Important private collections feature in Strauss & Co March sales of modern and contemporary art

18 Mar 2026

Strauss & Co, Africa’s leading auction house, is pleased to announce details of its flagship Cape Town live-virtual auctions to be held on 24 and 25 March 2026 at the company’s Woodstock salesroom. The programme comprises four auctions, beginning with collectable modern and contemporary art on the first day, followed on the next day by a specialist focus on Cape silver, Asian ceramics, furniture and historical art.

The 96-lot Evening Sale: Modern and Contemporary Art (Tuesday, 24 March 2026, 7pm) includes high-value works by J. H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Irma Stern, Vladimir Tretchikoff and William Kentridge, five of the most successful artists at auction in the company’s history. The sale also includes a strong group of contemporary artists, among them Igshaan Adams, Zander Blom, Georgina Gratrix, Mustafa Maluka, Misheck Masamvu, Mmangaliso Nzuza, Mary Sibande and Diane Victor, together with an award-winning sculpture by Doreen Southwood.

“We are privileged to steward the sale of several important private collections in these March auctions,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Executive at Strauss & Co. “The Evening Sale opens with Irma Stern’s striking 1942 gouache Canoes on the Congo River (estimate R150 000 – 200 000 / $9 360 – 12 480) from the Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection. Stan and Li Boiskin were notable Cape Town cultural patrons who were active in community organisations and public life, and it is a privilege for Strauss & Co to bring works from their collection to market.”

The Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection includes works by major South African modernists such as Maggie Laubser, George Pemba, Pierneef, Cecil Skotnes and Irma Stern. Highlights from the consignment include four works by Pemba, among them the 1991 painting The Orator (estimate R350 000 – 500 000 / $21 910 – 31 300) and Pierneef’s 1923 composition Mountain Landscape with a Tree in the Foreground (estimate R300 000 – 500 000 / $18 780 – 31 300).

Three significant paintings by Irma Stern appear in the Evening Sale, including the enigmatic late portrait Mantilla (estimate R3 – 5 million / $183 771 – 306 285) and Slender Nude (estimate R1 – 1.5 million / $61 257 – 91 886), both from 1961 and associated with the artist’s stay in the Spanish port city of Alicante. Painted in 1954, Still Life with Grapefruit (estimate R1.8 – 2.5 million / $110 263 – 153 143) depicts a copper fruit bowl filled with grapefruit.

The seven Pierneef works in the Evening Sale range from oils to watercolours and include the rare Cape casein Twin Peaks, Jonkershoek (circa 1928, estimate R600 000 – 800 000 / $36 754 – 49 006). Another highlight is the early oil Sunlit Mountains, Clarens (estimate R1 – 1.2 million / $61 257 – 73 508), created in 1918, a pivotal year when Pierneef left his position at the state library to focus on teaching and painting.

A notable consignment of works by pioneer Black modernists is led by Gerard Sekoto’s Game of Draughts in a Crowd (estimate R800 000 – 1.2 million / $49 006 – 73 508). Painted shortly after the artist relocated to Johannesburg in 1939, this important work is consigned from the Patricia Fine Art Collection. Patricia Fine (née Sulcas Kreiner), a former mayor of Cape Town, was widely recognised for her cultural patronage and civic commitment. The painting appeared in Sekoto’s career survey at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1989.

The group of Black modernists in the sale also includes works by Peter Clarke and George Pemba, artists whose influence continues to resonate with younger painters such as Mmangaliso Nzuza, whose 2023 portrait Still Becoming (estimate R90 000 – 120 000 / $5 429 – 7 238) is included in the sale.

The contemporary selection is led by a double-sided drawing by William Kentridge featuring a preparatory sketch for his 1992 theatre production Woyzeck on the Highveld (estimate R1.5 – 2 million / $91 886 – 122 514). Adapted from an unfinished play by the German dramatist Georg Büchner, the production marked the beginning of Kentridge’s celebrated collaborations with the Handspring Puppet Company. Additional contemporary highlights include two paintings by Georgina Gratrix, Composition with Eyes and All that Glitters (estimates for each R150 000 – 200 000 / $9 048 – 12 064), from in 2003 and 2021 respectively, as well as two colour-infused portraits by Mustafa Maluka (estimate for each R200 000 – 300 000 / $12 064 – 18 096).

Mary Sibande’s photograph To Everything There Is a Season (2019, estimate R350 000 – 500 000 / $21 440 – 30 629) has been widely exhibited in museums and art fairs, including presentations in Johannesburg, London and Washington, D.C. Igshaan Adams is represented by two works from 2019, including Cloud VIII (estimate R200 000 – 300 000 / $12 064 – 18 096), a suspended sphere of intertwined wires adorned with beads that showcases his effortless ability to merge textile and sculptural traditions. Adams is currently presenting a solo exhibition at Mudam – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg.

Sculpture is another strong feature of the Evening Sale and includes works by Norman Catherine, Guy du Toit, Kendell Geers, Lucas Sithole, Anton Smit, Willem Strydom and Angus Taylor. Doreen Southwood’s The Swimmer (2003, estimate R70 000 – 100 000 / $4 288 – 6 126), depicting a female bather poised on the end of a diving board, won the overall prize at the Brett Kebble Art Awards in 2003. A maquette of Male Trans-Figure I (S268) by the much-loved Dylan Lewis (estimate R300 000 – 500 000 / $18 377 – 30 629) also features.

Strauss & Co will also present Generations of Collecting: An Important Collection of Cape Silver, Oriental Ceramics, Furniture and Art on Wednesday, 25 March 2026. This two-part live-virtual sale reflects the Cape’s historic role as a meeting point of European craftsmanship, Asian trade and vernacular design. Highlights include an early Cape silver tea caddy from 1760 by Johan Anton Bünning (estimate R70 000 – 90 000 / $4 230 – 5 440) and a rare communion cup by Daniel Hockley (estimate R30 000 – 40 000 / $1 810 – 2 420), alongside classical Chinese and Japanese ceramics and VOC export wares.

The furniture selection includes important Cape pieces such as an exceptional Van der Stel-period rusbank (estimate R25 000 – 30 000 / $1 510 – 1 810) and a partner’s desk reputedly designed by the architect Herbert Baker for Groote Schuur (estimate R15 000 – 20 000 / $910 – 1 210). A group of landscape paintings by artists including Gwelo Goodman, J. H. Pierneef and Gregoire Boonzaier further situates the collection within the evolving social and topographical history of the Cape.

Adds Bina Genovese: “Together, the March sales demonstrate the breadth of Strauss & Co’s specialist expertise, bringing together museum-quality works by major modernists, important private collections and a dynamic selection of contemporary art.”.

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March Auctions:

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Exhibitions: