Contemporary art in Strauss & Co spotlight
Firm is committed to expanding market for local art
Strauss & co will hold the second of its contemporary art sales on February 16. It is the only sale in SA devoted exclusively to this category.
The announcement of this 107-lot sale, due to be held during the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (February 15-17) coincides with the news that Jack Ginsberg, noted Johannesburg collector and philanthropist, has joined the board of Strauss.
Highlights from the sale, at the Cape Town cruise terminal of the V&A Waterfront, include rare early works by Marlene Dumas and William Kentridge, among SA’s internationally most celebrated artists. Produced in the 1970s, Naked Man (estimate R1.5m-R2m) is an early student work by Dumas and identifies her future trajectory as a gestural painter interested in retaining the pictorial image's illusion.
This benchmark sale also includes important recent paintings by Lisa Brice, Kate Gottgens, Georgina Gratrix and Penny Siopis, as well as photographs by David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo, Mohau Modisakeng, Athi-Patra Ruga and Mary Sibande. Gratrix’s sumptuously painted Bride
Dressed as Cake (estimate R100,000-R150,000) is typical of her energetic use of colour. As vibrant is Ruga’s large photograph The Knight of the
Long Knives I (R250,000R350,000), which tells the mythical story of a ruler from a matriarchal dynasty in a fictional utopia.
“This diverse sale of contemporary art is an important part of Strauss & Co’s commitment to exploring and expanding the market for SA art,” said Frank Kilbourn, Strauss’s executive chair. Collector enthusiasm for innovative works by a younger generation of artists is growing very rapidly, he said.
“We were thoroughly delighted by the fact that Strauss established 19 new artists’ records at its inaugural contemporary art sale last year [2018]. These results, in the context of the rapidly maturing art ecosystem, make us very confident of the long-term future and success of SA art.”
Kilbourn also hailed the news that Ginsberg will be offering his wisdom and insight to Strauss & Co’s endeavours.
“Jack is not only an innovative collector who has bravely supported past generations of contemporary artists, but he is also a nurturing person,” said Kilbourn. “These are values we admire and promote at Strauss.”
Ginsberg’s support of contemporary art in SA is legendary. Founding patron of The Ampersand Foundation (TAF), which has been running a residency programme for SA artists in New York since 1996, he is also a significant donor to the Wits Art Museum (WAM) and financial supporter of Artist’s Proof Studio, both in Johannesburg.
In 2016, after a successful exhibition, Ginsberg donated his 700-piece collection of works by Walter Battiss to WAM, which now also holds his world-class collection of artists’ books in the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts. “I am delighted to be joining
the board and hope that my contribution will be useful to the continued strength and social outreach of the company. My involvement in the fine arts as a supporter and collector (and, of course, an enthusiastic bidder at auction) over many years may allow me to add something to the expert mix,” said Ginsberg.
A number of artists on the contemporary art sale had been selected to stay in New York as part of the TAF award, including Willem Boshoff, Wim Botha and Diane Victor. Botha’s bronze sculpture Prism 17 (estimate R300,000-R500,000) is part of a series of busts sculpted from polystyrene with a chainsaw
and wire cutter before casting. Similar works are featured on his midcareer survey, Heliostat: Wim Botha, at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town.
One highlight from the contemporary art sale is an early charcoal drawing by Kentridge, Preparations in the Ante-Chamber (estimate R1.5m-R2m). Produced in 1986, this markedly expressionist drawing, with interjections of white-gold paint and pastel, ambiguously portrays a scene of pleasure.
Though largely focused on SA artists, the sale includes a robust selection of works by established and emergent contemporary artists from Africa
and beyond. Alongside lots by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and London-based German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, there are pieces by two Beninese artists, Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou and Thierry Oussou, as well as Congolese painter Chéri Cherin. Tunisian painter Thameur Mejri’s Two
Figures at War (estimate R180,000-R240,000) will offer South Africans a rare insight into North African creativity.
US-based Nigerian-British artist Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze’s mixed-media drawing there is abundance (estimate R150,000-R200,000) showcases her ability to transform a two-dimensional image into a limitless plane of possibility. Zimbabwean painter Richard Mudariki’s From Parow to Cape
Town (estimate R40,000R60,000) is typical of his graphic figurative style.
Mudariki, who participated in a two-month residency at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Mocaa), is one of eight artists who have donated work to the sale in support of the Greatmore Studios Trust. Goldblatt, David Koloane, Igshaan Adams, Simphiwe Ndzube, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Sam Nhlengethwa and Claudette Schreuders also donated work to support this Cape Townbased organisation that nurtures emerging artists. Adams and Wa Lehulere are both past winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art.
Support and interest in contemporary art is growing, both among private individuals and corporate benefactors, with Cape Town emerging as the premier location to showcase this innovative category of art.
“Strauss & Co is proud to endorse contemporary art as a category worthy of its own dedicated sale,” said Bina Genovese, Strauss’s joint MD, of the company’s decision to hold the sale in Cape Town.
“Our strategic decision to host the auction at the same time as the Investec Cape Town Art Fair has, we believe, added another important dimension to the programming of Art Week Cape Town [February 6-17]. There is now a close alliance between the primary and secondary markets, providing momentum for expansion across both markets, which will ultimately benefit artists.” The sale is supported by a dedicated catalogue and detailed programme of educational and social events.