Strauss & co - 2017 Review

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef Extensive Landscape, Northern Drakensberg Sold R3 410 400, 5 June 2017 Pierneef’s name has long been synonymous with auction milestones. In 1985, the painter’s bushveld scene, Extensive Landscape Northern Transvaal (1949), shook the South African art market when it became the first painting to break through the R100 000 mark, selling for R120 000. Twenty-five years later, in 2011, the same painting sold for R10 583 000 at a Strauss & Co auction, becoming the most expensive Pierneef to be sold at auction in South Africa. The R20 462 400 sale in June of Twin Peaks Beyond, Stellenbosch (1928), a stunning precursor study for Pierneef’s famous Stellenbosch station panel, is synchronous with this illustrious history. Art specialist Alastair Meredith discusses the consignment of this important work on page 68. A prolific painter during his lifetime, Strauss & Co sold 44 Pierneef lots at its four live sales and an additional 18 lots through its popular online-only sales platform. As is to be expected, the artist’s paintings performed reliably well. Standout lots included Extensive Landscape, Northern Drakensberg (undated), which sold for R3 410 400; By McGregor, KP (c. 1931), a fetching study of this Western Cape farming community that sold for R2 500 960; and Bushveld Landscape (1956), a late- career work featuring the artist’s beloved acacias, which sold for R2 273 600. There has been a noticeable uptick in value of Pierneef’s linocuts, Hardekoolboom, TVL (1929) selling for R193 256 in June. Jacob Hendrik Pierneef By McGregor, KP Sold R2 500 960, 6 March 2017 20