“We are excited to further grow our operations in Cape Town as Strauss & Co continues to welcome clients from across Africa and the world to enjoy and celebrate art, objects, wine and jewellery across many different collecting categories,” says Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss and Co.  “It is our mission to provide a convening centre for all who enjoy living with art and this fantastic location will help us further our activities both in the community, in the city, in the country and on the continent as well as providing to our global clients.”

The inaugural exhibition programme in February will unveil two special projects: a public exhibition showcasing the works of art to be offered in a new auction format, Curatorial Voices: Modern and Contemporary Art from Africa. A preview exhibition of works in Curatorial Voices will open on Tuesday, 13 February 2023, at Strauss & Co’s new premises. The auction itself will take place on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, with the lots split across a timed online-only day sale and curated evening live sale containing premium lots. 

Cinga Samson
Before the day has a meaning
oil on canvas
80 by 60cm excluding frame
R 1 200 000 – 1 600 000

Curatorial Voices is a collaboration between Strauss & Co’s Kirsty Colledge and Kate Fellens and curators Dana Endundo Ferreira, Founder and CEO of Pavilion54 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Heba Elkayal, independent curator and art historian, based between UK and Egypt, Danda Jaroljmek and Anne Kariuki, Circle Art Gallery, Kenya, Valerie Kabov, Director, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe, and South Africa’s Kimberley Cunningham, Founder of Cunningham Contemporary.

“Curatorial Voices: Curatorial Voices: Modern and Contemporary Art from Africa is a celebration of African achievement,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Executive, Strauss & Co. “The auction will present works by renowned African artists to the public at a time when Cape Town, a global art capital, is the centre of attention. With our proven competencies handling art from southern Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, I have no doubt that this new sale will broaden dialogue among artists and collectors from across the African continent and beyond, as well as provide networking opportunities for art professionals.”

To coincide with the launch exhibition for Curatorial Voices, Strauss & Co also announce its sponsorship and support of the inaugural Art Business Conference, the first event of its kind on the continent, with a presence in other major international art centres of London, New York, and Shanghai. The event is co-sponsored by Serge Tiroche, Africa First, and takes place on Wednesday, 15 February. The two moderated panels will cover the following topics: Panel 1 “The African Art Market Now: Art Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future”, and Panel 2 “Trends in Collecting African Art and What’s Next for Contemporary?” 

Strauss & Co’s first online-only auction of the new trading year, introduces its new regularised programme of curated online sales for 2023. On the first Monday of every new month, Strauss & Co will launch a new, curated online auction, which will conclude at one-minute intervals on the following Monday. Every online auction in 2023 will now feature sessions titled:  Impression/Expression and Art Club, as well as a third changeable thematic session. In February, this session will be devoted to Abstraction. Highlights from the February edition of Strauss & Co’s monthly online auction include works by Walter Battiss, Norman Catherine, Ernst de Jong, Ephraim Ngatane and Sidney Goldblatt in the Abstract session. Walter Battiss, an evergreen artist at auction, also features in the Impression/Expression and New Collector sessions. Emerging collectors can also look forward to, among other lots, two plates by ceramicist Ruan Hoffman and photography by Pieter Hugo. Modern and Contemporary Art, with a focus on Abstraction concludes at one-minute intervals from 2pm on Monday, 13 February 2023.

Ruan Hoffmann
Now is Now Yes or Yes
R 8 000 – 12 000

Celebrating Esias Bosch (1923 – 2012) centenary, Strauss & Co is proud to present a single-artist, timed online auction of his work between 13 and 20 February 2023. The sale, consisting predominantly of works from two major collectors of his work, includes some of Bosch’s very early earthenware, his favourite medium, stoneware, as well as his popular porcelain ware, and very special small- and large-scale decorative lustreware ceramic tiles. Bosch’s initial training as a fine artist at the University of the Witwatersrand is clearly evident in the painterly quality of these tiles and some critics even refer to him in this regard as South Africa’s ‘Claude Monet’ of ceramics. More than fifty of Bosch’s ceramic works are on display at the Strauss & Co offices located at 89 Central Street, Houghton.  Curator and Senior Art Specialist Wilhelm Van Rensburg interviewed Bosch’s son, Anton, an accomplished ceramic artist in his own right

The 2023 Strauss & Co Fine Wine Rhône-themed timed online auction is one of our finest line-ups yet, featuring iconic producers from France, South Africa and the New World and will run from Monday, 13th – Monday, 20th February.

And finally, Strauss & Co is pleased to announce its collaboration with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), the oldest visual arts association in the country, on the Cité Studios Benefit Auction (Monday 13 February – Tuesday 21 February 2023). This important online charity auction will feature works donated by a host of award-winning South African artists. Proceeds from the auction will assist SANAVA to complete the mandatory renovation of three artists’ studios for African artists at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France.

Liza Grobler
Autumn Pride
2021
mixed media with oil on canvas
140,5 by 100cm excluding frame; 143 by 102,5 by 6cm including frame
R 40 000 – 50 000

More than 30 artists have donated works to the Cité Studios Benefit Auction. They include Mongezi Ncaphayi, winner in 2013 of the Gerard Sekoto Prize at the Absa L’Atelier Art Competition, as well as several past merit award winners of the same competition, notably, Wayne Barker (1992), Hanneke Benadé (1996), Gordon Froud (1995), Diek Grobler (1993 & 1995), Jeremy Wafer (1989) and Berco Wilsenach (1996).  DM/ML

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