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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Walter Battiss

South African 1906-1982 


In addition to being a prolific painter and printmaker, Walter Battiss was a passionate student of Southern African rock art, publishing no fewer than seven books on the subject in the 1940s and 50s. The elongated figures typical of his art were directly inspired by his large collection of rock art photographs and tracings. In the 1960s his work was characterised by a sgraffito technique (scratching images through layers of oil paint) and in the early 1970s Battiss invented an imaginary artistic construct, Fook Island, which he populated with material culture (a Fook alphabet, currency, postage stamps, passport, etc.). His numerous travels to the Middle East and to various Greek islands were constant sources of inspiration.


1,244 lots offered      79.74% sold      ZAR 83 381 433
 

  Including Premium and VAT Results include Buyer's Premium and VAT
Walter Battiss; Monochromatic Frieze
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 25 000
Walter Battiss; Seychelles
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 20 000
Walter Battiss; Cat in Mouth
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 15 000
Walter Battiss; House and Trees in a Mountainous Landscape
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 13 000
Walter Battiss; Fragments of Africa
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 22 000
Walter Battiss; Sculptured Head, Seychelles
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 9 000
Walter Battiss; Sunion (sic) Attica Temple of Poseidon
12 May 2025
Starting at ZAR 5 500
Walter Battiss; Grand Canal, Venezia
22 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 29 313
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Walter Battiss; Collection of Digital Prints, five
22 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 5 863
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Walter Battiss; Chalk Farm Rd, London
22 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 15 243
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Walter Battiss; Buck, three
22 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 3 752
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Walter Battiss; Bushmen Art
22 Apr 2025
Sold for ZAR 12 898
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT

VAT is charged on both hammer and premium for daggered lots.