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.
Strauss & Co auction series focuses on contemporary ceramics, Pierneef prints and artworks collected by soprano Mimi Coertse
JOHANNESBURG – Strauss & Co is pleased to announce details for High Note, a live-virtual auction of modern and contemporary art to be held on Tuesday, 22 July 2025 at 7pm. The sale, part of a trio planned for July, features a small consignment of eight works from the personal collection of acclaimed South African soprano Mimi Coertse, alongside notable works by William Kentridge, J.H. Pierneef and Lady Skollie.
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.
Welgemeend Art Month announces the title and focus on their anchor exhibition for 2025
Drawing on the extensive Kilbourn Collection of modern and contemporary South African art, the exhibition In en Om Ons/ In and Around Us explores what it means to be an artist working after the advent of photography. The exhibition – a cornerstone of Welgemeend Art Month, now in its 12th year – will feature select paintings and photographs from the Kilbourn Collection that explore ideas of subjectivity, consciousness, home, play and work.
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.
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.
Eastern Cape Echoes: Selected Works from Tsitsikamma to Lusikisiki, July ART, Johannesburg spotlight sale & more
Strauss & Co is pleased to present ‘Eastern Cape Echoes: Selected Works from Tsitsikamma to Lusikisiki’, a sale that brings together a selection of artworks by artists who either originate from, live in, or draw inspiration from the Eastern Cape — a region where storytelling takes root in fertile ground. Included in the Timed Online
Archived: Strauss & Co to auction contents of historic Constantia mansion
Leading auction house Strauss & Co is privileged to be offering the entire contents of Harcroft House – an imposing 64-roomed Arts and Crafts mansion in the heart of Constantia in Cape Town. The 558-lot auction will take place in situ on Monday 18 November and will be preceded by three days of public viewing, from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 November.
Landmark Exhibition: Irma Stern: A Modern Artist between Berlin and Cape Town
Brücke Museum, Berlin, 13 July – 2 November 2025 The life and work of Irma Stern will be celebrated in Irma Stern: A Modern Artist between Berlin and Cape Town, a landmark exhibition at the Brücke Museum in Berlin (13 July – 2 November 2025). Click here for more information. Featuring over 40 paintings, watercolours
Archived: Vigorous bidding for the contents of Harcroft House in Constantia
Strauss & Co ended its 2019 programme of live sales on a confident note when the contents of Harcroft House, a distinguished Cape manor home in Constantia, was sold. The highest earner among the 558 lots on offer was a Chinese early Republican period, four-panel scroll painting depicting birds in flowering trees, which sold for R432 440, more than four times the estimate.
