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Old-world heritage and a dash of spring colour in Strauss & Co’s bespoke live sale
30 Aug 2021
Strauss & Co is pleased to provide advance details of its forthcoming live virtual sale, Impression/Expression: from Hugo Naudé to Georgina Gratrix, due to be held on Tuesday, 14 September 2021 at 6pm. The 90-lot sale, which will be livestreamed from Johannesburg, broadly explores the legacies of impressionism and expressionism, two important western art movements, in South African art.
The single-session auction will include a tailored selection of art lots, including two lots apiece by auction trailblazers JH Pierneef and Irma Stern, as well as five icon wines, among them an 1821 vintage of Grand Constance, South Africa’s oldest and most illustrious wine brand. The sale is expected to earn up to R14 million and includes Stern’s Bathers at Nice, a 1965 oil portraying three naked bathers on the French Riviera (estimate R1.5 – 2 million).
The time period under consideration is bracketed by Hugo Naudé’s uplifting spring composition, Namaqualand Flowers and Quiver Tree (estimate R700 000 – 1 000 000) and Georgina Gratrix’s bountiful still life from 2021, All that Glitters (R70 000 – 90 000). All the proceeds of the sale of the Gratrix lot will benefit the KZNSA Gallery, Durban. Naudé aside, other notable Cape impressionists in this sale include Gwelo Goodman and Pieter Wenning, whose Rietdakhuis, Mowbray, Cape (estimate R400 000 – 600 000) distils the late-career élan experienced by the artist before his premature death.
“The sale, which is exclusively composed of works by South African artists, helps make sense of some of the many stylistic and conceptual shifts that have taken place in this country over the past century,” says Alastair Meredith, who heads up Strauss & Co’s art department. “Many of the works in Impression/Expression, whether painted or sculpted, mid-century or contemporary, can sit comfortably in the impressionism or expressionism categories. Works from each school, however, can still be tied together by theme, tone, impulse or style. Impressionist pictures, for instance, can capture the transience of light, can be stirred by modernity, and in pursuit of atmospheric sensation. Many expressionist works, moreover, are made with instinct, are defined by intimacy, and drawn to visual anarchy. The works in Impression/Expression are presented with these often overlapping attributes in mind.”
The sale also includes an exciting crop of contemporary women artists, among them Maaike Bakker, Io Makandal, Yolanda Mazwana, Lucy Jane Turpin and Kylie Wentzel. Their diverse practices are contextualized by the inclusion of works by prominent earlier artists such as Leonora Everard-Haden, Maggie Laubser, Judith Mason, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Nita Spilhaus and Hannatjie van der Wat. Similar to previous bespoke auctions organised by the Johannesburg office of Strauss & Co, such as the phenomenally successful single-artist sale devoted to JH Pierneef in July, this sale is supported by an extensive e-catalogue.
As a complement to this historically minded sale of art, Strauss & Co’s wine department has arranged a unique selection of five iconic South African wines of considerable age. Unlike the deep wine heritage of Europe, few bottles of very old South African wine remain today. The marquee lot, and arguably the rarest South African wine, is the 1821 Grand Constance (estimate R300 000 – 500 000), of which only a dozen bottles still exist.
The wine offering also includes the GS 1966 Cabernet (estimate R30 000 – 40 000), an experimental Durbanville Cabernet Sauvignon made by George Spies of Monis in 1966 and 1968, and the 1957 Chateau Libertas Red (estimate R17 000 – 25 000). Both wines have received perfect scores from international wine experts. The offering also includes an 1800 Muscat d’Alexandrie, an incredibly unique solera-style sweet wine (estimate R50 000 – 70 000). Closing out the selection is a rare 1987 vintage of Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance (estimate R25 000 – 35 000).
Since these wines have been stored over multiple generations, provenance is of supreme importance and each bottle carries a story of winemaking and ownership. The 1821 Grand Constance, for instance, was purchased on auction in London as part of a large collection in 1983 by the Malan family of Simonsig Estate, while the bottle of 1800 Muscat d’Alexandrie was drawn from a barrel of 1800 Muscat that has been under the Jaubert family’s custodianship ever since. Importantly, recent tastings have confirmed the vinosity and sheer brilliance of the wines being offered.
