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Portrait of Steyn by Patrick Tuohy

Stella Steyn

Early life & family

Stella Steyn is an Irish artist and designer. She was born on the 26^th of December 1907. She was born in Dublin and is the daughter of William Steyn (a dentist) and Bertha Steyn (née Jaffe). In the 1870s, the families of Steyn and Jaffe both emigrated from Russia to Limerick. In 1890, William Steyn and Bertha Jaffe met and married. They married in Limerick after they emigrated to Ireland. Stella Steyn was the youngest of four children; the eldest, Henry, who followed in his father's footsteps and became a dentist. Arthur, the second oldest, became a doctor. Stella’s sister Mabel married Michael Noyk, who was a solicitor to Michael Collins.

Steyn’s education started at Alexandra College, Dublin, Ireland. She was enrolled at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art in 1924, when she was only 16 years old. In 1926, Steyn travelled to Paris, at the age of 18. She travelled along with her mother and fellow artist Hilda Roberts. Allowing her to attend the Académie Scandinave and La Grande Chaumière. Her teacher was Patrick Tuohy, who majorly influenced and encouraged her to go on the visit to Paris. She split her time between Paris and Dublin between the years 1926 and 1931. Steyn received an introduction letter to James Joyce from Tuohy. She continued and became friendly with Joyce and his family. Steyn and Lucia, who was Joyce’s daughter, became friendly. This relationship was encouraged by Joyce.

In 1929, Joyce introduced Steyn’s work to Sylvia Beach, who asked her to illustrate some of his work. Consequently, she created illustrations for a serialised edition of Finnegans Wake that debuted in the quarterly magazine Transition in instalments, starting in the autumn of 1929.

In the early 1930s, Steyn travelled to Germany. She enrolled herself at the Bauhaus in Dessau in July 1931. The Bauhaus was then led by the influential architect Mies Van Der Rohe. Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee were two teachers whom Steyn relied on. It is said that her time at the Bauhaus had a significant impact on her artistic approach.