Latest news with #Strauss&Co
Daily Maverick
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Art for South Africa: The Mimi Coertse Collection
Mimi Coertse, famed opera singer, is universally known as 'The Voice for South Africa', a title she earned in the 1950s, 60s and 70s when she indefatigably sang the most famous soprano roles on international opera house stages, defying the global cultural boycott against South Africa at the time. Few know that she was also an avid art collector. Her voice exemplified the misfortunes of many well-known female roles in the best-loved operas: the perturbation of Lucia; the despair of Norma; the sorrow of Konstanze; the dirge of Violetta. All these and many more captured audiences all over the world. She sang in no fewer than 29 operas in her lifetime, on world stages in Austria – her favourite, the Viennese Opera House – Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Spain, England, France, Hungary and the United States. Small wonder that Mimi's taste in art reflects a proclivity for women artists: Cecil Higgs, Irma Stern, Maud Sumner, and Marjorie Wallace, certainly her favourites. The Sumner, the jewel in the crown of her art collection, dating from the artist's most fruitful sojourn in Paris in the 1930s, 40s, and early 50s, depicts Sumner's typical subject matter of the time: intimate interiors with a model surrounded by an abundant flower still-life on the table in front of her. Other notables in the Mimi Coertse collection include such artists as Walter Battiss, Carl Büchner, W.H. Coetzer, and Maurice van Essche. After Mimi's permanent return to South Africa in the 1970s, her 'Voice' contributed in a significant way to the building of a new South Africa. She knew Nelson Mandela well and was honoured by the ANC. Even though her music room in Waterkloof, Pretoria was burned down by cowardly white racists, she initiated various projects that promoted opportunities especially for singers of other races in the country. Her involvement with Afrikaans literature is also legendary. A true icon with an iconic art collection. A true icon with an iconic art collection, Mimi Coertse's legacy continues to resonate across the arts. The upcoming sale of her collection forms part of a larger celebration of South African creativity and is preceded by Contemporary South African Ceramics: New Perspectives, an auction that spotlights innovation and craftsmanship in the country's rich ceramic traditions. DM Upcoming Events Johannesburg Preview Weekend Strauss & Co, 89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg Join Strauss & Co specialists for a walkabout and preview of the upcoming Johannesburg Auctions of Modern and Contemporary Art & Contemporary South Africa Ceramics. Saturday, 19 July 2025 – RSVP Sunday, 20 July 2025 – RSVP Live Virtual Auctions Watch the auctions in person at Strauss & Co in Johannesburg or online. Strauss & Co, 89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 2pm Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 7pm
The Citizen
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Parkwood exhibition breathes new life into a classic genre
A fresh new art exhibition: Still Life: A Contemporary Arrangement, was unveiled today at the Blue House in Parkwood. Presented by David Krut Projects, the show features 14 South African artists who give a modern twist to the traditional still life. Read more: Strauss & Co invites residents to their latest exhibition Open for the next four weeks until early August, the exhibition invites viewers to see everyday objects differently. Through paint, print, and mixed media, artists share personal stories and explore memory, identity, and reflection. Well-known names like William Kentridge and Deborah Bell are featured, alongside emerging artists such as Boemo Diale and Stephen Langa, offering a mix of styles and voices. Curator Amé Bell says: 'Still life is more than just a quiet moment; it's a space for reflection and creativity. This show shows how objects can speak… If we're willing to listen.' Artist Maja Maljević adds: 'Sometimes a flower is just a flower, but in art it can mean so much more.' One standout piece comes from Adele van Heerden, who painted her friend's bathtub as a place of calm and stillness. 'At home, we look for quiet moments. The bath becomes a space to pause and breathe.' Her work gently shows this space, complete with soft light, plants, and even a curious dog. Other artists include Peter Cohan, Bronwyn Findlay, Heidi Fourie, Heike Jeske, Roxy Kaczmarek, Phumulani Ntuli, Nina Torr, and Anna van der Ploeg. Each bringing their own view to what still life can be today. Visitors are encouraged to take their time and look closely. There's something quiet and thoughtful waiting to be found in every corner. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts!
