Strauss & co - 2016 Review

Despite economic headwinds in the market- place, there were encouraging signs of resilience and diversity. For instance, Vladimir Tretchikoff’s Sunflowers , a previously unseen work at auction dating from the 1950s that was purchased out of the artist’s car boot by its owners, achieved R1 705 200, nearly tripling the pre-sale high estimate. After the Masquerade , a 1952 Tretchikoff still life acquired directly from the artist by a land surveyor from Riversdale, also came in above its high estimate and sold for R1 023 120. Like Tretchikoff, Paul Mak was a Russian émigré with a taste for vivid figuration: ten international bidders vied on the telephones for a group of his iconic Persian paintings, which collectively fetched R932 176. The Mak sale was encouraging, suggesting the growing reach of Strauss & Co in a global marketplace. Paul Mak Twelve Persian Fantasy Illustrations Sold R932 176, 14 March 2016 32