Strauss & co - 2019 Mid-year Review

Gerard Sekoto Saturday Afternoon Sold R3 072 600 The Late Sol Munitz Collection In Cape Town, Gerard Sekoto’s Saturday Afternoon , a bucolic street scene from his revered Eastwood period, sold for R3 072 600, while in Johannesburg Peter Clarke’s Sandy Bay , a 1969 canvas depicting four bathers, fetched R1 365 600. Strauss & Co established a new world record in May when Anton van Wouw’s only known bronze maquette of statesman Paul Kruger , cast by the Roman foundry of Giovanni Nisini, sold for R10 469 600. One of the most important historical works to be offered by Strauss & Co in recent years, Van Wouw’s artistic bronze of Kruger, formed part of a remarkable group of five Van Wouw castings from five different international foundries, including the early masterpiece, Leemans the Postman , which sold for R1 593 200. Frank Kilbourn commented after the May sale: “Van Wouw’s performance was not a flash in the pan. Many forget that in 1981 his work portraying a mineworker with a hand- drill sold for R80 000, then a record price for a South African artwork sold at auction. It is very encouraging to see Stern andVanWouw continue to perform solidly at market. Their work is the foundation on which our vibrant post-war and contemporary art categories are built.” 20