Artists

From Albert Adams to Portia Zvavahera, Strauss & Co maintains a detailed database of every artist sold at auction since 2009. Whether it is painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, ceramics or new media, this searchable database lists by artist every lot offered and provides aggregated data useful to collectors. Famous South African artists like William Kentridge, JH Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Irma Stern are introduced with helpful biographies along with the best contemporary artists.



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Hylton Nel

South African 1941- 


Hylton Nel was born in Zambia but grew up on a cattle farm in the Karoo, and is now based in Calitzdorp. As a Fine Art student at Rhodes University, he was enthralled by the ‘beautiful things’ in the cabinet of curiosities assembled by the then head of the department, Brian Bradshaw. It included Greek terracotta figures and Chinese ceramics including a Tang dynasty horse and a Song brush pot. Nel experimented with techniques and glazes the studio of Jürgen Hamberger, a well-known ceramist who ran a studio in Grahamstown, and later completed a diploma in ceramics at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, in Belgium.

Nel went on to assemble his own collection of ‘beautiful things’, and developed an extensive knowledge of Chinese ceramics and art history more broadly, and this seems to have promoted his unique experimentation and sense of adventure with ceramic sculpture.

At the age of 80, he continues to produce a riotous miscellany of wonky vases, inscrutable felines, and higgledy-piggledy houses that hark back to eclectic sources in historical ceramic traditions, literature and popular culture. He is also the influential mentor of a new generation of talented young sculptors, including the late Nico Masemola.


269 lots offered      89.96% sold      ZAR 5 956 073
 

  Including Premium and VAT Results include Buyer's Premium and VAT
Hylton Nel; Green dish with line pattern, three
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 11 139
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Green bowl with fish motif, two
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 11 139
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Green bowl with moth motif, two
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 14 070
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Bowl with circular green motif, two
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 11 725
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Blue plate with flower motifs, three
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 11 139
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Brown dish with circular motif, two
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 9 380
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Plate with purple rim and blue leaf motif, ten
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 21 105
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Plate with blue and purple leaf motif, six
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 25 795
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Bowl with yellow peach motif, two
15 Jul 2025
Sold for ZAR 17 588
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Vase with text and chicken feet motif
1 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 23 450
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Ceramic bowl with portrait of a man
17 Feb 2025
Sold for ZAR 9 967
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Hylton Nel; Medicine Cat
17 Feb 2025
Sold for ZAR 281 400
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT

Results in green indicate post sales.