‘Come inside, bidding is hot online’

“Come inside, bidding is hot online,” said auctioneer Susie Goodman to late arrivals entering Pierneef’s Kraal Guest Lodge, the former home and studio of much-admired landscape painter J.H. Pierneef and venue for Strauss & Co’s maiden live auction in Pretoria. The two-part auction commenced with a red-hot spotlight sale devoted to South African ceramics.

The 91 lots in Sculpted Narratives included seven works by artist-potter Hylton Nel, who recently returned from Paris following a high-profile collaboration with luxury fashion brand Dior. “Bidding is ferocious,” remarked Susie Goodman as rival online bidders chased after works by Nel. By the end of the sale all seven Nel lots had new owners.

The top-selling Nel work was a 1996 cat vase with blue spots and aperture in its ears, which sold to an online bidder for R175 875 / $9 622, a six-fold increment on the high estimate. The price confirms a huge upswing in interest in Nel registered earlier in July when Strauss & Co sold his sculpture Two Cats in Cape Town for R369 680 / $20 226.

An undated Nel bowl with cat and flower motif in Sculpted Narratives sold after 21 bids for R52 763 / $2 887. Five lots by Nico Masemola, a promising protégé of Nel who died unexpectedly at age 28 in 2015, similarly generated strong interest. Collectors covet Masemola’s rabbit sculptures, and an alert white rabbit with yellow ears made in 2009 sold to an online buyer for R 58 625 / $3 207 after a flurry of bids.

“Animal-themed works commanded top prices throughout Sculpted Narratives,” says Wilhelm van Rensburg, Head of Sale for Sculpted Narratives, Strauss & Co. “A diverse collection of Ardmore Ceramic Studio works depicting monkeys, leopards and lions, all owned by the late ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza, generated strong interest. This well-attended auction underscored the upward trajectory of South African ceramics at auction.”

The top-selling Ardmore lot from the Mabuza Collection was Benin Leopard Rider from 2019, which went for R93 800 / $5 132. The highest-earning individual lot in Sculptured Narratives was an Esias Bosch tile depicting purple crested loeries, which sold for R222 775 / $12 188.

Following on from Sculpted Narratives, Strauss & Co presented the Pretoria Sale: Modern and Contemporary Art, a spotlight sale exploring the remarkable art history associated with Pretoria. This 82-lot sale fittingly opened with a work by Pierneef, an edition of the artist’s 1920 linocut Wilgerboom in die Winter, which sold well above estimate for R70 350 / $3 849.

“Pierneef has long been a bellwether of the South African auction market, and the Pretoria Sale underlined his enduring appeal to collectors,” says Alastair Meredith, Head of the Art Department, Strauss & Co. “A bold initiative in a new territory for Strauss & Co, we were delighted to sell an undated oil by Pierneef depicting the Pretoria farm Hartbeesfontein for above estimate to a telephone bidder for R2.1 million / $112 638. We also achieved an estimate beating price for Pierneef’s 1955 oil on board Near Golden Gate, which went for R1.3 million / $68 834.”

Bidding for established artists and known works was strong throughout the Pretoria Sale. An untitled 1963 composition by Alexis Preller portraying a musician sold to an online bidder for R1.4 million / $75 092. William Kentridge’s large lithograph Irises, Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, sold for just over R1 million / $56 885. Interest in a rare casting by Frikkie Kruger, one of Anton van Wouw’s students, drew 20 bids before it sold to an online bidder for R140 700 / $7 698.

Solid prices were achieved throughout the two spotlight sales. Two examples of Astrid Dahl’s coveted white earthenware vases in Sculpted Narratives went for over R80 000 / $4 300 each. Deborah Bell’s terracotta Crying Pot from 1998 sold for R70 350 / $3 849. Two works made by Rorke’s Drift ceramicists Dinah Molefe and Elizabeth Mbatha sold well above estimate.

The Pretoria Sale saw a number of works sell for more than their estimates. Erich Mayer’s view of Knysna from 1930 went for R46 900 / $2 566. An untitled abstract from 2014 by Esther Mahlangu sold after 13 bids for R187 600 / $10 264. Zimbabwean painter Raymond Fuyana’s plaintive sunset scene Blue Love sold for R41 038 / $2 245.

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