The good news: Strauss & Co will be launching a virtual live sale happening in Jozi from May 16th (for three days).
The better news: They are recognizing female artists in a big way as the sale features outstanding portrayals of women. These women are portrayed by artists Nandipha Mntambo, Alexis Preller and Irma Stern.
The best news: a 1998 drawing from the very first opera directed by William Kentridge will be apart of the sale.
Another favorite are Alexis Preller’s two oils depicting traditional Mapogga (Ndebele) women both date from 1951. Grand Mapogga II (estimate R4.8 – 5 million) and Mapogga Terrace (estimate R3.8 – 5 million) forms part of a small group of Ndebele village scenes executed in the early 1950s and presents its three subjects, all women, as scribes and custodians of traditional knowledge and values.
Lastly five pictures by Irma Sterm. Three African Women (estimate R4 – 5 million) is a tightly framed study of a trio of amaMfengu (or Fingo) women that the artist likely encountered during her little documented 1941 trip to the Eastern Cape, then known as Pondoland. Still Life with Lilies (estimate R6 – 8 million) dates from 1948 and The Yellow Hat (estimate R5 – 6 million) is a color-drenched portrayal of a young man wearing a sou’wester rain hat.
Strauss & Co’s second marquee virtual live sale of 2021 will commence on Sunday 16 May and conclude on Tuesday 18 May. The sale will be live streamed from Johannesburg to bidders across the world, with the option of in-person bidding at Strauss & Co’s offices in Houghton. Covid-19 safety protocols apply throughout.
#HelloRecommends: give yourself enough time to view lots before the auction starts.
