The cover lot for leading African auction house Strauss & Co’s forthcoming live-virtual auction on 16 May 2023 is a magisterial still life by Irma Stern, the most prized painter at auction in Africa. A gorgeous confection of colour, Still Life with Dahlias and Pumpkin (estimate R10 - 12 million) is one of three Stern’s in the auction from the artist’s sought-after golden period of the late 1930s and 40s.
The 105-lot catalogue encompasses more than a century’s output and includes works made at the early beginnings of South Africa’s cosmopolitan art scene, notably by Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Pieter Wenning. There are two museum-grade works by pioneer black modernists Dumile Feni and Gerard Sekoto, as well as works by William Kentridge, Sam Nhlengethwa and Berni Searle, artists at the vanguard of South African art’s current international acclaim.
“Strauss & Co has a rock-solid reputation for handling blue-chip works by South African modernists, as was confirmed in March by our sale of a Zanzibar-period Stern for a new African record,” says Dr Alastair Meredith, Head of Sale, Strauss & Co. “Our forthcoming sale has peak works by acclaimed artists working at their zeniths, including Irma Stern with her large and gossamer still life, Dumile Feni with his rare and enigmatic colour drawing of a family, and William Kentridge with his hand-painted etching of a tree.”
Below, a selection of works that will be up for auction. Be sure to visit Strauss & Co online to find out more.
