Strauss & co - Review 2021

Strauss & Co has long emphasised community in its marketing and corporate social responsibility initiatives.“For Strauss & Co to flourish as a business, the art ecosystem must also flourish,” says Frank Kilbourn. “We are very committed to contributing towards this and play a supportive role, wherever we can, in terms of supporting institutions. We have over the past few years collaborated with lighthouse institutions such as Zeitz MOCAA, Norval Foundation, Iziko South African National Gallery, Irma Stern Museum, Javett Art Centre-UP and Tatham Art Gallery.” Education is a central pillar of Strauss & Co’s business strategy. In 2021 it presented two important non-selling exhibitions. In July, it exhibited works by George Pemba and Robert Hodgins in its Johannesburg exhibition space. “This exhibition reassesses the work of both Pemba and Hodgins as essentially complex acts of creation, as both intellectual and emotional in origin,” explained Wilhelm van Rensburg, Strauss & Co’s head curator and organiser of the exhibition. Titled Social Stances , the exhibition was the third in a series of on-going exhibitions organised by Strauss & Co exploring synergies between pairs of artists. The first exhibition, in 2019, paired Louis Maqhubela and Douglas Portway, and the second, in 2020, placed works by Gladys Mgudlandlu and Maggie Laubser in conversation. A webinar programme complemented the exhibition. “Strauss & Co is committed to producing vibrant and relevant educational content as part of its social obligation to the arts sector,” said Susie Goodman. “It is even more imperative that we support the arts in these difficult times and bring people together to engage and learn.” In August, Strauss & Co once again collaborated with the Friends of Welgemeend, Frank and Lizelle Kilbourn, Delaire Graff Social Stances that Contribute to Community Building Estate and others on Art Month at Welgemeend. This annual celebration of arts and culture held in the historic Cape Town manor home of Welgemeend celebrated a special milestone: Strauss & Co chairperson Frank Kilbourn’s 60th birthday. The exhibition featured works from the Kilbourn Collection, including early pieces acquired with the assistance of art dealer Leon Strydom, who sadly passed away from Covid-19. Strauss & Co facilitated a number of charity auctions in 2021. Notable among these was its collaboration with the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation on the ‘Art for the Arch’ Auction in September. The successful auction raised more than R3.5 million – a positive outcome that the famed theologian and human rights activist, who passed away on 1 January 2022, was able to appreciate. “We are delighted with the results of the auction, which exceeded our expectations, and are excited to put the proceeds towards firmly establishing his legacy through the Tutu Legacy Fund,” said the foundation’s CEO Piyushi Kotecha. A 22-lot charity auction in support of on-going activities at Norval Foundation, a key new museum in the art ecosystem, realised a total of R1.5 million. Other charitable initiatives included a 24-lot wine selection in collaboration with television presenter, MC and writer Dan Nicholl, which raised R288 986 on behalf of the Reach for a Dream Foundation. All the lots in both these charity auctions sold. Strauss & Co reaffirmed its commitment to the Cassirer Welz Award, an annual award presented to an artist under the age of 35 working in painting, drawing or sculpture. Named after South African auctioneers Reinhold Cassirer and Stephan Welz and coordinated by the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios, the 2021 Cassirer Welz Award went to Nigerian artist Samuel Nnorom. Strauss & Co executive director Susie Goodman and senior art specialist Wilhelm van Rensburg were jurors in the award. 59