Commenting on the distinctive arrangement of this single-session sale, Susie Goodman, an executive director at Strauss & Co, states: “The time of Covid has seen a complete transformation in how we do business, especially digitally, and has enabled us to reach people in different parts of the world that we never previously accessed. Over the past year we’ve noticed how these buyers have reinvigorated areas that were previously flat or dormant, for example the market for early Cape impressionism. This category has seen a huge upswing in the past year. Our solid digital infrastructure, which predates Covid, enabled us to quickly respond to these new patterns, as well as service clients wanting to buy or sell on a quicker turnaround than was traditionally the norm. Our capacity to present a focused sale like this owes a great deal to the phenomenal team of experts and cataloguers at Strauss & Co.”
Impression/Expression: from Hugo Naudé to Georgina Gratrix, and the mini-sale of five South African wine icons, will be held on Tuesday, 14 September 2021 at 6pm. Susie Goodman and Alastair Meredith will share duties at the rostrum over the course of the evening sale.
An e-catalogue containing short essays and descriptive notes will be available on Strauss & Co’s website www@straussart.co.za. Works available in this sale will be on view at Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg exhibition space at 89 Central St, Houghton, from Monday, 6 September 2021 until the day of the sale.
2021 Press Releases
December
- 1 Dec 2021 Nigerian sculptor Samuel Nnorom wins the Stephan Welz Cassirer fine art award
- 1 Dec 2021 The Series Edition - Starting an art collection
- 7 Dec 2021 A host of art and experiences on auction to benefit South Africa’s world class museum, Norval Foundation
- 13 Dec 2021 Strauss & Co - Reflections 2021
November
- 4 Nov 2021 Goldblatt and Muholi lead Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg Auction Week photography session
- 4 Nov 2021 Knockout drawings by Kentridge and Victor on offer at Strauss & Co
- 4 Nov 2021 From the Professor Jan K Coetzee Collection
- 7 Nov 2021 Quality artworks at Johannesburg Auction Week, including show stopper Preller’s iconic human figure Adam and Eve
- 8 Nov 2021 The Series on Art Education - The Influence of African Art on Modernism
- 9 Nov 2021 The imperfect perfection of ceramists Hylton Nel and Nico Masemola
- 9 Nov 2021 Perfectly Imperfect: Ceramic Sculpture by Hylton Nel and Nico Masemola
- 10 Nov 2021 The Juanita Bird Collection of Linn Ware and 20th Century Ceramics
- 12 Nov 2021 Mid-twentieth century paintings triumph at Strauss & Co’s vibrant Johannesburg Auction Week
- 17 Nov 2021 Online Auction of works by Andile Dyalvane – for generations to come
- 22 Nov 2021 Strauss & Co concludes 2021 with a bumper, three-part online auction
- 24 Nov 2021 The Series Edition: Wine as an asset class
- 26 Nov 2021 Strauss & Co end year on a high note with Online-Only Auction – Part III
- 26 Nov 2021 Strauss & Co end year on a high note with Online-Only Auction – Part II
- 26 Nov 2021 Strauss & Co end year on a high note with Online-Only auction – Part I
October
- 5 Oct 2021 Champagne pops expected for heroic works by Preller and Stern at Strauss & Co
- 5 Oct 2021 A Tribute to Claude Bouscharain and Erik Laubscher
- 6 Oct 2021 A century of cutting-edge international design under the spotlight at Strauss & Co
- 7 Oct 2021 Strauss & Co honours a Contemporary Great Dr Esther Mahlangu in their upcoming sale
- 8 Oct 2021 The Andrew Newall Collection of Weapons and the Vyvyan Myerson Collection of Cutlery
- 8 Oct 2021 Displays of Dexterity in the Contemporary Session at Strauss & Co
- 14 Oct 2021 Record prices at Strauss & Co white glove wine sale with top producers Alheit, Sadie and Vilafonté
- 14 Oct 2021 Johannesburg Auction Week features two masterpieces of mid-century SA painting
- 15 Oct 2021 Strong demand for mid-century painting and furniture at Strauss & Co sale
- 21 Oct 2021 Strauss & Co selling three artist-designed bicycles to benefit education outcomes
- 28 Oct 2021 Vladimir Tretchikoff – The people’s painter
September
- 8 Sep 2021 Strauss and Co’s forthcoming Impression/Expression sale represents multi-generations of South African fine artists
- 15 Sep 2021 A bottle of fine wine sells for almost a million Rands at a specialist Strauss and Co. wine and art auction
- 16 Sep 2021 Strauss & Co breaks SA wine record with 1821 Grand Constance just shy of R1m
