Strauss & Co auction series focuses on contemporary ceramics, Pierneef prints and artworks collected by soprano Mimi Coertse 

9 Jul 2025

Leading the sale is Kentridge’s boldly coloured etching Dutch Iris II (estimate R700 000 – 900 000), a rare edition of a popular motif in the artist’s extensive output of graphics. Also on offer is an iconic casein landscape by J.H. Pierneef, painted in 1928 (estimate R400 000 – 600 000), one of six works by the artist included in High Note. 

Mimi Coertse, a celebrated operatic talent who performed across Europe in the 1950s and 60s, assembled an endearing collection of oils, watercolours, ceramics and prints by artists of her generation. Maud Sumner’s Nude Figure and a Still Life with Flowers (estimate R250 000 – 350 000) leads a selection that includes works by Walter Battiss, Esias Bosch, Christo Coetzee, Maurice van Essche, Cecil Higgs and Irma Stern. 

 Stern is currently the subject of a museum solo at Berlin’s Brücke Museum. She is also one of four modernists in High Note whose work was included in the 2024 Venice Biennale. The other three are George Pemba, Gerard Sekoto, and Lucas Sithole, represented respectively by the superb watercolour Boy with Spoon and Bowl, 1947 (estimate R100 000 – 150 000), lyrical gouache Dancing Figures in Blue, 1967 (estimate R200 000 – 300 000), and commanding wood carving Old Bull (estimate R200 000 – 300 000). 

Contemporary art is well represented in High Note. The cover lot is Folding Knives (estimate R30 000 – 40 000), a patterned drawing by Lady Skollie, winner of the 2022 Standard Bank Young Artist Award. Other prominent names in this section include Deborah Bell, Zander Blom, Dylan Lewis, Nelson Makamo and Bambo Sibiya. Modernists Sydney Kumalo, Cecil Skotnes, Hugo Naudé, and Vladimir Tretchikoff round out the strong catalogue. 

A separate online-only auction, IMPR: Etchings and Linocuts by J.H. Pierneef, closes Monday, 28 July 2025. This focused sale of 28 lots highlights Pierneef’s mastery of graphic media, with fine examples of his landscapes and figure studies. 

Since 2020, Strauss & Co has placed a strong focus on ceramics. The live-virtual sale Contemporary South African Ceramics: New Perspectives, which takes place on Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 7pm, presents exceptional work by leading clay artists Juliet Armstrong, Astrid Dahl, Andile Dyalvane, Madoda Fani, Katherine Glenday, Noria Mabasa, Dinah Molefe, Jabulile Nala, John Newdigate, Henriette Ngako, and Andrew Walford. 

Notable lots include Hylton Nel’s Cat in Green and Brown, 1993 (estimate R40 000 – 60 000), Esias Bosch’s Large Platter with Pond and Waterlily Decoration (estimate R40 000 – 60 000), and Deborah Bell’s Crying Pot from the Crying Pots Series, 1998 (estimate R30 000 – 50 000). Vase with Sable and Parrot Decoration, 2015, by Sabelo Khoza and Senzo Ntshalintshali (estimate R35 000 – 50 000), a joyful work for Ardmore Design, is offered alongside examples of Kalahari and Linnware studio ceramics. 

Works from the three sales – High Note, IMPR: Etchings and Linocuts by JH Pierneef, and Contemporary South African Ceramics: New Perspectives – are on public view throughout July at Strauss & Co’s exhibition space at 89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg. 

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EVENTS

Please join us for a walkabout and preview of our upcoming Johannesburg Auctions of Modern and Contemporary Art & Contemporary South Africa Ceramics.