Major Pierneef landscape and Kentridge tree studies anchor Strauss & Co’s July Evening Sale 

3 Jul 2026

JOHANNESBURG – A monumental late landscape by J.H. Pierneef, Bushveld Landscape, Approaching Storm, Sabi Sands (1952), leads Strauss & Co’s July auction week in Johannesburg, on 21–22 July 2026. Estimated to fetch R5–7 million / $302 298 – 423 216, the painting headlines a strong Evening Sale of fresh-to-market modern and contemporary art.

The arboreal subjects of Pierneef’s various linocuts, etching, caseins and oils in the Evening Sale, including Bushveld Landscape with Autumn Leaves (estimate R1 – 1.5 million / $60 460 – 90 689) find a contemporary interpreter in the recent work of William Kentridge. The catalogue includes two large examples of Kentridge’s technically accomplished works on paper:The Old Gods Have Retired, dated 2022 (estimate R1.2 – 1.5 million / $72 552 – 90 689), and You Who Never Arrived, dated 2021 (estimate R850 000 – 950 000 / $51 391 – 57 437).

The public offering of these lots by Pierneef and Kentridge concludes a diverse programme of consecutive live-virtual auctions on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, spanning the Willem Boshoff Collection, a focus on South African ceramics, and the premier Evening Sale. Full sale times are listed at the end of this article. 

This live programme is complemented by a single-owner collection of drawings and paintings by Gregoire Boonzaier, presented as an online-only sale that concludes on Wednesday, 22 July 2026. The Boonzaier focus continues in the tradition of Strauss & Co’s popular winter single-artist auctions, which previously highlighted the output of John Muafangejo, Hylton Nel and J.H. Pierneef.  

“The wide-ranging selection of works by Henk Pierneef in the Evening Sale is justifiably led by his majestic oil on canvas Bushveld Landscape, Approaching Storm, Sabi Sands,” says Dr. Alastair Meredith, Director and Head of Sale, Strauss & Co. “Produced in 1952, during a visit to friends on their game farm in the then recently incorporated Sabi Sands Game Reserve, the work has hung in a single-family collection for decades.”  

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“According to family lore, Pierneef was moved during this stay by the spectacle of an approaching storm over the plains, and painted the scene as a parting gift. Pierneef’s best late paintings, most of them from the early 1950s, are defined by their large scale, confident simplification, decorative power, hushed tone, and solemn colour combinations. Bushveld Landscape, Approaching Storm, Sabi Sands possesses all these attributes. The work is attractively priced, too. Previously, Strauss & Co has achieved salesroom prices in excess of R10 million for bushveld paintings dated 1952 and 1953.”

Dr. Alastair Meredith adds:

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Preview Exhibition and Curator Walkabouts

Pierneef’s Bushveld Landscape, Approaching Storm, Sabi Sands will be presented to the public in a preview exhibition that opens on Monday, 6 July 2026 at Strauss & Co’s Houghton showroom. Dr. Alastair Meredith, Head of Art Department at Strauss & Co, and Wilhelm van Rensburg, Senior Art Specialist and Head Curator at Strauss & Co, will lead walkabouts of the exhibition on Saturday–Sunday, 18–19 July 2026. 

OH YES! The Willem Boshoff Art Collection

Born in 1951 and widely admired for his singular practice spanning wood and stone sculpture, assemblages, installations and text works, Willem Boshoff is one of the most important artists working on the African continent today. This 40-lot sale comprises works from Boshoff’s personal collection, including pieces by Candice Breitz, Christo Coetzee, Jackson Hlungwani, John Muafangejo, Marianne Podlashuc and Simon Stone. 

Additionally, there is a small selection of works on paper and mixed-media sculptures by Boshoff himself, spanning his career. They include a pencil figure study dated 1972 (estimate R20 000 – 30 000 / $1 209 – 1 815) and Snatch (estimate R200 000 – 300 000 / $12 091 – 18 150), an aluminium and wire work from 2011. OH YES! The Willem Boshoff Art Collection

Unearthed: Contemporary South African Ceramics

Since 2020, Strauss & Co has been committed to programming dedicated focuses on South African ceramics and clay arts. Unearthed: Contemporary South African Ceramics gathers a wide-ranging collection of the influential makers active since the 1960s, among them Esais Bosch, Hyme Rabinowitz and Andrew Walford, pioneers of the studio movement. There are two pieces by Josephine Ghesa, one of Ardmore Ceramic Studio’s first artists, as well as works by Hylton Nel and his various protégés, notably Nico Masemola. 

The works of Andile Dyalvane, Madoda Fani, Chuma Maweni and Mpho Mokgatlhe are commanding examples of how Nguni ceramic traditions have been reinterpreted by contemporary ceramists. Other contemporary clay artists in the sale include Astrid Dahl, Ruan Hoffmann, Eugene Hön, Martine Jackson, Ben Orkin and Clive Sithole. 

Due to its large size, Bosch’s monumental tile Koi (estimate R800 000 – 1 000 000 / $48 368 – 60 460) will only be on view at Strauss & Co’s Cape Town showroom.

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JULY AUCTIONS 2026

OH YES! The Willem Boshoff Art Collection

Live Virtual Auction, 21 July 2026

Unearthed: Contemporary South African Ceramics

Live Virtual Auction, 21 July 2026

Evening Sale

Live Virtual Auction, 21 July 2026

Cape Charm, Gregoire Boonzaier Works from a Single-Owner Collection

Timed Online Auction, 2 – 22 July 2026

Fine Dining

Timed Online Auction, 1 – 27 July 2026

July ART

Timed Online Auction, 26 June – 13 July 2026

July ART Focus

Timed Online Auction, 26 June – 14 July 2026

Italy, Spain and Portugal Fine Wine Auction

Timed Online Auction, 1 – 20 July 2026

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Exhibitions:

The Poets Are Working

16 April 2026 → 9 July 2026