Strauss & Co stages its November Auction Week with a programme that brings together major works of South African modern and contemporary art. The line-up running in Johannesburg from 17 to 19 November, presents a curated mix of works that reflect the breadth of South African art across the last century.
17 November: A Notable Early Kentridge Offering
One of the strongest features of the week is a complete suite of fifteen early wildlife drawings by William going on sale tonight. The rare early drawings, commissioned in 1985 for Mobil’s Cape Town headquarters, later became part of the Engen Collection. They show the artist working with animal imagery and graphic simplicity during an important stage in his early development. The suite will be offered in a dedicated live sale at 7pm.
A rare full set of William Kentridge’s 1985 wildlife drawings, commissioned for Mobil and now released from the Engen Collection.
While the images initially appear simple, the drawings contain early versions of the symbolic cues and visual asides that would become central to his mid-1980s work. The presence of animals such as warthogs, hyenas, bats and rhinos links directly to the period in which Kentridge used these figures to comment on Johannesburg’s social climate, most famously in large drawings like The Conservationist’s Ball. Rather than being outliers in his practice, the works align closely with the artist’s most incisive phase, when he was examining the behaviour of the white middle class and the uneasy contradictions of the 1980s. The complete set offers collectors a cohesive view of an important moment before Kentridge’s global acclaim took hold.
18 November: Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
The Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 18 November brings a focused group of significant works, led by a rare pre-exile George Sekoto painting loosely titled Three Women in Conversation. The work has remained in a single family home since the 1940s and has no documented exhibition history, making it an important and previously unseen example from the period before Sekoto left South Africa in 1947. Pre-exile works are especially sought after for their scarcity and for the immediacy with which he depicted daily life among his own community.
The sale also includes works by African master, George Pemba, from a period that continues to gain curatorial and market attention. Pemba’s role in shaping South Africa’s social realist tradition has seen renewed focus in recent museum retrospectives, and the appearance of a standout piece contributes meaningful depth to the Strauss & Co sale.
These highlight works sit alongside a broader selection that includes early and mature pieces by J. H. Pierneef, among them scenes connected to key political moments such as South Africa’s year of Union in 1910 and early works from 1914. The grouping provides insight into Pierneef’s shifts in palette, structure and mood during the first decades of his career.
Additional works by Alexis Preller, Maggie Laubser, Walter Battiss and Robert Hodgins complete the modern section. The sculpture offering spans more than a century of production, featuring significant pieces by Anton van Wouw, Sydney Kumalo and Edoardo Villa, reflecting the auction house’s long involvement with major estates and high-value consignments.
49,5 by 60cm excluding frame; 62 by 72,5 by 4,5cm including frame
The contemporary segment includes an edition of William Kentridge’s White Iris from 1998, a print noted for introducing colour into a period of his work that was predominantly monochrome. Recent works extending the category include Dylan Lewis’s Leopard Grooming and a 2012 painted bronze by Claudette Schreuders among many others. The auction takes place on Tuesday, 18 November at 7pm. This sale is preceded by the timed online Day Sale of Modern and Contemporary Art which closed at 2pm today.
Auction Week is supported by public walkabouts with specialists and daily viewing. The programme is structured to appeal to committed collectors as well as new buyers looking for entry points into South African art. Strauss and Co continues to expand its offering locally and internationally and maintains a strong position in the resale market for blue-chip African artists.
Those wishing to browse or register for the sales can visit the auction house’s online platform.
