At Strauss & Co’s major auction of Important South African & International Art which took place yesterday evening in Johannesburg, over 200 artworks went under the hammer, achieving a total of R36 million.

An extraordinary discovery was made when the owners of a beautiful Maggie Laubser painting decided to reframe it. To their surprise, they found an equally good painting on the back. According to Stephan Welz, South Africa’s top modern art expert and auctioneer, this remarkable double-sided painting, which is to be offered at Strauss & Co’s 21 October auction at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, also has an impeccable provenance and interesting history.

The 1920s represented a period of experimentation and innovation for Jacob Hendrik Pierneef.

Between 1948 and 1949 Alexis Preller enjoyed a sojourn in the Seychelles and whether this sensual still life was painted there or shortly afterwards, it was no doubt inspired by his experiences of the place and its people.

A selection of paintings establishing Irma Stern as a leading Modernist painter and, furthermore, as an intrepid collector of top quality African art, will be offered at Strauss & Co’s 21 October 2013 auction at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town.

Some of the oldest recorded works of art can be traced to archaeological sites from across southern Africa. Recent research suggests that this ancient art is synonymous with the very essence of being human that the development of cognition allowed our ancestors to think differently and to express unique human traits through language, art and religion.

According to tradition this is a representation of the old President as he witnessed the departure of the first Boer commandos from Pretoria station to the front in Natal. …

Still life paintings are far more than just conglomerations of objects. On the contrary, the choice of objects reveals much about the artists lifestyles, the cultural milieu in which they operate and the values of their time. In addition, with less pressure to produce a likeness, the artist is free to explore new material and new approaches to picture-making.

Irma Stern is known to have visited Madeira on several occasions, sometimes on extended stays of a few months and at other times probably for a day or two as the Portuguese archipelago that lies about 500 kilometres west of Morocco, was a frequent port of call for ships sailing between Africa and Europe. In 1955 Stern visited Europe to exhibit in Germany once more and also travelled to Turkey. Its likely that she would have called in at Madeira en route.

The World Wildlife Fund Art Auction, presented by Strauss & Co and Everard Read, raised close on R5 million last night at the CIRCA gallery, in Johannesburg.