Daily Maverick
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
The Engen Collection: Mapping South African Art Through Corporate Patronage
Artworks unseen for over four decades come to market for the first time. CAPE TOWN — Strauss & Co is pleased to present ' The Engen Collection ', a corporate collection that highlights a crucial chapter in South African art history. The collection will be offered through a LIVE VIRTUAL auction taking place on June 24th at 2 pm. 'The Engen Collection', initially put together as the Mobil collection in the early 1980s, brings to market a selection of works from a broader archive of over two hundred artworks, offering insights into the networks, pedagogies and creative resistances that shaped South African abstract art in the early 1980s. It comprises paintings, tapestries, works on paper and photographs representing a significant corporate investment in South African contemporary art during a period of intense cultural and political transformation. The collection engages with a moment when South African artists were developing visual languages that could operate across the cultural and artistic boundaries. These artists, including Bill Ainslie, Simon Stone, Gabriel Tsolo, Judith Mason, Andrew Verster, Pippa Skotnes and Gail Altschuler, documented individual artistic development alongside the collective creation of alternative artistic practice. Highlights include large-scale tapestries by Andrew Verster — notably Tapestry of Landscape with Trees and Bushes, a hand-woven mohair tapestry on offer with its study, a collage on paper (R 300 000 – R500 000). A writer of short stories, articles and radio plays, Verster worked across varying media, including tapestries and etched glass, and is known for his bold use of colour. The sale also features Kevin Atkinson's works, including the large-scale diptych Abstract Sunset (R 100 000 – R150 000). An artist and educator often described as ahead of his time, Atkinson worked experimentally across conceptual art, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Another highlight is Nel Erasmus, who has always been fascinated by how abstract shapes and forms might depict movement. Erasmus's early work, mainly depicting lamps, captured the movement of light emitted from a central source that fills the whole picture plane. Later, she was inspired by French artist Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) and depicted horses in full gallop. Aquatic Action (estimate R 10 000 – R15 000) is a work on paper that highlights ideas through colour and a sense of flux. Erasmus was a member of the Wits Group, together with Esmé Berman, Christo Coetzee, Larry Scully, Cecil Skotnes, and Gordon Vorster. She studied at the École de Beaux Arts in Paris in 1953 as well as at the Académie Ranson, under Gustave Singier in 1960. She was Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery from 1964 until her retirement in 1977. The sale traces the intellectual and artistic genealogy of artists working within and against the constraints of the 80s, many of whom were influenced by the South African artist, teacher and activist Bill Ainslie and the Johannesburg Art Foundation (JAF), an institution that maintained inclusivity. Founded in 1982, the JAF operated as an educational anomaly, rejecting prescribed curricula and external authority in favour of emancipatory and experimental pedagogy. Under Ainslie's direction, the Foundation fostered abstract expressionism, an art movement whose rejection of traditional representational art prioritised non-objective imagery to evoke emotion. This language and method, seen in Ainslee's Abstract Composition in Four Colours: Green, White, Black and Yellow (estimate R 80 000 – R120 000) and Jenny Stadler's Fence (estimate R 50 000 – R70 000), were employed by artists as a non-confrontational language through which to explore their ideas. The connections of the institution extended beyond the JAF itself, linking to the establishment of FUBA (Federated Union of Black Artists) and the Thupelo Workshops in Cape Town, institutions whose impact continues to shape contemporary South African art discourse. The CEO, Mr George Roberts, said, 'The Engen Collection represents a broad and vibrant range of South African artists and has been a treasured part of our company's story for many years. As we look to the future, we believe it is time for these remarkable artworks to find new homes where they can continue to be appreciated, shared, and celebrated. We believe that by releasing this collection, the artworks will find new life amongst a wider community, while inspiring new audiences by continuing to tell the story of South Africa's creative spirit.' This Live Virtual sale marks the first time many of these works have been seen publicly in over four decades, having remained within the corporate collection since acquisition. The release of this time capsule of incredible artworks makes them accessible to collectors worldwide. The sale enables an examination of artistic relationships and their historical significance. DM Upcoming Events: Saturday, 21 June 2025 Family Day: Island of Imagination at 10am Fooking Around: No Man is an Island at 11am Saturday Walkabout at 2pm Sunday, 22 June 2025 Corporate Collecting at 11am Tuesday, 24 June 2025 Pre-Auction Sundowners at 6pm Preview Days: Thursday 12 to Monday 30 June 2025, 9am to 5pm Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June 2025, by appointment only Closed 16 June 2025 Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June 2025, 10am to 4pm Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June 2025, by appointment only
The South African
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The South African
Andy Warhol, Irma Stern headline latest art auction: Estimated selling prices
