Strauss & Co’s flagship night sale earns R44.2 million
81.76% offered by worth and lot sell-through charge mixed
JH Pierneef’s Close to Ficksburg, East Free State from 1929 earns R3.4 million
Alexis Preller bounces again with sturdy outcomes throughout classes
John Meyer, Gerard Sekoto and Vladimir Tretchikoff all surpass R1 million
Nonplussed by seasonal downpours and inspired maybe by South Africa’s first credit standing improve in almost twenty years, collectors attending Strauss & Co’s premier night sale on Tuesday, 18 November 2025 paid sturdy costs for works by public sale heavyweights JH Pierneef and Irma Stern. Including to the draw at this flagship occasion was a trove of museum-quality works by revered modernist painters George Pemba, Alexis Preller and Maggie Laubser.
The night sale earned R44.2 million from 81 heaps offered, with a superb lot sell-through charge of 78 (81.76% offered by falue and lot sell-through mixed. JH Pierneef’s 1929 composition Close to Ficksburg, East Free State was the highest earner, promoting to a web based bidder for R3.4 million. Pierneef posted 4 of the night’s prime ten outcomes, adopted by Irma Stern with two works. Painted in 1958, Stern’s late-career Nonetheless Life with Roses and Fruit fetched a creditable R2.3 million. Works by John Meyer, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto and Vladimir Tretchikoff all fetched over R1 million.
“The sturdy turnout of bodily patrons at our Houghton salesroom was paying homage to the glory days of gross sales previous on the Wanderers Membership, earlier than the introduction of our handy live-virtual platform,” mentioned Alastair Meredith, Director and Head of Sale at Strauss & Co, who knocked down the top-earning Pierneef panorama. “It was very encouraging to see the depth of curiosity in our catalogue, proper from the opening lot by Walter Meyer by way of to Adriaan Boshoff’s estimate-busting Lullu Belle close to the tip.”
Meredith added: “I used to be particularly delighted by the sturdy outcomes for vital works beforehand included in museum surveys for George Pemba, Alexis Preller and Maggie Laubser. Museums play a significant function in our artwork ecosystem. We should proceed to assist them, whether or not large or small, personal or state owned.”
Two masterful watercolours by George Pemba, Xhosa Girl and Seated Xhosa Girl, each painted in 1955 and each featured in his profession survey on the South African Nationwide Gallery in 1996, offered to the identical purchaser within the room for R187 600 every. Maggie Laubser’s Portrait of a Girl, painted circa 1930-31 and included in her 1969 exhibition on the similar establishment, offered to a bidder within the room for R542 968.
The uptick in optimistic sentiment was particularly noticeable round Alexis Preller, a much-admired artist who has languished within the public sale doldrums. Painted in 1951 and featured in his 1972 retrospective on the Pretoria Artwork Museum, Preller’s Nonetheless Life with Flowers, Fruit, Shell and Vase fetched R1.15 million. Including to its lustre was a hand-crafted body by artist Zakkie Eloff. Preller’s Shells with Crimson Egg, painted in 1949 and likewise proven in his 1972 retrospective, offered to a web based bidder for R346 575; one other mollusc-themed portray, The Shells from 1957, offered for R577 625.
Total, it was an evening during which modernist painters and sculptors shined. Gerard Sekoto’s Three Girls in Dialog, produced circa 1945-47, offered to a phone bidder for R1.15 million. Anton van Wouw’s Bushman Hunter, conceived in 1902 however forged later by the Massa foundry in Rome, additionally went to a phone bidder, promoting for simply over R1 million.
Whereas not as plentiful within the catalogue, the up to date artwork providing drew sturdy curiosity. There was a long-awaited return to kind by Robert Hodgins, whose Admissions Workplace, the Madhouse from 1995 offered to a web based bidder for R808 675. William Kentridge, a buddy and common collaborator with Hodgins, noticed an version of his 1998 color etching and aquatint White Iris promote to a purchaser within the room for R785 570.
A number of bidders chased after the only version of Man du Toit’s 2018 bronze Elephant – a web based bidder ultimately secured it for R335 023. On the eve of his survey exhibition at Cape City’s Norval Basis, Brett Murray recorded a strong consequence when his 2016 bronze Seize offered for R293 125. Wim Botha, Conrad Botes and Phillemon Hlungwani additionally posted sturdy outcomes.
South Africa’s macroeconomic outlook, for too lengthy a drag on sentiment within the artwork market, could have contributed to the general good temper on the sale. Over the past yr, the South African Reserve Financial institution has lower rates of interest by 125 foundation factors. Simply days earlier than Strauss & Co’s November Public sale Week, S&P International raised the nation’s foreign-currency long-term sovereign ranking to “BB” from “BB-”, citing stronger progress prospects, an bettering fiscal outlook and diminished contingent liabilities following higher efficiency at state energy utility Eskom, in accordance with Reuters. South Africa’s GDP progress is predicted to select as much as 1.1% in 2025, from 0.5% in 2024, and to common 1.5% within the interval to 2028.
“This renewed financial confidence carried by way of to our flagship Johannesburg auctions,” says Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss & Co. “The depth of bidding throughout so many classes reveals a transparent shift in sentiment after a quieter interval within the South African public sale market. The general sturdy outcomes level to a welcome resurgence in demand and a rising sense of optimism in regards to the years instantly forward of us. I want to thank our shoppers for his or her regular and unwavering assist of Strauss & Co. Their engagement units a optimistic tone as we transfer into the brand new yr.”
Supply: www.straussart.co.za
