Irma Stern’s ‘Arum Lilies and Bananas’ (1925)
After the record-breaking R22 million sale of Irma Stern’s Children Reading the Koran last month, another collection of highly sought-after modern and contemporary art is hitting the market on 16 May, via a live virtual auction.
Art auctioneers Strauss & Co will present over 100 lots of works of art and sculptures, with some estimated to fetch millions.
Works with million-rand price tags include paintings from South African masters such as Stern, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef and Gerard Sekoto, with some high numbers also expected for contemporary pieces from the likes of Nelson Makoma Makamo and Bernie Searle.
Stern’s works are the headliners at the auction with 1944 Still Life with Dahlias and Pumpkin estimated to sell for between R10 million and 12 million. William Kentridge’s You Who Never Arrived is estimated to fetch R1.5 million and a 1902 sculpture by Anton van Wouw, Bushman Hunter, is set to sell for R1 million.
“A gorgeous confection of colour, Still Life with Dahlias and Pumpkin is one of three Sterns in the auction from the artist’s sought-after golden period of the late 1930s and 40s,” says Strauss & Co.
Other works by Stern during her “golden era” set to sell for millions include Arum Lilies with Bananas, estimated to go for R2 million to R3 million; Figures on a Beach expected to fetch R4 million to R6 million; the R4.5 million to R5.5 million painting Malay Woman and Still Life with Flat Irons, Apples, and Blossoms in a Jug with a price tag of R4 million to R6 million.
The impressive catalogue of works on auction spans more than a century of South African art, from the early beginnings of the country’s cosmopolitan art scene, with notable artists such as Van Wouw, Frans Oerder and Pieter Wenning.
On the block: Peter Clarke’s ‘The Acrobat’s Family’ (1957)
There are two museum-grade works by pioneering black modernists Sekoto and Dumile Feni.
“Many of the lots have impeccable provenance, including the Feni drawing, which was consigned by his family estate,” says Dr Alastair Meredith, Strauss & Co’s head of sales.
“Gerard Sekoto’s pre-exile painting of a well-known intersection in central Pretoria, executed in his cool observational style, is part of an important collection that we’re delighted to be handling.”
The work is Sekoto’s 1946 painting Up Prinsloo Street, which is estimated to sell for up to R3.5 million.
The poignant depiction in soft, yet vibrant tones, is said to be of the intersection of Prinsloo and Vermeulen Streets.
The work was conceived before Sekoto left South Africa for Paris, France, in 1947, never to return.
A golden thread through many of the works on auction is a glimpse into the seemingly mundane scenes of everyday lives, while also navigating the tricky balancing act of reality versus romanticism in South Africa.
The painting A Woman Sewing by George Pemba is a nod to the visual history of everyday township life, which depicts an unembellished scene of a woman sitting at her sewing machine.
“Silence fills the room, her stance and gesture are subtle, her expression pensive. It is possible, given that Pemba painted this in 1976, that her mind is caught up in the horrific events of 16 June,” reads the Strauss & Co catalogue.
Other works going under the hammer include Peter Clarke’s 1957 The Acrobat’s Family. But these seemingly charismatic showpeople of the circuses are “multi-generational black artists” who perform for a marginalised audience.
The Live Virtual Auction of Modern and Contemporary Art is scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday, 16 May on Strauss & Co’s website.