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BUSINESS NEWS - On 19 September, Africa's leading art auction house Strauss & Co will present Irma Stern's highly important portrait, Praying Arab (estimate R16m to R18m), from a prestigious private collection.
Stern's work is the highlight of Cape Town Auction Week (17 to 19 September).
This expertly curated series of sales will present fine wines and collectable modern and contemporary art by sought-after South African artists Nicholas Hlobo, William Kentridge, Maggie Laubser, JH Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Athi-Patra Ruga and Berni Searle.
"Praying Arab dates from Irma Stern's second visit to the East African island of Zanzibar in 1945 and is a superb example of the stylistic attributes characteristic of her golden period," says Bina Genovese, managing executive at Strauss & Co.
"It is one of four high-value Stern works appearing in our marquee virtual-live sale. There are two gorgeous flower still-lifes from 1955 by Stern, one of them owned by the collector Nedra Jooste. We are also offering an endearing marine landscape with figures from 1933. Whatever the period, Stern always commands attention. In March, Strauss & Co established an African record when we sold her 1939 painting Children Reading the Koran for R22,3m."
Cape Town Auction Week commences on Sunday 17 September with a dedicated wine sale, which is followed on consecutive days by two sales of collectable art. On Monday 18 September, Strauss & Co will present a timed online sale of 54 artworks.
This sale begins with a focus on Cape-themed paintings inspired by the exhibition "Cape Moments/Kaapse Oomblikke", curated by Strauss & Co's Frank Kilbourn and Wilhelm van Rensburg for August Art Month at Welgemeend.
It features an impressive modernist catalogue of works by Peter Clarke, Johannes Meintjes, Nita Spilhaus and Maud Sumner.
The premier evening live virtual sale on Tuesday 19 September starts with eight paintings from the estate of collector Nedra Jooste, of the esteemed Cordoba wine estate on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain.
The session features 85 works spanning more than a century of artistic production in South Africa.
There are important works by early pioneers JH Pierneef, Pieter Wenning and Anton van Wouw. Painting features strongly in the contemporary selection, with photorealist Keith Alexander, John Meyer and Neil Rodger represented alongside works by younger painters Zander Blom and Georgina Gratrix.
The catalogue also includes works by trailblazers Nicholas Hlobo, Mohau Modisakeng, Athi-Patra Ruga and Berni Searle.
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