Two giants of Twentieth-century artwork, Andy Warhol and Irma Stern, lead {the catalogue} for Strauss & Co’s upcoming live-virtual public sale of contemporary and up to date artwork, to be held on Tuesday, 24 June in Cape City.
The 70-lot sale brings collectively a compelling collection of established names and rising voices, together with high-value works by William Kentridge, Erik Laubscher and Alexis Preller, alongside two floral nonetheless lifes by in-demand painter Vladimir Tretchikoff.
“The duvet lot for our winter sale is Andy Warhol’s Vesuvius (estimate R1.2–1.5 million / $67 650-84 560), a placing screenprint depicting the famed Italian volcano close to Naples,” says Elmarie van Straaten, Head of Sale at Strauss & Co.
“Created in 1985, this late work displays Warhol’s deepening engagement with themes of mortality and legacy.
“Combining magnificence, violence and repetition, the piece stands as a robust meditation on the anxieties of contemporary life.
“Though in no way a daily in our auctions, Strauss & Co have a wonderful observe report dealing with his work, with 87% of tons supplied discovering new houses.”
A spotlight from the South African choice is Irma Stern’s Nonetheless Life with Lemons (estimate R2-3 million / $112 750-169 125), painted in 1954 throughout a interval of exceptional inventive power.
Then aged 60, Stern was extensively thought to be “an indefatigable ambassador of South African artwork,” and undertook intensive travels to the Belgian Congo, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and Turkey.
As with a lot of her nonetheless life work, this composition displays on the quiet concord between the cultivated and the natural, the human and the pure.
Modernists
The post-war interval noticed the rise of quite a few South African modernists, amongst them Alexis Preller and Vladimir Tretchikoff.
The sale options Preller’s Christ Head (estimate R2-4 million / $112 750–225 445), a fragmented devotional picture, in addition to two botanicals by Tretchikoff.
Strauss & Co established the present world report for Tretchikoff following the Might 2025 sale of Girl from the Orient for R31 million / $1.735 million.
Different notable modernists represented within the sale embody Gregoire Boonzaier, Pranas Domsaitis, Alfred Krenz, Maggie Laubser, Hugo Naudé, Frans Oerder and JEA Volschenk.
A way of {the catalogue}’s vary is clear in works similar to Clement Sénèque’s Dry Dock, Durban (1927,estimate R80 000-120 000 / $4 509–6 760), Erik Laubscher’s Kouebokkeveld (1973, estimate R200 000–300 000 / 11 270–16 910), Gerard Sekoto’s gouache on paper The Dialog within the Road (estimate R150 000–200 000 / $8 450–11 270), and Sydney Kumalo’s drawing Reclining Determine (estimate R30 000–50 000 / $1 690–2 819).
Worldwide recognition
South Africa’s re-entry into the worldwide artwork scene in 1994 catalysed the worldwide recognition of artists similar to David Goldblatt and William Kentridge.
This public sale consists of 4 of Goldblatt’s images, amongst them his well-known 1985 portrait of 15-year-old Lawrence Matjee (estimate R50 000–70 000 / $2 819–3 945), taken after his detention by safety police.
Kentridge is represented by two main works: the politically charged 1988 print Artwork in a State of Siege (100 Years of Straightforward Dwelling) (estimate R300 000–400 000 / $16 910–22 555), and Untitled (Man withGlobe), a 2010 bronze (estimate R350 000–550 000 / $19 735–31 015).
The sculpture choice consists of items by Deborah Bell, Willie Bester, Wilma Cruise, Brett Murray,Angus Taylor and Edoardo Villa, showcasing the vitality of South African three-dimensional observe.
Younger South African artists proceed to command international consideration.
Athi-Patra Ruga, who seems in Irma Stern’s first Berlin museum present subsequent month, has two works within the sale: a photograph from 2012 and the provocative 2009 tapestry Konflikt Free Blk Diamond, Enamel are the Solely Bone that Present (estimate R150 000–200 000 / $ 8 455–11 270).
Different up to date highlights embody Zander Blom’s large-scale summary canvas Untitled [1.495] (estimate R200 000–250 000 / $11 270–14 095) alongside items by Patrick Bongoy, Alex Emsley, Anton Karstel, Mongezi Ncaphayi, Cameron Platter, Brett Seiler and Pierre Vermeulen.
The sale additionally debuts painter Philip Barlow.
A preview exhibition is at the moment on view at Brickfield Canvas, 35 Brickfield Highway, Woodstock,Cape City, till 24 June.
Pre-auction sundowners will probably be held on Thursday, 19 June, from 18:00-19:00.
The live-virtual public sale begins on Tuesday, 24 June at 19:00. For particulars and the complete e-catalogue, go to www.straussart.co.za.
On view
– Thursday, 19 June | 09:00 – 17:00– Friday, 20 June | 09:00 – 17:00– Saturday, 21 June | 09:00 – 16:00– Sunday, 22 June | 09:00 – 16:00– Monday, 23 June | 09:00 – 17:00– Tuesday, 24 June | 09:00 – 19:00
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