South African auction house Strauss & Co’s upcoming October sales are dedicated to the very best art and wine and are attracting international interest. Their 11-12 October sale includes a wide range of art from Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art to decorative arts and jewellery. The catalogue includes important artists like Erik Laubscher, Robert Hodgins and Alexis Preller. Additionally, the highly anticipated 10 October wine sale offers never-before-seen vintages from the esteemed trio of Alheit Vineyards, Sadie Family and Vilafonté Wines. The sale catalogue sources wines predominately from the producers’ private cellars, and offers a rare opportunity to purchase the very finest mature South African wines.
One of the highest value lots on auction is this dazzling, mural-like work by post-war artist Alexis Preller. Executed on a large scale, the painting combines highly evocative symbols, blazing colour and surprising patterns. The work reveals Preller’s interest in African mythology, with the central figure shown in profile and sporting an elaborate headpiece, sash across his chest and princely staff. The crocodile, a sacred animal in many southern African cultures, is painted toothless and with beautiful, silvery blue triangles. The work has been exhibited in eminent art institutions around South Africa.
Erik Laubscher is one of South Africa’s most celebrated artists. The painter is known for his abundant colour and energetic, optimistic vigour. This unique double-sided composition hails from his ‘School of Paris’ period, a career moment highly prized by collectors. It reveals a skilled synthesis of French artists: Picasso’s Cubist innovations, Matisse’s opulent colours and Braque’s flattened picture planes. A visual treat, this piece of art history would be a beautiful addition to any collection.
Fine Art isn’t all Strauss & Co have available, with an incredible selection of rare wines coming to auction on 10 October. The wines hail from the leading producers in South Africa, including this lot from Alheit Vineyards. Chriss and Suzanne Alheit are the esteemed and passionate producers behind Alheit Vineyards, singularly focused on producing South Africa’s most profound white wines. They harness grapes from the very best old vineyards across the cape. This lot, Magnetic Vintage, is a single origin Chenin Blanc wine from the legendary ‘Skurfkop’ in the Citrusdal area – the ‘grand cru’ site for Chenin Blanc. Other wines from Alheit Vineyards up for auction include maiden vintages from Huilkrans in the Paardeberg, La Colline in Franschhoek and the extremely rare Radio Lazarus from Stellenbosch.
Another producer featured at the auction is Sadie Family Wines. Eden Sadie is South Africa’s most revered winemaker and he played a major role in elevating the local fine wine production. Over the last two decades his pursuit for quality has been unmatched, and he was voted Winemaker of the Year in 2017 by the International Master of Wine Institute. This wine, Columella, was named after the ancient Roman writer. The limited vertical case of long-ageing, elegant wine was released in 2016 and has scores of up to 96/1000 from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
Another highly sought-after wine is the Series C from Vilafonté. Vilafonté is a high-profile collaboration between the well-known American winemaking team of Zelma Long and Phil Freese and South Africa's Mike Ratcliffe. Meticulous viticulture and modern cellar practices ensured that Vilafonté was at the cutting-edge of fine wine and today Vilafonté is South Africa’s most luxurious red wine brand. The Series C is a serious, structured Cabernet Sauvignon-based luxury wine sure to delight any collector.
![Irma Stern, ‘Three African Women’, signed and dated 1941, oil on canvas [detail]. Photo © Strauss & Co](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/5747598d-fd38-4dd7-9990-2164a7931f80_Cover.jpg?auto=format,compress)