Strauss & co - 2016 Review

Willem Boshoff, who served an informal apprenticeship with his carpenter father, is widely esteemed for his wood sculptures. Strauss & Co offered three idiosyncratic works in wood on its May sale in Johannesburg. The outstanding performer was Bereloid , an undated work that sold for R215 992, nearly doubling the high estimate. The work refers to a berylloid form consisting of a double 12-sided pyramid and connects with two important Boshoff projects from the 1980s and 1990s. Sculpture held its own against painting in Strauss & Co’s final live auction in Johannesburg. There was considerable interest in a sensitive wood sculpture of a seated monkey by Danish artist Erland Windfeldt, which sold for R96 628, eight times its median estimate. A maquette for a Dylan Lewis work titled Charging Rhino fetched R250 096 in a late-afternoon sale, and a modest 68cm leopard by Lewis fetched R295 568 in the evening sale. One notable sculpture lot from 2016 was Lionel Smit’s Malay Girl with Cuts, a larger-than-life bronze head produced in 2010 that quotes his expressive painting style. Part of an edition of 12, the work on offer fetched R568 400, well above the high estimate of R350 000. The sale proved that there is depth in the market for this popular young contemporary painter – and, encouragingly, new frontiers for growth in the sculpture segment. Willem Boshoff Bereloid Sold R215 992, 23 May 2016 38