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R60 million for record-breaking South African art
11 Nov 2014
The Strauss & Co summer auction conducted in Johannesburg last night totalled R60 million, making this the most successful sale of South African art for many years.
Highlights were the Harry Lits collection of works by the Amadlozi Group which totalled R9,6 million, double its pre-sale estimate. Sydney Kumalo’s celebrated sculpture Man on Beast, sold for R1 250 000, five times more than the pre-sale estimate.
The top lot of the sale was a landscape by JH Pierneef which realised R11 936 000, a new world record for the artist. Fourteen of the fifteen Pierneefs on offer sold exceptionally well, in many instances exceeding the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimates.
Another highlight was William Kentridge’s Drawing for Stereoscope: Soho at Desk on Telephone which sold for R4 million, followed by his Extensive Landscape with Figures and Swimming Pool which made just over R3 million.
A spokesman for Strauss & Co described this as a major boost for the South African art market that is particularly indicative of the demand for quality work by respected artists.
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Bina Genovese
2014 Press Releases
November
- 5 Nov 2014 Chemist dispenses groundbreaking art collection
- 5 Nov 2014 Strauss & Co withdraws its participation in the Cape Town Art Fair
- 11 Nov 2014 R60 million for record-breaking South African art
October
September
- 16 Sep 2014 Pinker Delights at Strauss & Co's Spring Auction
- 19 Sep 2014 Amadlozi Group Collection highlights Strauss & Co's November auction
- 19 Sep 2014 Seminal Painting by Irma Stern heads Strauss & Co Auction
- 21 Sep 2014 Africa's first major Contemporary Art auction
July
- 1 Jul 2014 Meteoric rise in value of artwork
June
- 9 Jun 2014 A Feast of Indulgence
- 9 Jun 2014 Early Dutch Still Life with detail from the Orient
- 9 Jun 2014 Early Sekoto Portrait - Harbinger of things to come
- 9 Jun 2014 From Mozart to Motif: Hodgins's Heavenly Hell
- 9 Jun 2014 Positivity Aplenty in Preller Still Life
- 9 Jun 2014 Seductive Stern Still Life
- 9 Jun 2014 Strauss & Co's June Sale takes the Cake
- 9 Jun 2014 Strauss & Co's Next Top Model
- 9 Jun 2014 The Wood for The Trees
- 18 Jun 2014 Preller Prevails at Strauss & Co's June Auction
- 27 Jun 2014 Preller, from the unfinished to the finished at Strauss & Co Auction
May
- 16 May 2014 Pinker's paean to Kouebokkeveld artists set to soar at Strauss & Co's June auction
- 28 May 2014 A Glittering Grand Finale For The Kirstenbosch Centenary Year
- 29 May 2014 Statement from Stephan Welz, MD Strauss & Co
April
March
- 6 Mar 2014 Superb art collection to benefit Wildlands Conservation Trust
- 18 Mar 2014 R3,4 million buys you "Love"
- 24 Mar 2014 Jewels auction benefits the "doggies"
February
- 3 Feb 2014 A Groovy Kind of Love at Strauss & Co
- 4 Feb 2014 Strauss Online
- 26 Feb 2014 The Cape Town Art Fair - & A celebration of South African Art
January
- 1 Jan 2014 Chairman's Report 2013
- 22 Jan 2014 Top artists and the art of dealing celebrated at Strauss & Co
