A keen traveller, Irma Stern was also fortunate to have the financial means with which to do so. Her trips also provided her with an abundance of new sights from which she could draw inspiration for her insatiable artistic output.

At a recent Strauss & Company auction in Cape Town, an original drawing from the opera The Magic Flute sold for R1 591 520.

record for South African sculpture record for Jane Alexander record for contemporary art in South Africa Johannesburg: History was made at Strauss & Cos auction yesterday evening when Jane Alexanders important sculpture, Untitled, sold for an impressive R5,5 million setting a new record for a South African sculpture, a record for Jane Alexander and a record for contemporary art in South Africa.

As South Africa’s leading auction house of fine and decorative arts, our goal is to offer for sale at auction high quality, unique and fresh to the market pieces at responsible estimates and with impeccable provenance. Our sustained commitment to provide our clients, both buyers and sellers, with the best possible service is of paramount importance and we are grateful to have been rewarded by their continued support.

All eyes are on Strauss & Co’s upcoming auction scheduled for 17 March 2014 at the Vineyard Hotel, Newlands in Cape Town. Whether your interests lie in South African or international fine arts, decorative arts or jewellery, there is plenty to tempt the senses.

All eyes are on Strauss & Co’s upcoming auction scheduled for 17 March 2014 at The Vineyard Hotel, Newlands in Cape Town. Whether your interests lie in South African or international fine arts, decorative arts or jewellery, there’s plenty to tempt the senses.

Strauss & Co is pleased to announce the second iteration of its brand new product, Strauss Online.

Anton van Wouws Miner with a Hand Drill, dated 1911, is a rare and remarkable example of his best sculpture. Few castings exist of this large bronze measuring 60 centimetres in height as, even in Van Wouws lifetime, its price was exceptionally high, according to Professor Dr Alexander Duffey.(i) No other bronze by Van Wouw has excited so much interest at auction since Strauss & Co achieved R2 228 000 in March 2010 for the sculptors Bad News cast at the G. Massa Foundry in Rome.

We know that Wenning painted this charming scene between 16th and 28th July 1917. In correspondence between the artist and D C Boonzaier dated 28 July 1917, the latter indicated that since Wenning had moved into his new room in the city twelve days previously, he had produced two small paintings of the Malay quarter of which this is one. (i)

Malay Girl is a superb painting, confirming Irma Sterns unparalleled stature as an artist. The South African auction world has seen no comparable portrait since Strauss & Co sold Sterns Arab in June 2012 for R17 267 000. Painted in 1938, Malay Girl contains all the elements of her finest works.