Strauss & co - Review 2018

In February, Strauss & Co launched its inaugural contemporary art sale. Held in a warehouse adjacent to Duncan Dock in the Port of Cape Town, the sale generated R13 873 748 with a 78.87% lot sell-through rate. Introduced with a view to expanding Strauss & Co’s offering in a maturing art market, this specialist sale was a first for South Africa. The contemporary sale established 18 new world records for the artists sold. They include painters Karel Nel, Lisa Brice, Joni Brenner, Kate Gottgens, Mongezi Ncaphayi and Blessing Erik Laubscher, Still Life with Coffee Pot and Fruit Sold R2 273 600, 5 March 2018 WORLD RECORD Ngobeni, sculptors Patrick Bongoy, Cyrus Kabiru and Walter Oltmann, and photographers David Goldblatt and Hasan and Husain Essop amongst others. As is evident, the contemporary sale presented a broad and representative selection of artists. The widening of the race, gender and nationality of artists on offer is essential to the vitality of the South African art auction market. Nonetheless, inequalities linked to South Africa’s past continue to haunt the present. The liberal art world is not exempt. 20