Strauss & co - 2016 Review

Public interest in thework of JH Pierneef continued unabated in 2016. Of particular significance this year were the high prices his linocuts and etchings fetched on Strauss & Co’s online platform. Pierneef prints constitute an ideal entry-level art work purchase for young collectorsand his well-known Baobab linocut (estimate R18 000 – R24 000) sold for R70 000 during the July online auction. The equally well-known etching Okahandja (estimate R25 000 – R35 000) sold for R102 000. The secret to the success of his prints is the rigorous authentication process to which they are subjected, as well as the scrutiny of their physical condition and the rarity of the print. Equally pleasing last year were the high prices earned by Pierneef watercolours and caseins. Drawn from the estate of the late Mrs Liselotte Hardebeck, the charming Farmstead watercolour (estimate R20 000 – R30 000) fetched R60 000 at our November sale in Johannesburg. The Van der Hovensdrift casein (estimate R350 000 – R500 000) sold for R704 000 on the March sale in Cape Town. The two outstanding highlights of 2016 were undoubtedly the sale of Winter Bosveld (estimate R800 000 – R1 200 000) for R1 818 880 on our May sale in Johannesburg, and the R700 000 achieved in November for Extensive Landscape in Pink, Orange and Rose (estimate R250 000 – R350 000) at our Johannesburg sale. Landscapes with an interesting provenance, such as the one gifted by Pierneef in 1928 to Charles Malan, the Minister of Railways who commissioned Pierneef’s famous Johannesburg Station Panels, also did very well on the October auction in Cape Town, selling for R700 000. Bolstered by the 2015 retrospective exhibition, which I curated at the invitation of the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg, public interest in this icon of South African artists has never been higher. Strauss & Co will be sponsoring a small exhibition of the Pierneefs from a leading private collection in Johannesburg at the Turbine Art Fair in July 2017, which I am delighted to be curating. Wilhelm van Rensburg is a fine art specialist at Strauss & Co, Johannesburg. JH Pierneef Kremetartboom (Nilant 73) Sold R70 260, 18 July 2016 Wilhelm van Rensburg on JH Pierneef 56