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Alexis Preller, a star feature of Strauss & Co 2019 upcoming Johannesburg sale
7 May 2018
Four impressive works by Alexis Preller, including an imaginative 1950 self-portrait, are among the outstanding works on offer at Strauss & Co’s forthcoming live sale in Johannesburg, due to be held at the Wanderers Club on 4 June 2018.
Highlights of the sale include, along with Preller, contributions by Walter Battiss, William Kentridge, JH Pierneef and Vladimir Tretchikoff.
Two works by Pierneef a top earner at auction and South Africa’s foremost landscape painter, will be on offer, most notably a Lowveld landscape portraying Shingwedzi in the northern part of the Kruger National Park, estimated to fetch between R1.5-R2.5 million.
Great excitement surrounds Preller’s undated intaglio painting titled Poseidon. This depiction of the mythical Greek god of the sea has been held in the same private collection for decades and carries a competitive pre-sale estimate of between R3-R5 million. Charting a wholly different direction in painting, but no less sought after at auction, is Tretchikoff, whose portrait of a traditional healer holding a green snake is expected to sell for between R2-R3 million.
The upcoming sale includes a special focus on abstract painting, and draws together many generations of artists. The offerings include Douglas Portway’s oil on canvas London 62 (estimate R120 000-R160 000), which is dominated by remnants of his African colour scheme following his self-imposed exile to Europe.
Two important contemporary artists, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa and Sam Nhlengethwa, also feature in the sale. Mautloa’s vivid green diptych Tribute to Abstraction (2017-18) carries an estimate of between R60 000-R90 000, and Nhlengethwa’s Image IV (1990), a striking abstract composition from his Thupelo workshop period, is valued at R200 000-R300 000.
There is a strong focus on contemporary art in Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg sale. Alongside Kentridge, whose colonial landscape drawing, Deep Pool, is likely to sell for between R3-R4 million, this sale includes works by Conrad Botes, Wim Botha, Dan Halter and Clive van den Berg.
A new survey exhibition dedicated to Sydney Kumalo at the Norval Foundation may help push bidding for this important twentieth-century sculptor’s bronze, Figure on a Bull, past the high estimate of R600 000.
Other noteworthy artists represented on this sale include Erik Laubscher’s Still Life with Bowl and Vessel (estimate R250 000-R350 000), Gerard Sekoto’s Ndebele Women (estimate R600 000-R800 000), and Robert Hodgins’s representation of a rural feast, Fête Champêtre (estimate R800 000-R1 million).
In the lead up to the sale, the company will host an engaging programme of social events and educational tours.
Press Enquiries
Bina Genovese | bina@straussart.co.za
2018 Press Releases
November
- 7 Nov 2018 City story: Strauss & Co sale explores how Johannesburg defined a nation & 2019 art history
- 7 Nov 2018 Four singular artists bolster Strauss & Co 2019 R80-million Johannesburg sale
- 16 Nov 2018 Strauss & Co November sale hits a high note with bold results from their An Unsung History auction & 2013, setting new records for contemporaries Moses Tladi and JH Pierneef
- 20 Nov 2018 Works from leading Contemporary Artists from Africa and its Diaspora in Zeitz MOCAA Benefit Auction
October
- 8 Oct 2018 Important Namibian paintings from The Late Peter and Regina Strack Collection poised to go under the hammer in South Africa
- 8 Oct 2018 Unstinting connoisseurship: Important collections form the bedrock of Strauss & Co 2019 Spring sale
- 16 Oct 2018 Single-owner collections snapped up by collectors at Strauss & Co spring sale
September
- 13 Sep 2018 Kwazulu-Natal School artworks and Scandinavian Jewellery, Silver and Furniture among online sale highlights
- 16 Sep 2018 Strauss & Co awarded prestigious Chairman 2019 Premier Award at 21st BASA Awards
- 20 Sep 2018 Important works by visionary collectors on offer at Strauss & Co 2019 October sale
- 21 Sep 2018 From Pierneef to Kentridge: landscapes ground Strauss & Co 2019 October sale
- 21 Sep 2018 The Late Peter and Regina Strack Collection
August
- 10 Aug 2018 The Strauss Art Hub on the Keyes Art Mile
- 28 Aug 2018 Strauss & Co recognised with two Business and Arts South Africa Awards nominations
July
- 9 Jul 2018 Strauss & Co Showcases Online Auction and Stern Still Lifes at RMB Turbine Art Fair
- 26 Jul 2018 Art Month at Welgemeend highlights achievements of women artists
- 26 Jul 2018 Four masterclasses on art and collecting during Art Month at Welgemeend
June
- 4 Jun 2018 Top 10 Lots, 4 June 2018
- 5 Jun 2018 Abstract South African Art in focus for Strauss & Co 2019 first themed online sale
- 5 Jun 2018 Preller, Kentridge and Tretchikoff top Strauss & Co 2019 Johannesburg sale
- 15 Jun 2018 Radiant Irma Stern still life leads Strauss & Co's 2019 offerings for the second half of 2018
May
- 2 May 2018 The Discerning Eye of a Collector
- 7 May 2018 Alexis Preller, a star feature of Strauss & Co 2019 upcoming Johannesburg sale
- 18 May 2018 Alexis Preller leads Strauss & Co 2019 upcoming Johannesburg sale
- 18 May 2018 Strauss & Co 2019 winter sale shines a spotlight on abstraction
- 18 May 2018 Strauss & Co's upcoming Johannesburg sale studded with museum-calibre works
- 22 May 2018 Contemporary art shines on Strauss & Co Johannesburg sale
March
- 6 Mar 2018 Strauss & Co sets new world record for still life by Erik Laubscher
- 6 Mar 2018 Top 10 Lots, 5 March 2018
- 16 Mar 2018 An unseen and thrilling Preller to go on sale at Strauss & Co
- 28 Mar 2018 Brave new virtual world @ Strauss & Co
February
- 19 Feb 2018 Strauss & Co's debut Contemporary Art auction identifies the next generation of stars
- 20 Feb 2018 Breakthrough moments: Strauss & Co sale includes formative works by key artists
January