Premier sale of still-life floral kingdom paintings

Strauss & Co’s premier evening sale on Tuesday, May 16, draws attention to the enchantment of SA’s floral kingdom and its influence on the genre of still life.

The catalogue for this livevirtual auction, which bookends the programme for Johannesburg Auction Week (May 14-16), includes 22 examples of still-life paintings, many of them flower studies, by a cohort of modern and contemporary artists.

Irma Stern’s ravishing composition Still Life with Dahlias and Pumpkin (estimate R10mR12m/ $546,230-$655,476), leads the selection. It illustrates the cover of the 104-lot catalogue for the sale, which will be livestreamed from Johannesburg. Painted in 1944, this commanding still life is complemented by outstanding modernist examples of still lifes by Pranas Domsaitis, Maggie Laubser, Erik Laubscher, Freida Lock, Frans Oerder, Alexis Preller, Jean Welz and Pieter Wenning.

William Kentridge’s mixedmedia work on paper Iris II (R500,000–R600,000/ $27,307–$32,768) is one of three flower studies in the sale. It shows the still-life genre’s robust health in present-day SA.

The still-life focus is fully elaborated in a thematic preview in Strauss & Co’s gallery at 89 Central Street, Houghton. The preview runs until the day of the auction, May 16.

“The still-life focus draws attention to an important and valuable group of works in the catalogue for our marquee Johannesburg auction,” says Strauss & Co managing executive Bina Genovese. “Our aim is to draw collector attention to the tradition of still-life painting in

SA, as well as to highlight how it has been a site of experimentation and success for many generations of artists.”

The catalogue features many attention-grabbing works in the genre. They include an early, high-expressionist work by Stern from 1925, Arum Lilies and Bananas (R2m–R3m/$109,324$163,986). Painted in 1948, Erik Laubscher’s Still Life with Black Jug, Apples, Book and Tureen on a Table (R1m-R1.5m/ $54,649– $81 974) is a stunning example of his early School of Paris style.

The still-life consignment includes works from important collections, notably two works by Stern and Maggie Laubser’s Still Life with Pumpkin, Pears and Flowers (R200,000– R300,000/$10,933-$16,400). One of the oldest works in the focus is Pieter Wenning’s Vase of Flowers (R250,000–R350,000/ $13,658–$19,120).

The timeline of still-life works in the auction extends from the early 20th century to the 2010s. Ten Box Trap (R100,000– R150,000/$5,465–$8,196) by Cape Town painter Simon Stone presents an assembly of discarded cardboard boxes and offers a thoroughly contemporary take on the still-life genre.

“In addition to our vibrant consignment of still lifes, our catalogue includes extraordinary sculptures that affirm the range and depth of three-dimensional practices in this country,” says Dr Alastair Meredith, head of the art department at Strauss & Co. “We have three works by Anton van Wouw, including two pre-World War 1 castings by the Nisini foundry in Rome.”

Anton van Wouw’s Shangaan (R600,000–R800,000/ $32,768–$43,750), which portrays a Mozambican man with crossed arms, was conceived in the artist’s Doornfontein studio in 1907. The adventure writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle owned another edition from the prized Nisini batch of Shangaan castings. “This dignified, gentle and personal portrait of a Shangaan man is a weighty and significant statement,” says Meredith.

The sculpture consignment includes eight works by postWorld War 2 trendsetter Edoardo Villa. They include a bronze panel for the fountain at Killarney Mall, which opened in 1966 (R300,000–R500,000/ $16,400–$27,307). There are also two bronzes by Dylan Lewis, who is celebrated for his expressive contemporary interpretations of big cats. Leopard

Pair Maquette (R600,000– R700,000/$32,768–$38,330) explores a popular theme of coupling in SA sculpture that is also evident in two works by Villa, as well as Norman Catherine and Anton Smit.