Dear Clients and Friends, I hope that you and your families are in good health and secure in these troubling times. I would like to personally thank you for your continued support of Strauss & Co, and for joining us on our dynamic digital journey over the course of 2020.
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Strauss & Co Total Art Sales Increase by 26% in 2025
Strauss & Co achieved total sales of R475.5m / $28 million from 6,927 lots sold through the various sales channels in 2025, an increase of 26% over 2024. The figure includes 83 non-charity, revenue-generating auctions and private sales. International engagement remained a priority, with focused marketing activities in Europe and the UK and a highly successful inaugural auction in Kenya, extending the company’s regional footprint. Strauss & Co continued to grow
Archived: Strauss & Co 2019 October results bode well for the Pierneef market
JH “Henk” Pierneef demonstrated his enduring appeal at Strauss & Co’s R55-million Spring sale, held in Cape Town on 7 October, achieving a total of R9.65 million from nine lots sold. The top lot, a monumental study of interlaced camelthorn trees in a landscape near Thabazimbi, sold for R2.73 million. The results marked a welcome return to form for Pierneef, whose prices had been diluted by a recent fire sale by a distressed collector.
Strauss & Co kicks off new year with online treasure trove
Strauss & Co springs into action in the new year with an impressive roster of online auctions for its first offering in 2026. The February timed online auctions have commenced and will close from 2pm on 9 and 10 February. Mirroring Strauss & Co’s online auction model, the current sale is designed to offer collectable
Archived: The History of Harcroft House
The history of Harcroft is bound up in an extraordinary love story which began in 1936, when British born Charles Louis Rycroft flouted the conventions of the time to marry a divorcee, Muriel Susan Elizabeth Parsons. Harcroft Estate, situated on the banks of the Ayer Tawar river in Perak, Malaysia, was a rubber plantation comprising the estate and the factory which Charles’s father, George Henry Rycroft, and his business partner, John Hartley, had purchased in 1919. Merging their two surnames, it was registered as Harcroft Rubber Estates Ltd.
Archived: An icon resurrected: Lucas Sithole 2019 highly important buffalo sculpture to go on sale
An exceptional assembly of bronzes by three trailblazing modernist sculptors – Ezrom Legae, Lucas Sithole and Edoardo Villa – lead Strauss & Co’s robust offering of sculpture at its forthcoming live sale on Monday, 11 November in Johannesburg.
2025 Chairperson’s Report
“Notwithstanding a challenging global backdrop, Strauss & Co delivered another year of steady growth in 2025, driven by an expanded auction programme, strong demand for exceptional works, and the continued diversification of our collecting categories. The energy in our salerooms, the depth of participation across digital and live platforms, and the success of our international and regional
Archived: From Sash to Siopis: Strauss sale celebrates prominent role of Wits University in South African art history
A historically important painting by Penny Siopis forms part of a remarkable consignment of work by former staff and students of the University of the Witwatersrand on offer at Strauss & Co’s upcoming live sale, due to take place on Monday 11 November at 7pm in Johannesburg at their Houghton rooms, 89 Central Street.
Strauss & Co offers accessible works in year-end auctions
• Online art sales offer incredible value in modern and contemporary segments • Accessible price points offer collectors variety • Depth of work reflects market vitality • Major artists like Stern, Kentridge and Nhlengethwa on offer November 2025: Strauss & Co has launched its year-end auctions, with an impressive variety and choice of modern and contemporary art across themed sessions running between 20November and 8 December. Five
Archived: Strauss & Co establishes four new world records at its Johannesburg sale
Celebrated contemporary artist William Kentridge affirmed his place among auction stalwarts JH Pierneef and Alexis Preller at Strauss & Co’s R37-million summer sale in Johannesburg. The packed evening sale, which started just before the welcome arrival of overdue rain, saw the auction house establish four new world records for artists, notably Ezrom Legae, whose African Goat, cast at the Vignali Foundry in Pretoria in 1990, sold for R1.7 million.
