Strauss & Co’s February sale explores the story of contemporary art through a worldly collector’s legacy
By CityLife Arts Writer
As is tradition, Strauss & Co, Africa’s premier auction house, opens its annual programme with curated auctions, free exhibitions and public talks aligned to the energy and focus of February in Cape Town. Central to this programme and coinciding with the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, the leading international art fair on the African continent, the live-virtual sale Portway to Cohen: A Collector’s Legacy and Other Properties (21 February 2026 at 6pm) presents a vibrant overview of South African contemporary art, its earlier forms and current expressions.
“Portway to Cohen: A Collector’s Legacy features a strong consignment of painting, sculpture, drawing and photography by artists spanning Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, as well as key art schools such as the University of the Witwatersrand and the Michaelis School of Fine Art,” says Elmarie van Straten, Senior Art Specialist at Strauss & Co. “The sale is largely made up of work assembled by a worldly collector, complemented by other properties. The featured collector entered the market with a discerning eye and a commitment to supporting South African artists at a crucial period in the local art industry’s development, before the important arrival of fairs and private museums.”
Portway to Cohen: A Collector’s Legacy takes its title from two influential Johannesburg artists. Douglas Portway was a pivotal figure in South African painterly abstraction, while Steven Cohen is known internationally as a performance artist and dancer. Cohen is currently the subject of a major survey exhibition, Steven Cohen: Long Life, on view at the South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
Portway’s untitled still life of 1989 (estimate R80 000 – 120 000), exhibited at the South African National Gallery in 2007, reiterates the diaphanous light and tranquil order that distinguish his abstract compositions. Cohen is represented by three works, including two unique screenprints, the medium through which he first gained national recognition in the 1980s. The print My Mother and Her Maid (estimate R18 000 – 24 000) incorporates a photograph of Nomsa Dhlamini, an important collaborator in Cohen’s practice honoured in his survey exhibition.
