Strauss & co - 26 - 28 July 2020, Online

157 365 Alfred Krenz SOUTH AFRICAN 1899–1980 Vase of Magnolias signed and dated 59 oil on canvas 84 by 100 cm R50 000 – 70 000 364 Fermin Aguayo SPANISH 1926-1977 Pastèque (Watermelon) signed with the artist’s initial ‘A’; dated 63 and inscribed with the artist’s name on the reverse; inscribed with the artist’s name, the title and date purchased, ‘December 1966,’on an Avant Garde Pty Ltd label adhered to the reverse oil on canvas 24,5 by 33,5 cm R15 000 – 20 000 363 Alfred Krenz SOUTH AFRICAN 1899–1980 Malay Quarter, Cape Town signed and dated 1981; inscribed with the artist’s name and the title on a Sanlam Art Collection label and another label adhered to the reverse oil on board 50 by 72 cm R30 000 – 50 000 LITERATURE Ellen Davis-Mesman (1998) The Colourful Palette of Alfred Krenz , Cape Town: Ellen Davis-Mesman, illustrated in colour on page 59. What is it about magnolias that so captures the artistic imagination? Over the last 10 years at Strauss & Co, over 20 artworks depicting magnolias have appeared on auction by artists as diverse as Adriaan Boshoff, Irmin Henkel, Otto Klar, Maggie Laubser, Frans Order, and Vladimir Tretchikoff. Magnolias were Irma Stern’s favourite flowers and her numerous still lifes depicting magnolias and fruit or objects from her eclectic collections have achieved some of the highest prices ever paid for South African artworks. Frans Oerder’s painting, Magnolias , was sold to the NewYork Graph- ic Society and reproductions of the work were among the Society’s most popular releases, being bought in record numbers, but the artist derived no financial benefit having sold the rights to the publishers. The large, waxy, fragrant creamy white or pink blooms depicted by artists are usually Magnolia grandiflora, from the large flowing tree native to the southern United States and particularly abundant in Mississippi, the ‘Magnolia State’. The flower is the harbinger of spring, appearing on the tree before the leaves, and depictions of the flowers in still lifes often reflect this. However, in the present lot, Alfred Krenz depicts a bunch of magnolias with their foliage, in a cobalt blue vase, and the bright whites, yellows and lime greens of the broad, rounded blooms catch the light and contrast strongly in both colour and shape with the deep green lanceolate leaves, creating a robust and memorable composition. 363 365 364