South African artwork fetches R48 million at auction

·3 Jun 2015

A rare Ernest Mancoba, two Pierneefs and a Jane Alexander were among the art works that raised a whopping R48 million in an auction by Strauss & Co in Johannesburg.

“The success of the sale once again proves the strength of the South African art market,” said the gallery’s Bina Genovese in a statement released after the auction on Monday night.

Musician, a wood carving by Mancoba, who started out as a teacher before turning his hand to carving and later settling in Paris, surprised afficionados by fetching R613,872 after being valued at R70,000.

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef’s Die Wolk, Naby Winburg, O.V.S (The Cloud, Near Winburg, Orange Free State) fetched R1,079,960, and his Farmlands, Free State fetched R966,280.

Irma Stern’s Still Life with a vase of Pomegranates was sold for R1,023,120 and Serviceman, a hooded figure by Jane Alexander, went for R966,280.

Gregoire Johannes Boonzaier’s Bo-Kaap, Overlooking Table Bay, got R1,136,800.

Those who bought anything by Vladimir Tretchikoff, before the paintings shook off their association with the cluttered lounges of eccentric aunts, have been doing well, with Portrait of a Zulu Maiden going for R2,046,240.

Shrouded Figure in a Landscape by William Joseph Kentridge fetched R2,159,920.

Former University of Witwatersrand fine art lecturer Robert Griffiths Hodgins’ A Cosy Covern in Suburbia went for R1,364,160.

The bronze Leopard Chasing Bush Buck by Dylan Lewis, known for his sculptures of animals, fetched R1,250,480.

A 1909 painting by Dutch artist Kees van Dongen of his daughter Dolly in a bright red coat went for R5,684,000.

A painting by artist, chef and writer Braam Kruger, known as “kitchen boy” before he died suddenly in 2008, depicting himself and his then girlfriend actress Grethe Fox, set a new record for his work with R204,624.

News24