Two giants of 20th-century art, Andy Warhol and Irma Stern, lead the catalogue for Strauss & Co's upcoming live-virtual auction of modern and contemporary art, to be held on Tuesday, 24 June in Cape Town. The 70-lot sale brings together a compelling selection of established names and emerging voices, including high-value works by William Kentridge, Erik Laubscher and Alexis Preller, alongside two floral still lifes by in-demand painter Vladimir Tretchikoff. 'The cover lot for our winter sale is Andy Warhol's Vesuvius (estimate R1.2–1.5 million / $67 650-84 560) , a striking screenprint depicting the famed Italian volcano near Naples,' says Elmarie van Straaten, Head of Sale at Strauss & Co. 'Created in 1985, this late work reflects Warhol's deepening engagement with themes of mortality and legacy. 'Combining beauty, violence and repetition, the piece stands as a powerful meditation on the anxieties of modern life. 'Although by no means a regular in our auctions, Strauss & Co have an excellent track record handling his work, with 87% of lots offered finding new homes.' A highlight from the South African selection is Irma Stern's Still Life with Lemons (estimate R2-3 million / $112 750-169 125), painted in 1954 during a period of remarkable creative energy. Then aged 60, Stern was widely regarded as 'an indefatigable ambassador of South African art,' and undertook extensive travels to the Belgian Congo, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and Turkey. As with much of her still life work, this composition reflects on the quiet harmony between the cultivated and the organic, the human and the natural. The post-war period saw the rise of numerous South African modernists, among them Alexis Preller and Vladimir Tretchikoff. The sale features Preller's Christ Head (estimate R2-4 million / $112 750–225 445), a fragmented devotional image, as well as two botanicals by Tretchikoff. Strauss & Co established the current world record for Tretchikoff following the May 2025 sale of Lady from the Orient for R31 million / $1.735 million. Other notable modernists represented in the sale include Gregoire Boonzaier, Pranas Domsaitis, Alfred Krenz, Maggie Laubser, Hugo Naudé, Frans Oerder and JEA Volschenk. A sense of the catalogue's range is evident in works such as 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 Conversation in the Street (estimate R150 000–200 000 / $8 450–11 270), and Sydney Kumalo's drawing Reclining Figure (estimate R30 000–50 000 / $1 690–2 819). South Africa's re-entry into the global art scene in 1994 catalysed the international recognition of artists such as David Goldblatt and William Kentridge. This auction includes four of Goldblatt's photographs, among them his famous 1985 portrait of 15-year-old Lawrence Matjee (estimate R50 000–70 000 / $2 819–3 945), taken after his detention by security police. Kentridge is represented by two major works: the politically charged 1988 print Art in a State of Siege (100 Years of Easy Living) (estimate R300 000–400 000 / $16 910–22 555), and Untitled (Man with Globe), a 2010 bronze (estimate R350 000–550 000 / $19 735–31 015). The sculpture selection includes pieces by Deborah Bell, Willie Bester, Wilma Cruise, Brett Murray, Angus Taylor and Edoardo Villa, showcasing the vitality of South African three-dimensional practice. Young South African artists continue to command global attention. Athi-Patra Ruga, who appears in Irma Stern's first Berlin museum show next month, has two works in the sale: a photo from 2012 and the provocative 2009 tapestry Konflikt Free Blk Diamond, Teeth are the Only Bone that Show (estimate R150 000–200 000 / $ 8 455–11 270). Other contemporary highlights include Zander Blom's large-scale abstract canvas Untitled [1.495] (estimate R200 000–250 000 / $11 270–14 095) alongside pieces by Patrick Bongoy, Alex Emsley, Anton Karstel, Mongezi Ncaphayi, Cameron Platter, Brett Seiler and Pierre Vermeulen. The sale also debuts painter Philip Barlow. A preview exhibition is currently on view at Brickfield Canvas, 35 Brickfield Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, until 24 June. Pre-auction sundowners will be held on Thursday, 19 June, from 18:00-19:00. The live-virtual auction begins on Tuesday, 24 June at 19:00. For details and the full e-catalogue, visit – 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
The South African
03-06-2025
- Business
- The South African
WATCH as Vladimir Tretchikoff painting smashes world auction record
Strauss & Co set a new world record for Russia-born South African painter Vladimir Tretchikoff with the sale of his 1955 portrait Lady from the Orient for R31 110 000 ($1 731 845 / £1 283 432). The iconic painting was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder after a dramatic flurry of 89 bids, narrowly beating a determined in-room contender at the live auction in Johannesburg. The final price, inclusive of commission and taxes, comfortably eclipses the previous world record for a Tretchikoff work, set at £982 050 in March 2013 at a London auction for Chinese Girl (1952). 'It is always good when there is a murmur before a big lot,' said auctioneer Alastair Meredith as he introduced Lady from the Orient . Bidding opened briskly and quickly escalated. 'We've breached the $1 million mark,' he remarked after accepting a bid of R18 million. The excitement mounted. 'The next bid is R25.2 million, which is something I have never said,' he shortly added. It took nine more bids before the painting found its new owner at new world record price. Cue flurry of applause. Lady from the Orient depicts 21-year-old Valerie Howe, daughter of a Cape Town grocer, and is one of Tretchikoff's most recognisable works. Drawing inspiration from Pre-Raphaelite painting and Golden Age Hollywood glamour, the portrait features Howe in a vivid green silk gown rendered in Vladimir Tretchikoff's signature Technicolor palette. The work belongs to a small group of iconic images produced by the artist during the decade following his move to South Africa in 1946. A print edition of Lady from the Orient became a popular sensation in 1960s Britain. The auction delivered strong results for William Kentridge, George Pemba, JH Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto and Anton van Wouw, affirming robust interest in a cross-section of South African art. The 100-lot sale of modern and contemporary art earned a combined total of over R62.9 million. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
