In the News
2010 Archive
- Oct 23. Pierneef se Bosveldbome simbolies van lewe
- Oct 22. Stern lilies in Strauss's highest-value sale
- Sep 18. Maud Sumner die kunstenaar was ook 'n digter
- Sep 10. Welz en die 'vloek van veilings'
- Sep 01. Pierneef Panele by Die Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch
- Aug 28. Pierneef het hom ook skildersvryhede vergun
- Aug 15. Polish your knowledge of jewellery
- Aug 01. Stephan Welz honoured for giving gallery new life
- Jul 27. Delighting and dealing in art
- Jul 26. Auctioneers find prized pieces in Eastern Cape
- Jul 23. Rare art find in EL worth more than R1m
- May 30. Rhodes statue led Welz to success
- May 28. Wêreldrekord van R7,575 miljoen vir Irma Stern-skildery
- May 26. Record price for Stern painting
- May 26. Skildery van Irma Stern behaal nuwe rekordprys
- May 26. Irma Stern-skildery behaal wêreldrekordprys
- May 15. Groot name in SA kuns kom onder hamer
- May 12. Art sale breaks mould
- May 09. Local art in full flower at major sale
Rare art find in EL worth more than R1m
July 23, 2010 [ Archived ]
Art auctioneer Stephan Welz made a stunning announcement at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery yesterday when he valued a painting brought in by a private collector at R1.3million.
GREAT FIND: Stephan Welz and Vanessa Phillips from
Strauss & Co (Fine Art Auctioneers and Consultants)
chat about the untitled painting depicting the Union Buildings
by Pieter Wenning (about 1914-1915). The painting
belongs to a private collector and was valued
at between R1million and R1.3million.
In the background is Terry Flynn from the Ann Bryant Art Gallery.
Picture: ALAN EASON
He (Welz) was joking with me, and asked me how much it was worth,” Terry Flynn, of the East London gallery, said yesterday. “Off the top of my head I said it was worth R70000.” Welz then revealed the value of the piece, surprising the socks off Flynn.
Even more astounding, according to Welz, was that he found another rare painting by the same artist in Grahamstown on Wednesday which he valued conservatively at R600000.
“(These works) are very, very rare,” Welz said. “It is highly unusual to find more than one or two in a year.”
Flynn spoke to the Dispatch on behalf of the owner of the East London artwork, who asked to remain anonymous. “The collector is quite knowledgeable about artwork,” he explained, “but the painting is worth at least three times more than she thought she would get for it.”
The artist, Pieter Willem Frederick Wenning, died in 1921 and is considered a South African master . The untitled painting depicts the Pretoria landscape, including a representation of the iconic Union Buildings in the distant background. The painting is thought to have been completed in 1915, as it is not dated.
It was appraised yesterday at the Ann Bryant gallery by Welz, a renowned art critic of Strauss and Company fine art auctioneers. Welz and his colleague Vanessa Phillips have been travelling across the province in order to appraise private collectors’ art, as well as take in entries for the Strauss and Co auction in Johannesburg later this year.
Welz said this year’s trip had been particularly successful due to the discovery of the two Wennings. Wenning’s work is a foremost example of Cape impressionist paintings, characterised by a “preoccupation with denoting the landscape rather than light on the landscape”, Flynn explained. Additionally, the use of broad, bold brushstrokes representing tonal changes in colour, rather than fine detail, also indicate the work of a Cape impressionist.
The painting will be auctioned by Strauss and Co in Johannesburg on November 1. “Maybe it will sell for more than R1million,” Welz speculated.
