Strauss & co - November 2018

Cover (detail) Lot 319 Alexis Preller Apple II signed and dated ‘69, intaglio, oil on fibreglass, 90 by 79,5 by 12 cm R4 000 000 – 5 000 000 Strauss & Co is proud to announce its largest-ever live auction by value, with estimates for the 12 November sale in Johannesburg exceeding R80 million. The astonishing range and depth of work on offer – notably by key twentieth-century artists like Maggie Laubser, JH Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Irma Stern – is confirmed by the fact that 26 lots on this sale carry estimates of R1 million, or more. In the decade since its first auction in 2009, Strauss & Co has established the pre-eminence of quality paintings at market. Irma Stern’s 1941 portrait of a Mary Cramer, a sister of the artist’s confidante, Freda Feldman, carries the sale’s highest estimates, and is valued at R5 - 7 million. The sale features 11 Stern lots, ranging from a fine selection of her travel and society portraits in oil and gouache, to her exuberant still lifes in oil. JH Pierneef has 17 works on sale. Best known for his expertly choreographed South African scenes, including Farm Jonkershoek with Twin Peaks Beyond, Stellenbosch , which sold for R20.46 million at a 2017 Strauss & Co sale achieving a world record for the artist, the forthcoming sale features two stylised landscapes from his travels depicting the Seychelles and Dar es Salam. The sale also includes two exceptional casein landscapes, works that distil Pierneef’s genius talent for rendering place. Pierneef and Stern are Strauss & Co’s top-selling artists, followed by Alexis Preller. In 2010, Strauss & Co registered the first upswing in value of Preller’s work when it sold The Flower King , a late-period metaphorical portrait from 1970, for R 2.89 million. Preller has five works on sale in Johannesburg, including Apple II , a late-career intaglio with painted hollow that was produced in 1969 (estimate R4 - 5 million). Two years ago, Strauss & Co successfully brought a number of important Prellers to market, some owned by prominent collector Walter Hardebeck. We are privileged to be offering five important oils by pioneering expressionist Maggie Laubser fromThe Estate of a Gentleman. The impeccable consignment includes her study of labour, Harvesters inWheatfield (estimate R2 - 3 million), which features on the cover of Dalene Marais’catalogue raisonné on the artist and forms an important part of our offering of nine Laubser lots. The sale of these outstanding works is preceded by a session dedicated to under-recognised historical artists. Titled An Unsung History , the session offers collectors an expansive view of South African art history at a time of growing international interest in South African art. Based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, Strauss & Co is a global leader for South African art. It holds five live sales annually, including one sale that is solely devoted to contemporary art. Strauss & Co has sold nine of the ten most expensive paintings ever auctioned in South Africa. Exceptional paintings by singular artists underpin Strauss & Co’s landmark sale 2