South Africa’s impressive sculpture tradition receives its due in Strauss & Co’s forthcoming live-virtual auction season in Johannesburg (3-9 November 2022), with a dedicated sculpture session titled IN/FORM: Exploring South African Sculpture.
"Very few artists command the respect and admiration of their peers in the way Robert Hodgins does, a reverence often verging on cult status." Kendall Geers Strauss & Co’s June 1 auction of Important South African and International Art in Johannesburg features a unique and unprecedented selection of paintings by Robert Hodgins, one of the most compelling of South African artists. These works span the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century and track Hodgins’ rise from obscurity to stardom and his development from young, inquiring artist to mature painter. Though Hodgins only started his full-time painting career in earnest at the age of 63 when he retired from his lectureship at Wits, he was a prolific artist and produced paintings with varying degrees of regularity and intensity throughout his life. Strauss & Co holds the top 12 consecutive records for Hodgins, most recently R2,6 million which was achieved for the painting J’accuse.
Tastes regularly shift in the art world, but over the last half century Irma Stern has remained highly prized among collectors of South African art, outperforming all other artists at auction.
Strauss & Co’s sale which takes place in Johannesburg on 1 June 2015 showcases many exciting works of art by South African and international artists of stature. These include Kees van Dongen, Alexander Calder, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso, Irma Stern, JH Pierneef, William Kentridge, Jane Alexander, Robert Hodgins, Penny Siopis, Deborah Bell, Walter Oltman and Athi-Patra Ruga.
As William Kentridge’s bumper year of global museum exhibitions engages new audiences, and ahead of sales of works by the artist at Strauss & Co in Johannesburg next week, a new international report identifies Strauss & Co as art market leader selling works by William Kentridge.
At Strauss & Co’s auction of Important South African and International Art on Monday 1 June, artworks to the value of over R40 million are set to go under the hammer. Amongst the highlights is an arresting portrait by renowned Dutch artist, Kees Van Dongen, of his beloved daughter Dolly.
Important South African and International Art, Johannesburg, 1 June 2015, Lot 175 Athi-Patra Ruga is as comfortable and thought-provoking expressing his ideas on sexuality, gender, consumerism, race and politics as he is in working through numerous mediums, whether video, photography, performance , interventions or textiles.
A painting by the celebrated Dutch artist Kees van Dongen of his much loved daughter Dolly which was painted in 1909, was the most expensive painting sold by Strauss & Co at their auction in Johannesburg last night. The painting realised R5 684 000 which well exceeded the pre-sale estimate.
A rare sculpture by the South African born artist Ernest Mancoba who left South Africa in 1938 for Paris where he met and married the famous Dutch artist Sonja Verlov, last night astounded the South African art buying public when it sold for R613 872.
A painting by the celebrated larger than life artist and chef, Braam Kruger, popularly known as "kitchen boy" depicting himself and his erstwhile girlfriend the actress Grethe Fox as Justice, as well as Adam and Eve after The Fall in the nude, last night was sold by Strauss & Co in Johannesburg for R204 624, setting a new record for the artist. Kruger, who died in 2008, for many years presented a popular cooking program on television.
