Irma Stern Vladimir Tretchikoff highlight Strauss Cape Town auction

Strauss & Co has introduced particulars of its September auctions of recent and modern artwork, to be held in Cape City from 16 to 18 September 2025.

The three-part programme consists of: a dwell Night Sale of high-value Fashionable and Modern Artwork, an internet Day Sale of Fashionable and Modern artwork and a landmark single-artist on-line public sale dedicated to Andrew Verster.

The premier Night Sale (Tuesday, 16 September at 19:00) is led by two work from the Nineteen Fifties by Irma Stern and Vladimir Tretchikoff.

Painted in his signature blue-green palette, Tretchikoff’s Malay Woman (estimate R4 – R6 million / $226 870 – $340 300) was first proven at Cape City’s Argus Gallery in 1951.

Produced seven years later, Stern’s Fishing Harbour, Algeciras (1958) (estimate R4 – R6 million / $226 870 – $340 300) depicts a Mediterranean harbour scene from the artist’s late-career travels in Spain.

“Collector curiosity in Vladimir Tretchikoff’s work has reached new heights following the sale of his 1955 portrait Woman from the Orient, which achieved R31.9 million / $1.8 million at our Johannesburg public sale in Could,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Government, Strauss & Co.

“We’re delighted to be presenting six work by Tretchikoff in his adopted residence of Cape City, starting from a uncommon self-portrait to a heroic depiction of a Masai man.

“We’re equally proud to showcase works throughout generations, from early trendy masters like Pierneef, Sekoto and Van Wouw, to modern artists comparable to William Kentridge, Pieter Hugo, Nandipha Mntambo and Sam Nhlengethwa. It’s a survey that captures the vitality of South African artwork, previous and current.”

The Night Sale additionally consists of certainly one of Anton van Wouw’s early masterpieces, Leemans, The Postman (estimate R800 000 – R1 million / $45 390 – $56 750), conceived and modelled in 1901, solid at Massa foundry in Italy and first exhibited in Pretoria in 1904.

Different trendy highlights embrace J.H. Pierneef’s Pienaarsrivier (estimate R500 000 – R700 000 / $28 400 – $39 750), Alexis Preller’s The Poet of 1965, an early portray of a favoured topic (estimate R700 000 – R900 000 /$39 750 – $51 045), and two vibrant work by Gerard Sekoto from 1967.

Among the many modern works, a notable spotlight is an untitled William Kentridge drawing of a person studying (estimate R800 000 – R1.2 million / $45 390 – $68 050), certainly one of two items by the artist to his supplier Linda Givon on this sale.

The providing additional consists of Robert Hodgins’ Road Scene from 2001 (estimate R500 000 – R700 000 / $28 400 – $39 750), two pictures from Pieter Hugo’s acclaimed Hyena and Different Males collection from 2005-07, and work by Deborah Bell, Norman Catherine, Nelson Makamo, Blessing Ngobeni, Sam Nhlengethwa and Mikhael Subotzky.

Celebrated Durban painter

The September programme additionally marks a milestone with Andrew Verster: Beautiful and Free (1 – 18 September), the first-ever public sale devoted solely to the celebrated Durban painter, educator and activist Andrew Verster.

Spanning 33 tons, the public sale surveys Verster’s various follow in oil, watercolour, printmaking, tapestry and sculpture. Main the sale is The Expulsion (1987), a four-panel portray featured in Sue Williamson’s seminal e-book Resistance Artwork (1989).

Highlights embrace 5 monumental Verster tapestries from the Engen Assortment, produced in collaboration with Stephens Tapestry Studio for the Louis Karol-designed Mobil Courtroom constructing on Cape City’s Thibault Sq., opened in 1987.