Brisk trade at Strauss & Co’s late-summer auction culminates in red-hot prices for works by Brice, Preller, Stern and Sekoto

CAPE TOWN – Robust bidding for blue-chip paintings by Lisa Brice, Maggie Laubser, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto, Irma Stern and Vladimir Tretchikoff characterised Strauss & Co’s vibrant flagship evening sale on Tuesday, 19 March. Confirming her gilt status at auction, Irma Stern’s The Smoker, a captivating depiction of a Zanzibari man painted in 1945, sold to a telephone bidder for R17 156 250 / $905 310. The 94-lot sale of modern and contemporary art earned a healthy total of R45 554 355/ $2 400 400 from 72% lots sold.