Stella Steyn (1907-1987), Vase of Flowers

A vase of flowers - or more precisely, flowering twigs of what could be a crab-apple -  off-centre and in the characteristically hazy, muted hues of Steyn's still life paintings.

Stella Steyn (1907-1987) is an interesting figure in the Irish art world. She studied at the Metropolitan Art School (now the National College of Art and Design), and subsequently, like many Irish modernists, in Paris. In the early 1930s she spent one year as a student in the Bauhaus - the only Irish person to have studied there. Artists such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky were amongst her tutors. In Paris she was part of the circle of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, who commissioned her to illustrate the first (serialised) edition of Finnegans Wake. Her work was exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (1927-30), Royal Academy, London (1952-59), as well as individual works in multiple galleries around the world.

In a New York Times article of 1929 she was hailed as  on of the 'leading Irish figures of Modern Art' alongside Paul Henry, Harry Clarke and Sean Keating. She exhibited in London withe Leicester Galleries, the Tate Gallery and the Royal Academy.She died in London in 1987.

Oil on canvas. 51x41cm excluding frame and mount. Studio sale stamp on reverse