Light shines on old, new
New buyers accounted for a fifth of the works sold in Curatorial Voices. BRINGING THE BUZZ TO CAPE TOWN’S PULSATING SUMMER
February is traditionally a busy month at Strauss & Co, marking the start of its annual programme of auctions and complimentary educational initiatives. This past month, Strauss & Co hosted five auctions of modern and contemporary art, collectable wine, and decorative arts, as well as hosted an art-business symposium in Cape Town and presented a memorial exhibition in Johannesburg devoted to painter Alfred Thoba.
Coinciding with Cape Town’s vibrant art month, a time of robust trade and convivial networking increasingly patronised by international collectors, Strauss & Co presented Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present. It is a landscape-themed auction of collectable art from across the African continent.
Woven Legacies: Celebrating African Artistry, was a specialist auction devoted to African textiles and woven objects.
Strauss & Co also handled the prestigious Zeitz Mocaa Benefit Auction.
“In the excitement of the Investec Cape Town Art fair, we thought it appropriate to remind art lovers of the modernists who preceded the popular contemporary artists of today and to highlight their mutual infatuation with the land that binds all Africans together, while highlighting the ancient craft traditions of weaving and basketry,” says Frank Kilbourn, executive chair at Strauss & Co.
He also presented collector Louis Norval with the Zeitz Mocaa Honorary Award for Philanthropic Achievement at the fair.
Strauss & Co achieved notable results for Jake Aikman, Bheki Dlamini, Ablade
Glover, David Goldblatt, William Kentridge, Esther Mahlangu, Angeline Masuku and Gerard Sekoto in its various auctions.
A work by Zandile Tshabalala, a star of Zeitz Moocaa’s recent survey of black figurative painting, sold above the estimate for R380 000 at the auction.
J.H. Pierneef’s historically important 1929 painting of Tulbagh’s Church Street, offered in Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present, sold within estimate for R1 715 625.
Excellent prices were achieved in Strauss & Co’s Rhône-themed wine auction and also in Woven Legacies: Celebrating African Artistry.
Trade in artworks offered in Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present was somewhat uneven – but not without encouraging moments.
A late work by veteran painter Esther Mahlangu, whose career retrospective opened at the South African National Gallery last month, sold above estimate for R257 950.
A large 2014 painting by the Ghanaian master Ablade Glover, titled People Scene B12/14, traded within estimate for R438 995.
Encouragingly, new buyers accounted for a fifth of the works sold in Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of Curatorial Voices, a pioneering initiative aimed at infusing academic contexts into our auctions and encouraging viewers to deeply engage with the historical legacy of contemporary African art,” say Jean Le Clus-Theron and Leigh Leyde, joint heads of sale, Strauss & Co.
“Central to the success of the Curatorial Voices project is the spirit of collaboration. By amplifying diverse perspectives and voices within the art community, we offered something from the continent, for the continent, to the world.
“We have not only introduced new artists to the market but also welcomed fresh audiences eager to explore the multifaceted narratives of the works on offer, which encompassed 175 years of art history.”
Artistic expression from the African continent was also the subject of Woven Legacies. Angeline Masuku’s large Zulu ilala palm and ukhasi grass fibre basket sold above estimate for R18 760. Both Frances van Hasselt and Masuku’s work originated out of collaborative initiatives aimed at uplifting rural communities.
Visit www.straussart.co.za for more.