sister-in-law of anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman and her daughter is actor and director Janet Suzman.

In a statement, Bonhams said the painting came to Britain in the 1970s when the buyer emigrated to the UK and was subsequently bequeathed to the current owner.

The auction house’s head of South African Art, Hannah O’Leary, discovered the work by chance.

“I was on a routine valuation when I spotted this masterpiece hanging in the kitchen covered in letters, postcards and bills.

“It was an exciting find even before I learnt of its political significance.”

Cape Argus

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