Strauss & co - Review 2023

Strauss & Co’s executive leadership team (Leadco) is now composed of Bina Genovese, Managing Executive, Cape Town, Susie Goodman, Managing Executive, Johannesburg, andmyself. We are supported on key operational matters by a Senior Management team (Exco) that includes Hennie Brand: Chief Financial Officer, Wimpie Nortje: Chief Technology Officer, Khetiwe McClain: Client Advisory Executive, Debbie Watson, Financial Manager, and Alastair Meredith, Senior Art Specialist, who provide critical strategic, financial and logistical insights and the ability to execute on collectively developed action plans. Alastair Meredith was also appointed as Head of the Art Department, a role previously split between Cape Town and Johannesburg. He took charge of a revitalised team. All the foregoing changes enabled us to create clearer responsibilities and effective workflows across our multiple business sites. An African business with a world focus Strauss & Co is an African-centred auction house with an international focus. This vision informed our activities throughout 2023. The year commenced with an ambitious marketing initiative that broke new ground for Strauss & Co. Curatorial Voices was a first of its kind collaboration for us, involving input on consigning artworks from experts with embedded knowledge of their regions in various markets across the African continent. We launched this repeating auction in our new Woodstock premises during the week of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Our programme included a one-day symposium, Art Business Conference in Africa, to discuss key issues in today’s art market. The project was a roaring success. Combined sales from the online and live components of Curatorial Voices totalled R14.6 million / $801 992, with a respectable sell-through rate of 68.24%. Encouragingly, we matched our historical strength in selling modernist art by successfully transacting works by new-to-market contemporary artists. Gerard Sekoto’s devotional scene, Prayer in Church from 1947, sold for R3.4 million / $187 678, the highest price for an individual work in Curatorial Voices . It was followed by a rare 2016 self-portrait by painter Cinga Samson, which sold for R2.2 million / $118 863, a new South African record. Good corporate citizenship At Strauss & Co, we believe in supporting our community through sponsorships, exhibitions, talks and outreach programmes to develop and deepen interest in fine art and collectables. We supported various initiatives throughout the year, including sponsorship of the 2023 editions of Hermanus FynArts, Toyota SU Woordfees, SAFIM, August Art Month at Welgemeend and the Cassirer Welz Award. We also supported several art publications and made our services and resources available pro bono to bolster important art institutions such as the Norval Foundation, Irma Stern Museum, Art Angels and the Nel Erasmus Trust, amongst others. In addition to regular presentations at our offices through our new monthly Art Club initiative, we also contributed to the education programmes at the inaugural Art Business Conference in Africa (Cape Town) and RMB Latitudes Art Fair (Johannesburg). Alastair Meredith gave a special presentation on the works of Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae at 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair (London). In June, we launched The Sculptures of Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae – A Catalogue Raisonné at our Johannesburg gallery. Authored by Gavin Watkins and Charles Skinner, the launch coincided with an exhibition of 92 works by Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae, curated by Wilhelm van Rensburg, Head Curator, Strauss & Co. The exhibition featured a vibrant programme of events honouring the publication of this momentous book, which was sponsored and published by Strauss & Co, a milestone for us as a company. In August, Strauss & Co once again threw their weight behind August Art Month at Welgemeend. The extensive social, educational and hospitality programme for the 2023 edition was anchored by an exhibition, Cape Moments / Kaapse Oomblikke . For the tenth edition of this popular winter event in Cape Town we thought it would be rewarding to look specifically at the many and diverse portrayals of life and the landscape of the Cape informed by the Kilbourn family’s 21 years of living in the city. 8