Auction showcases artists from Africa
STRAUSS & Co presents Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present, a live virtual auction taking place on February 19 in Cape Town.
Led by highly collectable paintings by JH Pierneef and Cinga Samson, the second edition of this curated auction will showcase art by pioneering modernist and trailblazing contemporary artists from Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, with a thematic focus on landscape.
Samson’s 2017 painting Hliso Street V (estimate R2-3m / $105 000$157 000) is from the suite that initiated his current globally acclaimed style. JH Pierneef’s 1929 composition Church Street, Tulbagh (estimate R1.5-2.5m / $78 500$131 000) is a culturally important street scene deriving from the artist’s peak period.
Coinciding with the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, an important event on the African art calendar,
Curatorial Voices: African Landscape, Past and Present will present artworks by internationally recognised artists such as Jake Aikman, Zander Blom, Kudzanai Chiurai, Ablade Glover, David Goldblatt, Moshekwa Langa, Bronwyn Katz, William Kentridge, Thameur Mejri, Sam Nhlengethwa, Thania Petersen, Thierry Oussou, Owusu-Ankomah, Usha Seejarim and Gerard Sekoto.
Coinciding with Dr Esther Mahlangu’s career survey at Iziko South African National Gallery, Strauss & Co will present two fantastic works by this iconic abstract painter.
“This comprehensive auction, a collaboration with experts from across the African continent, reveals a nuanced understanding of the diverse cultural, historical and environmental contexts that have shaped artistic representations of the landscape,” said Jean le ClusTheron and Leigh Leyde, Joint Heads of Sale, Strauss & Co. “Through an examination of various themes,
Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present seeks to engage viewers in a dialogue that transcends time and space, connecting past representations to contemporary perspectives.”
In preparing this sale, Strauss
& Co collaborated with African art experts. The five invited curators are: Ugoma Ebilah, Independent Curator, Nigeria; Nkgopoleng Moloi, Independent Curator, South Africa; Azu Nwagbogu, founder and director of the African Artists’ Foundation, Nigeria; Azza Satti, independent curator, Kenya; and Camilla van Hoogstraten, head of sales, Latitudes Online, South Africa.