Visions with a Lover (1996) by Alfred Thoba
Photo: Strauss & Co
Cape Town’s 2022 Auction Week is a four-day long art, design, jewellery and wine extravaganza! Lovers of the finer things in life bid on exquisite pieces from 14 to 21 September.
Major auction houses including Strauss & Co and Aspire Art are coming together to offer collections with works by William Kentridge, Alfred Thoba and Stanley Pinker, among others. Included among the collections are Asian ceramics, Tiffany lamps and an 18-carat white gold Cartier Santos Demoiselle watch.
The art of collecting
One of the highlight collections up for auction is that of esteemed collector Oliver Powell, whose first art purchase in 1980 was a 1975 screenprint of The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger by Andy Warhol. The Oliver Powell and Timely Investments Trust Collection spans 110 pieces, notably giving opportunity for art lovers to bid on William Kentridge’s Art in a State of Siege (2000), one of the artist’s most important screenprints estimated to sell between R400 000 and R600 000.
Art in a State of Siege (2000) By William Kentridge
Photo: Strauss & Co
According to Strauss, Powell’s collection of post-war and contemporary art focuses on South African painting, sculpture and works on paper made since 1950, with a particular emphasis on contemporary painting.
“Your moods and tastes change over time as a collector, but there is a foundation that remains, which for me it is the figure,” says Powell. He stresses the importance of his many encounters with artists in shaping his approach to collecting. “There is so much value in meeting an artist. Aspects and details of their life are reflected in what and how they paint,” he adds.
The collection of Alfred Thabo paintings speaks volumes on South African contemporary art, using the visual language of paint to tell stories of “obsessions, trickery, cosmologies, dreams, and mortalities”. Every piece in this collection is accompanied by a handwritten letter so that the paintings’ next owner properly understands Thabo’s intentions as well as to inform their own perspectives on the pieces, including his 1996 work, Vision with a Lover.
A modern feature of Cape Town Auction Week is the ability to bid on art pieces in crypto currency, which is accepted by Aspire Art. Aspire Art is bringing an 81-piece collection to the 20th century and contemporary art auction, including works by Sam Nhlengethwa, Penny Siopis and William Kentridge’s drawing from Preparing the Flute, estimated to sell for between R1.5-million and R2-million.
Million Rand ceramics and silvers
The auctions also, but collections of antiquities from the Qing Dynasty. The highlight of that collection is a single lot of 17 Qing Dynasty giltwood Lohans and a figure of Buddha that is estimated to sell anywhere from R1.2-million to R1.6-million, bought by a South African wool trader during a trip to Hong Kong in 1996.
Dutch cyclist turned antique dealer, the late Tiemen Groen, also showed a keen eye for the intricately-adorned and monochromatic pottery. Blue and white style pottery in Delft style and Chinese pottery also hailing from the Qing Dynasty shares a colour palette, whereas 19th century Japanese Imari ware has petalled borders and foliage throughout.
Antiquity may be the golden thread of Groen’s pottery collection, but there is a silver lining throughout the Louis and Mavis Shill collection of Cape silver. Louis Shill is the founder of the Sage Fund, whose wife, Mavis Shill introduced him to the world of collecting. The collection of silver ranges from a 19th-century covered sugar bowl by silversmith Carel D Lotter (estimated at R100 000 to R120 000) to a pair of ornate Irish silver candlesticks – perfect for those loadshedding nights or aristocratic dinner parties.
Another Loud Man in a Suit (2016) by Georgina Gratrix
Photo: Strauss & Co.
No Strauss auction will be complete without an impressive jewellery auction. Tuesday 20 September is the day to pick up diamonds, precious gems, pearls and watches. Watch collectors can pick up a Cartier Santos Demoiselle watch in 18-carat white gold and diamonds or an 18-carat white gold Sky-Dweller Rolex. A platinum ring with a claw-set diamond weighing in at 4.15 carats is a calling card to collectors, estimated to sell from R720 000 to R750 000.
The programme
Aspire Art’s auction of 20th century and contemporary art will be held on 14 September in Greenpoint from 6pm.
Strauss’ decorative arts, furniture and jewellery auctions are split over several sessions, with virtual online auctions from Monday 19 September to Wednesday 21 September.
The Oliver Powell and Timely Investments Trust collection auction will be held on Tuesday, 20 September at 7pm.
The modern and contemporary art auction has two sessions on Wednesday 21 September — a day sale at 3pm and an evening sale at 7pm.