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An exciting selection of contemporary art alongside ground-breaking Louis Khehla Maqhubela and Douglas Portway exhibition, & 2018 A Meeting of Minds & 2019 at RMB Turbine Art Fair (TAF) 12 & 2013; 14 July 2019

8 Jul 2019

A tantalising selection of artworks by much-sought-after as well as lesser-known contemporary and twentieth century artists from Strauss & Co’s July Online-only auction, carrying estimates ranging from as low as R5 000 up to R50 000, will be on display.

There is something for every taste and pocket: contemporary artworks by Jake Aikman, David Koloane, Maja Maljevic, Anton Kannemeyer, Norman Catherine, Lionel Smith, Sam Nhlengethwa, and Deborah Bell, as well as works on paper by Irma Stern, J H Pierneef and Maud Sumner and a number of editioned prints by Robert Hodgins, Cecil Skotnes and Walter Battiss. Bidders might also be tempted by a Nesta Nala traditional Zulu pot, an Andrew Walford glazed ceramic bowl, or a rare Hannes Harrs bronze, to mention only a few of the more than 400 art and decorative art lots on auction.

Sponsored historical exhibition

This year Strauss & Co’s third museum-quality exhibition of the work of important historical twentieth century artists, following on from the acclaimed JH Pierneef and Irma Stern exhibitions in 2017 and 2018, is A Meeting of Minds: Louis Khehla Maqhubela and Douglas Portway, curated by Wilhelm van Rensburg, senior art specialist at Strauss & Co.

The work of Louis Khehla Maqhubela and Douglas Portway has a great synergy. These two artists met for the first time in St Ives, Cornwall, in 1967, after Maqhubela won the prestigious Artist of Fame and Promise award at the Adler Fielding Gallery in Johannesburg, which included the prize of a trip to Europe.

It was a meeting of great minds: they were artistic kindred spirits in the true sense of the term. Both were already highly successful artists in their own rights, albeit having had very different entry points to their careers. The meeting impacted both artists’ thinking and the manner in which they painted subsequently. The aim of this exhibition is to examine the intersection of the work of these two artists, looking at their art training and early influences, and how their styles developed after they met. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue that provides significant insight into the artists’ lives and art-making processes.

The insurance of the artworks shown on this significant exhibition is kindly sponsored by ITOO Artinsure.

In addition, visitors will be able to experience a new take on contemporary art consumption through a vibrant series of augmentations by Mongezi Ncaphayi, in collaboration with The Mixed Reality Workshop. This contemporary artist synergises his own visual practice with the use of augmented reality technologies as an ode to the impactful histories of Louis Khehla Maqhubela and Douglas Portway.

As part of an outreach educational programme, students from Artist Proof Studio have been invited to re-interpret the work of Maqhubela and Portway in the medium of screenprinting, and these works will be on show and available for sale at TAF.

Strauss & Co views its two-pronged participation at the fair as an ideal opportunity for buyers and collectors to acquire quality affordable art and learn more about this country’s art heritage. The company’s TAF booth will be innovatively curated with furniture provided by Aldon Mcleod of True Design to illustrate how easily the new and the old, contemporary and modern, can be integrated. Specialists will be on hand to guide first time bidders and seasoned auction buyers through the easy online bidding process and to answer questions about the artists and artworks on the display.

The Strauss & Co online auction opens for bidding on Monday 8 July at 8h00 and closes on 15 July at 20h00.

For more information contact:

Strauss & Co

89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg

011 728 8246 | jhb@straussart.co.za | www.straussart.co.za

‘A Meeting of Minds’ online catalogue: https://shared.straussart.co.za/catalogues/2019/maqhubela-portway/