Important paintings by Gerard Sekoto and Penny Siopis in Strauss &Co’s flagship Johannesburg sale
By CityLife Arts Writer
A historically important Gerard Sekoto painting depicting Sophiatown, a multi-cultural suburb of Johannesburg destroyed under apartheid, leads an exceptional consignment of works by ground-breaking black artists in Strauss & Co’s flagship live-virtual Evening Sale of modern and contemporary art in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 26 May 2026 at 7pm. They include pioneer black modernists Gerard Bhengu and George Pemba and their successors, notably David Koloane, Ephraim Ngatane and Alfred Thoba.
Painted circa 1939, shortly after Sekoto’s uptake of oil painting under the tutelage of artist Judith Gluckman, Horse and Cart, Sophiatown (estimate R 3–4 million/ $179 789 – 239 719) is an extensive street scene rendered in dominant tones of red and rose pink. This outstanding painting will be offered in a session featuring J.H. Pierneef’s iconic Bushveld Landscape with Trees (estimate R1.5–2 million / $89 895 – 119 860) and Penny Siopis’ majestic Al Fresco (estimate R3–4 million / $179 789 – 239 719), an important late-twentieth-century work painted in 1990 and recently featured in the artist’s acclaimed museum retrospective in Athens.
“Our catalogue for the Evening Sale presents a characteristically diverse selection of first-rate works by artists active across the twentieth century into the present, from Maggie Laubser at Lake Garda in the 1920s to a century later Ruby Swinney in Cape Town,” says Alastair Meredith, Director and Head of Art Department, Strauss & Co. “Variety notwithstanding, there is a strong presence of Johannesburg artists in this sale, including William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins and David Goldblatt, as well as Amadlozi Group sculptors Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae.”
Adds Alastair Meredith: “Scarcity is a central pillar of the secondary market, and the Evening Sale abounds with rare and singular works. Among the notable lots on offer is Kumalo’s bronze Seated Woman SK5 (estimate R500 000 – 600 000 / $29 965 – 35 958). This was the first sculpture by Kumalo shown by dealer Egon Guenther at his eponymous Johannesburg gallery in 1960. This particular work was one of only four approved castings made in London for Grosvenor Gallery.”
Other noteworthy rarities include the original watercolour of Walter Battiss’ widely reproduced 1974 self-portrait Alpha Batt 155 (estimate R250 000 – 350 000 / $14 982 – 20 975), Durant Sihlali’s carved wood sculpture Shovelling Coal (estimate R40 000 – 60 000 / $2 397 – 3 596), and four photo self-portraits from Berni Searle’s celebrated 1998 Colour Me series (estimate R300 000 – 400 000 / $17 979 – 23 972). Searle’s self-portraiture currently features in the main exhibition of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh.
All ten artists in Strauss & Co’s ranking of leading artists sold at auction since 2009 feature in the Evening Sale, including Alexis Preller, Cecil Skotnes, Anton van Wouw and Vladimir Tretchikoff. Preller’s mythical oil The Portuguese Birds (estimate R500 000 – 700 000 / $29 965 – 41 951) was acquired by Terence MacDermot, High Commissioner for Canada, during his posting in South Africa in the early 1950s and has been repatriated for the sale.
Irma Stern, the top-earning artist at auction, opens the Evening Sale with her 1948 gouache Venice(estimate R350 000 – 450 000 / $20 975 – 26 968). There are a dozen works by J.H. Pierneef, among them a gorgeous work on paper from 1924, Hartjie van die Bosveld, Potgietersrust (Transvaal) (estimate R 1– 1.5 million / $59 930 – 89 895).
William Kentridge, the top-earning contemporary artist at Strauss & Co, has six works in the Evening Sale. There are two drawings related to music projects: an untitled work depicting a child in a landscape from a 1994 music video for Mango Groove directed by Kentridge (estimate R2–2.5 million / $119 860 – 149 824) and the conté drawing Preparing the Flute (estimate R2–3 million / $119 860 – 179 789), linked to Kentridge’s first large-scale opera, Mozart’s The Magic Flute from 2005. Kentridge will premier his production of Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo at Glyndebourne, an opera house in East Sussex, shortly after the sale, on 14 June 2026.
Complementing the Evening Sale, the online-only Day Sale includes a focus on painterly abstraction in South Africa. The session features works by leading exponents of non-figurative painting until the present, notably Cathy Abraham, Jake Aikman, Bill Ainslie, Kevin Atkinson, Armando Baldinelli, Esther Mahlangu and Durant Sihlali. There are also excellent sculptures by Jackson Hlungwani, Peter Schütz and Usha Seejarim. The session concludes in staggered increments on Tuesday 26 May 2026 from 2pm onwards.
A preview exhibition of works from the Evening Sale, overseen by Wilhelm van Rensburg, Senior Art Specialist & Head Curator, Strauss & Co, is on view at Strauss & Co’s gallery at 89 Central Street, Houghton, until 27 May. A small selection of works will also be on view at RMB Latitudes Art Fair at Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg, from 22 to 24 May 2026. Strauss & Co is showing in the Mezzanine & Rooftop section.
Following the flagship Evening Sale, on Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 4pm, Strauss & Co will present Deep Roots: Selected Works from Stephan and Carmen Welz. This live-virtual auction comprises modern and contemporary art, Cape furniture, ceramics and a library of books on silverware assembled by the legendary South African auctioneer Stephan Welz and his wife Carmen Welz.