Strauss & co - Review 2021

Since 2009, Strauss & Co has sold 1100 works by Preller, Pierneef and Stern, netting over one billon rand. Of these three artists, Stern’s nearly 280 sales since 2009 have realised over R530 million, the same value achieved by Preller and Pierneef combined from the sale of 825 lots. The absence at market in 2021 of peak period Stern portraits from her celebrated Belgium Congo and Zanzibar periods meant collectors were left to deliberate over marine scenes and flower studies. Prime examples of Stern’s flower studies are highly sought after, as the R6.3 million paid in May for Still Life with Lilies affirms. Roses in a Chinese Jar , another flower study also painted in 1948, sold for R2 million. Buyer interest in Stern is not bound to one particular period or genre. White Sails (Bathers, Cannes) , a late- career beach scene from 1965 that typifies the artist’s perpetual quest for sunshine and freedom, achieved R1.9 million. Irma Stern White Sails (Bathers, Cannes) Sold R1 934 600 27