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Important Private Collections Feature In Strauss & Co March Sales Of Modern And Contemporary Art
· Major works by Stern, Pierneef, Sekoto and Kentridge lead Evening Sale
· Contemporary stars Igshaan Adams, Georgina Gratrix and Mary Sibande feature
· Auction programme includes major private collections
The programme comprises four auctions, beginning with collectable modern and contemporary art on the first day, followed on the next day by a specialist focus on Cape silver, Asian ceramics, furniture and historical art.
The 96-lot Evening Sale: Modern and Contemporary Art (Tuesday, 24 March 2026, 7pm) includes high-value works by J. H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Irma Stern, Vladimir Tretchikoff and William Kentridge, five of the most successful artists at auction in the company’s history. The sale also includes a strong group of contemporary artists, among them Igshaan Adams, Zander Blom, Georgina Gratrix, Mustafa Maluka, Misheck Masamvu, Mmangaliso Nzuza, Mary Sibande and Diane Victor, together with an award-winning sculpture by Doreen Southwood.
“We are privileged to steward the sale of several important private collections in these March auctions,” says Bina Genovese, Managing Executive at Strauss & Co. “The Evening Sale opens with Irma Stern’s striking 1942 gouache Canoes on the Congo River (estimate R150 000 – 200 000 / $9 360 – 12 480) from the Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection. Stan and Li Boiskin were notable Cape Town cultural patrons who were active in community organisations and public life, and it is a privilege for Strauss & Co to bring works from their collection to market.”
The Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection includes works by major South African modernists such as Maggie Laubser, George Pemba, Pierneef, Cecil Skotnes and Irma Stern. Highlights from the consignment include four works by Pemba, among them the 1991 painting The Orator (estimate R350 000 – 500 000 / $21 910 – 31 300) and Pierneef’s 1923 composition Mountain Landscape with a Tree in the Foreground (estimate R300 000 – 500 000 / $18 780 – 31 300).
Three significant paintings by Irma Stern appear in the Evening Sale, including the enigmatic late portraitMantilla (estimate R3 – 5 million / $183 771 – 306 285) and Slender Nude (estimate R1 – 1.5 million / $61 257 – 91 886), both from 1961 and associated with the artist’s stay in the Spanish port city of Alicante. Painted in 1954, Still Life with Grapefruit (estimate R1.8 – 2.5 million / $110 263 – 153 143) depicts a copper fruit bowl filled with grapefruit.
