On November 12 leading South African auction house Strauss & Co presents its largest ever live auction by value at The Wanderers Club in Illovo. The mammoth sale includes more than 340 artworks with a total estimate value of over R80 million. Among them are an incredible 26 lots that each carry estimates of more than R1 million.
The record-breaking auction is set to be the biggest live art auction ever held in southern Africa and is bolstered by a bumper collection of masterpieces by some of South Africa’s most important artists including eleven Irma Sterns, seventeen Pierneeefs, nine Maggie Laubsers and five Alexis Prellers.
The auction also includes a special session, the Tribute to Unsung Artists, which focuses exclusively on previously unrecognised 20th Century South African artists who have finally gained wide acclaim as crucial players in South African art history such as Gerard Sekoto, the landscape painter Moses Tladi, African modernist Ernest Mancoba and sculptor Sydney Kumalo.
The entire collection from the November 12 live auction goes on display to the public at The Wanderers Club in Illovo from November 9-11. The pre-auction exhibition is complemented by a programme of free events that include guided walkabouts of the exhibition at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday, a curator’s walkabout of the An Unsung History on Sunday and a family session from 14:00-15:00 on the Saturday which includes special art activities for kids.
For any art lover or collector this latest auction from Strauss & Co is a must see. Here are just some of the biggest highlights to look out for:
