Strauss & Co brings important works by Pierneef, Preller, Stern and Tretchikoff to market in their Modern & Contemporary Art Auction – that is both live and virtual!
Following the brisk resumption of business with successful auctions in February, Strauss & Co is pleased to announce details of its marquee live-virtual auction of modern and contemporary art, fine wine and decorative arts (jewellery, silver and furniture) at its new, modern premises in Woodstock, Cape Town.
Highlights from Cape Town Art Week (26-28 March 2023) include fresh-to-market historical artworks by blue-chip artists Maggie Laubser, J. H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Irma Stern and Vladimir Tretchikoff.
• Irma Stern’s Children Reading the Koran (1939) leads strong catalogue of historical artworks
• High-value works by Alexis Preller, Vladimir Tretchikoff and Pieter Wenning
• Naspers Collection consigns five paintings, including J. H. Pierneef’s serene Red Kloof (1928)
• Stellenberg Collection releases six paintings by moderns Domšaitis, Sumner and Welz
• Strong contemporary offering featuring Deborah Bell, Virginia Chihota, David Goldblatt, William Kentridge, Sethembile Msezane and Diane Victor
• Wine auction to focus on Bordeaux and Cape Bordeaux-style reds
• Decorative arts department to offer 67 lots of jewellery, silver and furniture
Alexis Preller | The Red Blanket | R 5 600 000 – 6 600 000
The premier evening sale on Tuesday, 28 March will include an in-sale focus on South African painters who explored East Africa. Irma Stern’s devotional composition Children Reading the Koran (see photo above, estimate R10 – 11 million), from her 1939 visit to the island of Zanzibar, leads a fine selection of travel paintings by Freida Lock, J. H. Pierneef and Pieter Wenning. The catalogue also includes important historical paintings from two important art collections.
“Strauss & Co is privileged to be handling works from the Naspers Collection and Stellenberg Collection,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Executive, Strauss & Co. “Naspers Limited is a venerable South African company with an impressive holding of art to match its long trading history. We are delighted to present five paintings from the Naspers Collection, including works by Gregoire Boonzaier, Hugo Naudé and Irma Stern. We are particularly thrilled to also be offering J. H. Pierneef’s serene ravine painting Red Kloof [estimate R5 – 7 million], which was produced a mere 13 years after Naspers was founded in 1915.”
Adds Genovese: “The Stellenberg Collection takes its name from a grand Cape Dutch homestead founded in the late 1600s in what is today upper Kenilworth. We are honoured to present six historical paintings by Pranas Domšaitis, Maud Sumner and Jean Welz from the private collection held at this important historical home, the last example of its kind in Cape Town’s central southern suburbs.”
Cape Town Art Week
Cape Town Art Week will commence on Sunday, 26 March with a live-virtual auction of Bordeaux wines and Cape Bordeaux-style reds, and is followed a day later Monday 27th with the conclusion of Monochrome: Modern and Contemporary Art, a themed auction of work that privileges form rather than colour. Lots in this timed-online auction will consecutively close at one-minute intervals starting at 2pm on Monday, 27 March.
On Tuesday, 28 March, at 7pm, Strauss & Co will present a stunning consignment of modern and contemporary artworks in a live-virtual session. Important works on sale include Alexis Preller’s 1955 portrait The Red Blanket (estimate R5.6 – 6.6 million), a stylised rendition of a majestic Mapogga woman, and J. H. Pierneef’s Highveld Landscape, an iconic study from 1945 of a grassy plain framed by distant mountains and dramatic sky (estimate R5 – 7 million).
Free Public Lectures
Education and hospitality are important components of Strauss & Co’s way of conducting business. In the lead up to Cape Town Auction Week, Strauss & Co specialists will present free public lectures.
- Kayleen Wrigley will look at the brilliant legacy of South Africa’s women expressionists on Friday, 24 March 2023, at 10am, and
- Leigh Leyde will offer practical advice on all facets of being an art collector on Saturday, 25 March, at 11am.
- Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss & Co, will conduct a walkabout of the preview exhibition on Sunday, 26 March, at 11am.
WHAT: Strauss & Co – Cape Town Art Week 26-28 March
WHERE: Strauss & Co, Brickfield Canvas, 35 Brickfield Road, Woodstock, Cape Town 7925
WHEN: Cape Town Art Week 26-28 March 2023 |
VIEWING TIMES: Mon 13 to Tues 28 March 2023, 10am to 5pm; Sat 18 and Sun 19 March, closed
INFO: T 021 683 6560 | E ct@straussart.co.za | Visit
