- Strauss & Co’s flagship evening sale earns R44.2 million
- 81.76% sold by value and lot sell-through rate combined
- JH Pierneef’s Near Ficksburg, East Free State from 1929 earns R3.4 million
- Alexis Preller bounces back with strong results across categories
- John Meyer, Gerard Sekoto and Vladimir Tretchikoff all surpass R1 million
Nonplussed by seasonal downpours and encouraged perhaps by South Africa’s first credit rating upgrade in nearly two decades, collectors attending Strauss & Co’s premier evening sale on Tuesday, 18 November 2025 paid robust prices for works by auction heavyweights JH Pierneef and Irma Stern. Adding to the draw at this flagship event was a trove of museum-quality works by revered modernist painters George Pemba, Alexis Preller and Maggie Laubser.
The evening sale earned R44.2 million from 81 lots sold, with an excellent lot sell-through rate of 78 (81.76% sold by falue and lot sell-through combined. JH Pierneef’s 1929 composition Near Ficksburg, East Free State was the top earner, selling to an online bidder for R3.4 million. Pierneef posted four of the evening’s top ten results, followed by Irma Stern with two works. Painted in 1958, Stern’s late-career Still 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 strong turnout of physical buyers at our Houghton salesroom was reminiscent of the glory days of sales past at the Wanderers Club, before the introduction of our convenient live-virtual platform,” said Alastair Meredith, Director and Head of Sale at Strauss & Co, who knocked down the top-earning Pierneef landscape. “It was very encouraging to see the depth of interest in our catalogue, right from the opening lot by Walter Meyer through to Adriaan Boshoff’s estimate-busting Lullu Belle near the end.”
Meredith added: “I was especially delighted by the strong results for important works previously included in museum surveys for George Pemba, Alexis Preller and Maggie Laubser. Museums play a vital role in our art ecosystem. We must continue to support them, whether big or small, private or state owned.”
Two masterful watercolours by George Pemba, Xhosa Woman and Seated Xhosa Woman, both painted in 1955 and both featured in his career survey at the South African National Gallery in 1996, sold to the same buyer in the room for R187 600 each. Maggie Laubser’s Portrait of a Woman, painted circa 1930-31 and included in her 1969 exhibition at the same institution, sold to a bidder in the room for R542 968.
The uptick in positive sentiment was especially noticeable around Alexis Preller, a much-admired artist who has languished in the auction doldrums. Painted in 1951 and featured in his 1972 retrospective at the Pretoria Art Museum, Preller’s Still Life with Flowers, Fruit, Shell and Vase fetched R1.15 million. Adding to its lustre was a handmade frame by artist Zakkie Eloff. Preller’s Shells with Red Egg, painted in 1949 and also shown in his 1972 retrospective, sold to an online bidder for R346 575; another mollusc-themed painting, The Shells from 1957, sold for R577 625.
Overall, it was a night in which modernist painters and sculptors shined. Gerard Sekoto’s Three Women in Conversation, produced circa 1945-47, sold to a telephone bidder for R1.15 million. Anton van Wouw’s Bushman Hunter, conceived in 1902 but cast later by the Massa foundry in Rome, also went to a telephone bidder, selling for just over R1 million.
While not as plentiful in the catalogue, the contemporary art offering drew strong interest. There was a long-awaited return to form by Robert Hodgins, whose Admissions Office, the Madhouse from 1995 sold to an online bidder for R808 675. William Kentridge, a friend and regular collaborator with Hodgins, saw an edition of his 1998 colour etching and aquatint White Iris sell to a buyer in the room for R785 570.
Multiple bidders chased after the single edition of Guy du Toit’s 2018 bronze Elephant – an online bidder eventually secured it for R335 023. On the eve of his survey exhibition at Cape Town’s Norval Foundation, Brett Murray recorded a solid result when his 2016 bronze Capture sold for R293 125. Wim Botha, Conrad Botes and Phillemon Hlungwani also posted strong results.
South Africa’s macroeconomic outlook, for too long a drag on sentiment in the art market, may have contributed to the overall good mood at the sale. Over the last year, the South African Reserve Bank has cut interest rates by 125 basis points. Just days before Strauss & Co’s November Auction Week, S&P Global raised the country’s foreign-currency long-term sovereign rating to “BB” from “BB-”, citing stronger growth prospects, an improving fiscal outlook and reduced contingent liabilities following better performance at state power utility Eskom, according to Reuters. South Africa’s GDP growth is expected to pick up to 1.1% in 2025, from 0.5% in 2024, and to average 1.5% in the period to 2028.
“This renewed economic confidence carried through to our flagship Johannesburg auctions,” says Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss & Co. “The depth of bidding across so many categories shows a clear shift in sentiment after a quieter period in the South African auction market. The overall strong results point to a welcome resurgence in demand and a growing sense of optimism about the years immediately ahead of us. I would like to thank our clients for their steady and unwavering support of Strauss & Co. Their engagement sets a positive tone as we move into the new year.”
Source: www.straussart.co.za
