ROSEBANK – Almost R5 million was raised at the World Wildlife Fund art auction held at art gallery Circa on Jellicoe.
The auction, presented by Everard Read and Strauss & Co., attracted a capacity crowd and 17 of the 22 lots on auction exceeded their pre-sale estimates.
According to Strauss & Co.’s Bina Genovese, Karen Nel’s two panels, Taung/Piltdown sold for R150 000, Harold Voigt’s Winter Sunlight sold for R200 000, and Lionel Smit’s Disclose sold for R300 000.
The highest price realised was for John Meyer’s Okavango Channel Blooms which, after ferocious bidding, was sold for R750 000.
R1 million of the money raised was a donation by photographer Adrian Steirn, whose photograph portrait of Nelson Mandela was bought by an anonymous New York buyer for R2 million, prior to the auction. This set a record price for a photograph in South Africa.
Steirn donated the other R1 million to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.
Art auctioneer Stephan Welz said the event was “a great evening for a great cause which also did much to foster the arts”.
Wildlife fund CEO Dr Morne du Plessis said, “I was touched by the overwhelming support that people expressed, not only verbally but by participating in the auction.”
He said he was encouraged by the generous support of people whose daily lives may have little to do with the environment.
Gallery owner Mark Read said, “South Africa never fails to surprise when one imagines people are tired and starting to think about the beach and holidaying… serious issues about supporting the senior environmental NGO are meaningful to people who came here to spend serious money on serious art.”
