Strauss & co - 2016 Review

The highest amount paid at a Strauss & Co auction in 2016 was R10 572 240 for Irma Stern’s 1947 Still Life with Lilies , a colour-drenched study of orange tiger lilies and a Buddha figure. Auctioneer Bina Genovese, who is also Strauss & Co’s joint managing director, worked magic in her stylish and confident manner as clients in the room bid frenetically against the telephones to secure this outstanding work. The price is consistent with earlier Strauss & Co results. In 2013, the artist’s Magnolias and Fruit from 1947 sold for R9 662 800, and in 2010 a bidder paid R11 140 000 for White Lilies , a bountiful floral study from 1936. Stern’s pedigree at auction is now a matter of statistical record: she is ranked alongside modernists Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Bourgeois as among the ten most expensive women artists sold at auction globally between 2005 and 2015, a rating that Strauss & Co helped secure. Stern’s portraiture is also highly esteemed by collectors. In May, a 1943 portrait of Freda Feldman, an early patron of the artist, sold in Johannesburg for R5 115 600, within its estimate. Woman with Blue Headscarf , a 1956 Stern oil from the Hardebeck Collection, sold for R2 728 320 and a striking charcoal portrait, Watussi Chief’s Wife , sold for R852 600, four times its presale estimate. Irma Stern Watussi Chief’s Wife (with Head Dress) Sold R852 600, 7 November 2016 The Collection of the Late Mrs Liselotte Hardebeck © Irma Stern Trust | DALRO 18