Strauss & Co’s February Sales record strong collector interest in Modernist Painting and Contemporary Mohair Tapestry

26 Feb 2025

Complemented by curated exhibitions, gallery collaborations, educational talks and social events at Strauss & Co’s Cape Town headquarters in fashionable Woodstock, February Sales was headlined by the live auction “Perspectives on Africa: Modern and Contemporary Art”, which earned R12 623 942 / $686 700.

South African painters were a top draw for collectors at this marquee event in the Cape Town art calendar; of the ten high-value lots sold, nine were paintings. A 1926 beach scene by expressionist painter Maggie Laubser topped the results, selling to a telephone bidder for R2 453 00 / $133 265.

Other notable results from “Perspectives on Africa” included Vladimir Tretchikoff’s 1949 portrait of a Cape Town flower seller, sold to an online bidder for R1 715 624 / $93 206. Two lots painted in the 1960s by social realist painter George Pemba – including the historically important work Clean Up (1960), sold for R485 205 / $26 360 – confirmed Pemba’s entrenched market appeal. Contemporary painters John Meyer and Ayanda Mabula achieved the strongest results in the contemporary category.

The luxurious, artisan-created textiles of Frances VH Mohair Studio, showcased in the dedicated sale “Botterblom Collection: Tapestries from the Karoo,” were another highlight. This single-maker sale earned R915 723 / $49 750 from 18 lots sold (75% sold). A hand-woven tapestry depicting a stylised tortoise and moon was the top earner, selling for R105 525 / $4 900.

“Woven Legacies: Tradition & Innovation,” which emphasised design innovation with materials, techniques and processes from regions across Southern, Central and Western Africa, earned R935 247 /$50 852. The top-selling lots were a monochromatic tapestry by Cecil Skotnes depicting a cat and Conrad Hicks’s interlaced forged iron and copper Wife? Bench, 2019. Both sold for R293 125 / $15 900. Playfully conceived woven bowls by Gcebile Mamba and Lucy Makhabane attracted vigorous online bidding. Strauss & Co’s wine department resumed its brisk trade with a Rhône-themed sale, earning R782 644 / $42 519 from two sessions (80% sold). South African producers Porseleinberg and Sadie Family topped the overall rankings. A 2016 vintage of Porseleinberg’s Syrah was the top earner, achieving R25 795 / $1 401 for 12 bottles.

“February ART”, an online auction of works on paper, books, ceramics, photography, sculpture and video art, saw top prices achieved in various categories. Artist-potter Hylton Nel’s sculpted ceramic of a cat on a blue and yellow base (1995) sold well above estimate for R115 000 / $6 248 – Nel repeated this strong in “Perspectives on Africa”.

Strauss & Co established a South African record for a photobook when Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse’s photobook Ponte City (2014), consigned by the estate of the legendary art dealer Linda Givon, sold for R93 800 / $5 096. Two other lots from the Linda Givon Collection yielded strong results. A 1973 portfolio by Cecil Skotnes, The Assassination of Shaka, sold for R76 213 / $4 140. A copy of Penny Siopis’s lauded single-channel film The Master is Drowning (2012), a copy of which is in the Tate Collection, London, achieved R58 625 / $3 185.

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