All systems go for art auction
• Strauss meets a need with sale dedicated to contemporary works
Strauss & Co is pleased to announce details of its first dedicated contemporary art sale in Cape Town on Saturday.
The venue for the 71-lot sale is an impressive former warehouse overlooking the Duncan Docks, a harbour facility at the Port of Cape Town.
Formerly a cold-storage facility, it now forms part of a complex of buildings being transformed by the V&A Waterfront into a multibillion-rand cruise liner terminal.
It is located a convenient five-minute walk from the V&A Waterfront’s Silo District and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa.
The sale, which focuses on outstanding examples of contemporary art made by South African, African and diaspora artists, will coincide with the Cape Town Art Fair (February 16-18).
This pace-setting event at the start of the 2018 South African art calendar is held annually in the Cape Town International Convention Centre, very close to Duncan Dock.
Highlights from the contemporary sale include:
An important charcoal and pastel drawing by William Kentridge
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from his film Felix in Exile (1994), estimated at R2-2.5m;
An early Cake (1983) painting by Penny Siopis, estimated at R600,000-R 800,000;
Joachim Schönfeldt’s esteemed portfolio of 27 painted and embossed works on paper, The Model Men (2000-12), estimated at R800,000-R1.2m;
A pyramid sculpture, Third World Disorder (2010), by Kendell Geers, estimated at R600,000-R800,000; and
Robert Hodgins, Drunk in the docks, estimated at R800,000R1.2m.
The sale also includes works by noted contemporary painters such as Lisa Brice, Kate Gottgens, Georgina Gratrix, Helen Sebidi and Jessica Webster, as well as striking early works by Zander Blom and Ayanda Mabulu.
Recognising the emergence of photography since 1990, photographic works by Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou, Kudzanai Chiurai, Abrie Fourie, Cyrus Kabiru, David Goldblatt, Mohau Modisakeng, Tracey Rose, Mikhael Subotzky and Guy Tillim will be offered.
“The launch of our first contemporary art auction during the Cape Town Art Fair heralds an
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Saturday.
exciting new direction for Strauss & Co and should, in time, further enhance our relevance and sustainability,” said Strauss & Co chairman Frank Kilbourn. Together with Strauss & Co’s joint MDs, Bina Genovese and Vanessa Phillips, Kilbourn has been instrumental in guiding the company towards a more diversified offering that now includes six online auctions and a contemporary sale as well as their four live auctions.
Strauss & Co has reason to be bullish about the market for contemporary art.
Since it launched in 2009, the company’s four annual live auctions — two apiece in Cape Town and Johannesburg — have always included contemporary art. Strauss & Co has achieved over R200m in sales from just contemporary art.
A broadening of tastes among South African collectors has seen artists such as Jane Alexander, Deborah Bell, Norman Catherine, Hodgins, Kentridge and Siopis perform consistently well at auction. Kentridge now ranks among the top-performing artists at auction in SA, alongside blue-chip artists such as JH Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto and Irma Stern.
Strauss & Co has successfully sold 240 Kentridge lots since 2009, with a cumulative value of R82m.
The two other top-performing contemporaries are Hodgins and Catherine.
Hodgins has brought in R44m from 195 lots sold since 2009, while Catherine has achieved R11.2m from 157 lots sold over the same period.
Strauss & Co’s commitment to bringing singular works to market saw it achieve a world record in 2011 when it sold an untitled figure sculpture by Alexander, originally exhibited with her iconic The Butcher Boys (1985-86), for R5.5m.
Recent Strauss & Co live sales have witnessed enthusiastic bidding for a newer generation of artists.
In 2017 an edition of Mary Sibande’s photo Her Majesty, Queen Sophie sold for R193,256, well above its high estimate.
Similarly, Billie Zangewa’s silk tapestry Working Nights fetched R204,624, quadrupling its high estimate.
An illustrated catalogue, with detailed entries on each lot, accompanies Strauss & Co’s contemporary sale.
The sale will take place at Cruise Terminal, E Berth, Duncan Docks, Duncan Road, V&A Waterfront on Saturday, February 17, at 6pm.
LAUNCH OF FIRST CONTEMPORARY ART AUCTION DURING CAPE TOWN FAIR HERALDS EXCITING NEW DIRECTION