Strauss & co - Review 2019

In November 2019, the New York Times reported on a sober mood in the global auction market. This was confirmed by a report issued by the French database Artprice, which stated that global auction sales were down 17.4% in the first half of 2019. Despite significant jitters in the lead up to South Africa’s May 2019 general election, Strauss & Co sales were generally robust and totalled a healthy R196 million in the first half of the year. The good cheer was heralded by Strauss & Co’s red-letter March sale (Cape Town), which earned R107 million at a value sell- through rate of 93%. “It is a historic moment for the company and a wonderful way to celebrate our tenth year of business,” said Frank Kilbourn shortly after the sale, which saw Strauss & Co become the first South African auction house to gross more than R100-million at a single sale. Irma Stern cemented her status as the most sought-after South African artist at auction when three paintings from her celebrated Zanzibar period (1939-45) sold for a combined value of R52.3 million at the March sale. The top-selling Stern lot, Arab , which was acquired directly from the artist by the late collector Sol Munitz, was sold to a telephone bidder. The Munitz Collection consigned 15 lots to the March sale, including Stern’s The Mauve Sari , a 1946 portrait of a young Bahoran woman in three-quarter pose wearing a lilac sari with gold detailing. The work sold for R14.8million. Also fromtheMunitz Collection, Gerard Sekoto’s Saturday Afternoon , a bucolic street scene from his esteemed Eastwood period, sold for R3.07 million. Paintings consigned by the Shill Collection also achieved outstanding prices in March. Stern’s 1939 portrait of a young woman wearing a yellow headscarf, Meditation , Zanzibar, sold for R17.07 million. As with many of the other high-value lots successfully traded in 2019, provenance played an important role in marketing works to buyers. Louis and Mavis Shill acquired Meditation , Zanzibar in 1972 from Die Kunskamer, a noted Cape Town gallery. Live Sales: The premier venue to sell high-value lots 12