L'Afrique : A Tribute to Maria Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel

ISBN: 9780981418834

David Krut Publishing, 31 December 2009

Hardcover, 122 pages

David Krut Publishing, in collaboration with Natalie Knight, is pleased to announce the publication of l Afrique: A Tribute to Maria Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel, forthcoming in May 2009. l Afrique celebrates the lives and work of two extraordinary personalities, Maria Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel, who produced an important legacy in the field of African and South African art and artefacts. Through the memories of people closest to them and essays by Natalie Knight, Paula Girshick and Nessa Leibhammer, the book traces the lives of Stein-Lessing and Spiegel and records their vital contribution to the study and collecting of African art. Maria Stein-Lessing left Germany in 1933 for London and, after receiving her Doctorate from the University of Bonn, travelled to South Africa in 1936, where she remained until her tragic death in 1961. She is remembered by those close to her as an eccentric person and an outstanding teacher whose wide knowledge and passion for art left an indelible mark on her students and her adopted country. She is especially remembered for her shop l Afrique, which she opened in the 1940s in the city of Johannesburg and which became a vital reference point for students and collectors of African art. Leopold Spiegel, who had come to South Africa from Germany in 1935, shared Stein-Lessing s passion for art and together they travelled around southern Africa collecting objects that they admired. After Stein-Lessing s death, Siegel took enormous care to ensure the preservation of the art and artefacts that he had collected with Stein-Lessing and, through bequests and donations to various collections, made sure that they would live on after his death. l Afrique: A Tribute to Maria Stein-Lessing and Leopold Spiegel accompanies an exhibition at Museum Africa of objects and art from the Stein-Lessing/Spiegel Collection. The exhibition runs from 24 May 2009 to 24 December 2010.