- 16 Sep 2021 Strauss & Co’s specialist sale affirms the status of iconic wines and historic paintings
- 16 Sep 2021 A Snowy Owl contemplates a pair of bronze Lapwings over a 2011 vintage of Kanonkop’s Paul Sauer
- 16 Sep 2021 Bidding for a better future
- 23 Sep 2021 Targets exceeded in successful art auction to secure Archbishop Tutu’s legacy project
- 23 Sep 2021 An unrivalled richness of post-war paintings tops Strauss & Co’s spring offering
August
- 1 Aug 2021 Welgemeend Art Month 2021
- 13 Aug 2021 Single-owner collections generate exceptional results at Strauss & co sale
- 13 Aug 2021 Strauss & Co celebrates Women’s Month with a strong drive to profile women
- 20 Aug 2021 Art for the Arch - Charity Auction
- 26 Aug 2021 Empowering collaborations underpin Strauss & Co’s strong results for its August online sale
- 30 Aug 2021 Old-world heritage and a dash of spring colour in Strauss & Co’s bespoke live sale
July
- 6 Jul 2021 Early works by Pierneef, Pemba and Makamo lead Strauss & Co’s bumper winter sale
- 14 Jul 2021 Exhibition Walkabout: Social Stances – George Pemba & Robert Hodgins
- 14 Jul 2021 Pierneef, painter of breath-taking vistas and opulent clouds, in Strauss & Co boutique auction
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- 14 Jul 2021 Strauss & Co’s mid-winter sale attracts over 700 bidders and earns R7.5 million
- 15 Jul 2021 Frank Kilbourn on 702. Radio: Art as an investment
- 27 Jul 2021 Unmatched bidder enthusiasm for bespoke Pierneef sale presented by Strauss & Co
- 27 Jul 2021 A tale of two collectors: Strauss & Co pays tribute to Leon Strydom and David Hall
- 28 Jul 2021 Frank Kilbourn on 702. Radio: Art as an investment
June
- 3 Jun 2021 Stellenbosch Wine highlights discussed by Higgo Jacobs
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- 4 Jun 2021 Exploring Botanical Art
- 25 Jun 2021 Museum Moments – Sanlam Art Collection
- 25 Jun 2021 George Pemba and Robert Hodgins: Social Stances
May
- 3 May 2021 A Single-Owner Private Collection of Fine Wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne
- 4 May 2021 Still Life with Lilies by Irma Stern (1948)
- 5 May 2021 John Muafangejo, the Namibian master of linocut, shines at Strauss & Co auction
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- 10 May 2021 David Koloane: Dogs Chasing Birds & Township Dogs (2017)
- 10 May 2021 Alexis Preller: Grand Mapogga II & Mapogga Terrace
- 17 May 2021 Auction Preview Walkabout: May 2021 Virtual Live
- 20 May 2021 New world records for Keith Alexander and Sydney Kumalo at Strauss & Co sale
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- 25 May 2021 Rare botanical art and new contemporary paintings among highlights of Strauss & Co’s June sale
- 27 May 2021 A story of art, gender and science unearthed in Strauss & Co’s June sale of botanical art
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April
- 6 Apr 2021 Auction Highlights: April Live Virtual Auction
- 7 Apr 2021 Larry Scully's Black Madonna at the Regina Mundi Cathedral, Soweto
- 15 Apr 2021 Museum-grade works by printmaker John Muafangejo from the Orde Levinson Collection to go on sale
- 15 Apr 2021 Strauss & Co’s diversified offering draws international collectors to its April sale
- 19 Apr 2021 Matriarchs of power: Strauss & Co’s May sale features outstanding portrayals of women
- 28 Apr 2021 African Lion: John Muafangejo
March
- 1 Mar 2021 Single-owner designer book and art collection on sale at Strauss & Co
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- 16 Mar 2021 KWV Collection and five-star Pierneefs lead Strauss & Co’s April marquee sale
- 16 Mar 2021 Online Auction Guest Curator: Kim Kandan, KZNSA Gallery Director
- 16 Mar 2021 Printmaking and photography under spotlight in Strauss & Co’s March sale
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- 16 Mar 2021 The Madonna and Child of Soweto, a symbol of hope
- 17 Mar 2021 Auction Highlights: March Online Auction
- 22 Mar 2021 March Online Auction, Guest Curator: Kim Kandan
- 23 Mar 2021 Two rare and important oils by pioneer painter Thomas Bowler enter the market
- 24 Mar 2021 Strauss & Co’s April sale includes two remarkable single-owner collections of Chinese porcelain
- 25 Mar 2021 A stillness of baobabs by J.H. Pierneef leads Strauss & Co’s April offering by South Africa’s foremost landscape painter
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