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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Wopko Jensma

South African 1939- c. 1993 


Wopko Jensma was a South African poet and artist. Born in 1939 in Ventersdorp in the Transvaal, he grew up in Middleburg in the Eastern Cape. Between 1961 and 1964, Jensma pursued a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree (sculpture) from the University of Pretoria. In 1965, he was enrolled in a Teacher’s Diploma at the University of Potchefstroom but had to abandon it due to a motorcycle accident. After his recovery, Jensma travelled through Africa, settling for a time in Botswana with his wife, Lydia, and their three children. The family was unable to live in South Africa during this time because theirs was an interracial marriage, illegal in the country during apartheid. Through his art and poetry, Jensma conveyed his deep criticism of the apartheid regime. He produced drawings, woodcuts, linocuts, and other works on paper in an abstract style.

Jensma and his wife split up in the late 1960s and he returned to South Africa, settling in Johannesburg. The artist suffered from schizophrenia and by the late 1980s, he was living in the Salvation Army Men’s Home in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. He disappeared without a trace in August 1993.


96 lots offered      67.71% sold      ZAR 538 437

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Wopko Jensma; Head
Head
5 Nov 2025
Starting at ZAR 4 000
Wopko Jensma; Wail for the Beast X; Where White is the Colour Where Black is the Number, two
Wail for the Beast X; Where White is the Colour Where Black is the Number, two
20 Oct 2025
Current bid ZAR 13 000
Wopko Jensma; Untitled (Sing for Our Execution); Sing for Our Execution, two
Untitled (Sing for Our Execution); Sing for Our Execution, two
20 Oct 2025
Current bid ZAR 4 800
Wopko Jensma; Wail for the Beast VII; I Must Show You My Clippings, two
Wail for the Beast VII; I Must Show You My Clippings, two
20 Oct 2025
Current bid ZAR 12 000
Wopko Jensma; Abstract Composition
Abstract Composition
18 Aug 2025
Starting at ZAR 30 000
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Wopko Jensma; Mythical Figure
Mythical Figure
25 Oct 2022
Starting at ZAR 8 000
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