The Starcke Collection of African Art to Go Under the Hammer at Strauss & Co

4 Nov 2025

Strauss & Co is honoured to present The Starcke Collection of African Art, an extraordinary private collection assembled by the late Anna Starcke, journalist, socio-political analyst and passionate patron of African culture. This timed online auction will close from 2 pm on Wednesday, 19 November 2025 and forms part of Strauss & Co’s November Auction Week in Johannesburg.

Anna Starcke’s lifelong love affair with African art began with a single moment on Jeppe Street in Johannesburg. Passing Totem Meneghelli Gallery on her way to work at the Carlton Centre, she noticed a West African figurine in the window. As she later described it, the sculpture whispered loudly – “Hey! …Psst!” and she walked inside, heart racing, to put down a deposit. It was the first of many pieces that would eventually form an iconic collection.

Born near Frankfurt in 1936 and evacuated during World War II, Anna sought adventure and possibility beyond post-war Europe. She married artist Helmut Starcke, and together they sailed to Africa, arriving in Cape Town inspired by the continent’s light, colour and energy.

Glamorous and spirited, Anna quickly became part of Cape Town’s 1960s creative scene, modelling for artists Irma Stern and Stanley Pinker, and writing for magazines before rising to political and economic reporting. Her move to Johannesburg in 1970 led her to the Financial Mail, and later to become editor of Management magazine.

As a respected strategic and socio-political consultant through her firm Starcke Realities, Anna spent decades analysing South Africa’s shifting political landscape and building a deeply personal, richly textured art collection.

Anna’s curatorial approach was bold and intuitive. She paired West African ceremonial masks with vibrant painted Colon figures, hung politically charged etchings beside exuberant Pop Art, and balanced traditional carved furniture with mid-century design. Her collection of more than 150 artworks by the time of her passing in August 2025, reveals both her intellectual rigour and her joyful artistic sensibility.

In 2016, the Wits Art Museum acquired significant Yoruba pieces from her collection. Anna visited them often, speaking of these artworks as lovingly as if she had sent her children off to university.

The exhibition is a recreation of Anna’s luminous Killarney apartment, a space where international political figures, business leaders and creative thinkers once gathered during the negotiation era of the 1980s and early 1990s. Overflowing with lush plants, books, sculpture, ceramics and African art, Anna believed this environment sparked imaginative dialogue and solutions.

Viewing of the Starcke Collection will be open daily, including 15 & 16 November. The auction will close on 19 November.

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This special sale accompanies Johannesburg’s premier auction event – the November Flagship Sales (17–19 November) which will present major modern and contemporary works across four auctions, including:

William Kentridge: Drawings From the Engen Collection Monday, 17 November, 7pm

Day Sale

Modern and Contemporary Art

Timed Online closing from 2:00pm Tue, 18 Nov 2025 SAST

Live-Virtual Evening Sale Tuesday, 18 November, 7pm Featuring landmark works exhibited in museum retrospectives of Maggie Laubser, George Pemba and Alexis Preller.