![Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, ‘Baobabs’, signed and dated 52, oil on board [detail]. Photo © Strauss & Co](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/4bf6036a-a7e5-4ed9-bc63-e7df5665153a_Cover.jpg?auto=format,compress)
From 11 to 13 April, hundreds of lots across various departments and collecting categories are going under the hammer at South African auction house Strauss & Co. But first, before we dive in and explore some of these exquisite lots, an interview. Members of the Strauss & Co team kindly sat down with Barnebys and shared their views on the ever-changing world of art buying. Here is their insight.
Barnebys: 2020 proved a year of change for a lot of businesses. How did you adapt to cope with the circumstances surrounding the pandemic?
Strauss & Co: We were very lucky to have a well-established Strauss & Co Online brand before lockdown hit South Africa, so I think we have weathered the COVID-19 storm better than many other businesses. Our first ‘Online Only’ auction was held in 2013 and, since then, we have conducted 42 Online Only auctions. We have grabbed not only the challenges but also the opportunities of rethinking and reshaping the Strauss & Co auctions in the ‘new normal’ in which we find ourselves.
In the past few months, as time-honoured routines have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, Strauss & Co made the decision to fast track the in-house auctioneering platform and pivot to a hybrid model of virtual, live online selling and marketing. We expanded into a multi-location, live virtual auction format and, in the middle of lockdown, we were able to hold a sale with the minimum of staff in the auction venue, and the majority selling safely from home. These processes liberated us from what we were so used to doing! This strategic move has significantly grown our client base, both nationally and internationally. Art collectors have effortlessly made the transition to digital with us, using the mandatory slowdown to look at available options and engage virtually.
In what way do you think the pandemic (with lockdowns and restrictions) is shaping the world of the secondary art market?
Interestingly, the global auction calendar with a ‘normal’ auction in one room, in one location and with one auctioneer, has been transformed irrevocably. The pandemic has provided an opportunity for rethinking and reshaping how we work and this has been a positive development for the secondary market. Bringing an auctioneer into your home virtually makes the whole process more accessible, and broadening the reach to a much wider audience means that buyers and sellers are no longer defined by location or availability.
It is a privilege to see more and more people accessing and exploring the secondary market.
What was the biggest highlight of 2020?
In our May 2020 auction, lot 585, an Irma Stern oil on canvas, Still Life with Lilies, dating from 1947, sold for R 14 794 000 (£725,200). Stern has been the top selling South African artist for years and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.
What are you most excited for in 2021? Any particular lots you have coming up for sale?
We have our first virtual, live auction in two weeks’ time. It's a good start to the year with this incredible Pierneef for sale!
With this, we dive into Strauss & Co’s forthcoming auction, a live sale of modern, post-war and contemporary art, decorative arts, jewellery and fine wine, to be held over three days from 11 to 13 April.
This sale, the company’s first marquee live event for 2021, includes an important and historical collection of art assembled over half a century by the Cape Wine Growers Association (KWV), as well as two important collections of Chinese porcelain and a producer-themed sale of wines from three legendary Cape estates. A transcendent Jacob Hendrik Pierneef landscape, dominated by baobab trees, leads the selection.
“Our four marquee live sales are important calendar events for collectors, as this is when Strauss & Co reveals its premium offerings and presents its single-owner properties,” says Strauss & Co joint managing director Bina Genovese.
“The catalogue for the April sale is no exception. The painting selection is bracketed by two important historical landscapes by Thomas Bowler and a selection of graphics by contemporary masters of the form, Mr Brainwash and Banksy. The live sale will integrate various bidding options, from commission to telephone, online and in-person bidding, to ensure effortless transacting and personal well-being.”
Started in 1958, the KWV Collection features post-war paintings rooted in the Cape region, in its landscapes, people and industries. The consignment to Strauss & Co includes The Origin of Wine/The Epic of Gilgamesh, an elaborate panel piece commissioned by KWV from Cecil Skotnes. The work narrates the history of wine and its arrival in South Africa, and marked a pivotal moment in the artist’s later career. The collection also includes Cecil Skotnes table settings, most notably Stillewe met Bottels/Still life with Bottles and Wyn wat die Meuse-hart Verheug.
Oil paintings by Thomas Bowler are exceedingly rare with only twelve examples known to be in existence. Strauss & Co is offering two Bowler oils consigned by Metropolitan Life: the undated maritime scene Arrival of the East Indiaman, St. Lawrence in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and a bay scene of Port Elizabeth made circa 1861. Both works have excellent provenance and exhibition histories.
Two works by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef are featured in the sale. Painted in 1952, Baobabs is a strong example of Pierneef’s ornamental, late style of depicting the northern landscapes of South Africa. Consigned by the same seller, a 1906 still life executed in charcoal and pencil reveals Pierneef’s solid grounding in the academic tradition.
Another notable highlight of the sale is Maggie Laubser’s Shepherd and Sheep. Executed in 1924 when Laubser returned from Europe to her family farm, it represents one of numerous paintings of Ou Booi, the bushman who was the shepherd on the farm sporting his trademark outfit.
On the contemporary side, Esther Mahlangu’s 2014 canvas Abstract records her commitment to a culturally resonant hard-edged abstraction. Mustafa Maluka’s two canvases, They have got to Hate what they Fear from 2008 and You Say you Know how we Feel from 2007, are large, colourful, bold portraits of street smarts.
Like the paintings on offer, the sculpture offering also spans generations. Anton van Wouw’s Slegte Nuus (Bad News) was conceived in 1907, during a hot streak of creativity, and movingly portrays two crestfallen Boer soldiers. Dylan Lewis is best known for his large cat bronzes. Resting Cheetah III S224 dates from 2004 and is from a small edition of only 12 bronzes.
Following on a successful run of themed fine wine sales, Strauss & Co’s wine department will present a producer-focused sale devoted to De Toren Private Cellar, Meerlust Estate and Mullineux Family Wines. Tracing its history back to 1991, De Toren is undergoing a transformation under Swiss-based CEO Daniel Mueller. The De Toren list for the April sale focuses on the winemaker’s celebrated Bordeaux blends: the maiden vintage of their Fusion V (1999), the ultra-luxurious and widely feted Book XVII (2012), handcrafted, limited-run Fusion V Directors Reserve (2009).
The decorative arts department is presenting historical Cape and contemporary international furniture, fine jewellery, silver and two exceptional collections of Chinese porcelain. The marquee live sale will commence on Sunday 11 April, with a session devoted to the three Cape wine producers and it will conclude on Tuesday 13 April. The sale will be live streamed to bidders from two sales venues in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
