Strauss & Co is delighted to announce details for Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present, the second instalment of its annual live-virtual auction showcasing collectable art from the African continent. Scheduled to coincide with the 2024 edition of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (16-18 February 2024), this themed auction will be held on Monday 19 February in Strauss & Co’s newly renovated exhibition room at Brickfield Canvas, Woodstock, Cape Town.
Two compelling works by acclaimed painters J.H. Pierneef and Cinga Samson, both identified by street addresses, will lead a strong consignment of works by Owusu Ankomah, Zander Blom, William Kentridge, Tusevo Landu, Thameur Mejri, Thierry Oussou, Durant Sihlali, Cecil Skotnes and Alfred Thoba, among others. Consignments for this exciting Africa-focused auction during close on Friday, 8 December 2023.
“Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present will showcase collectable art by pioneering modernist and trailblazing contemporary artists occupied with portraying of the land,” says Jean le Clus-Theron, joint Head of Sale, Strauss & Co. “Our headline offerings by J.H. Pierneef and Cinga Samson showcase how the landscape theme is dynamically open to interpretation. These works not only explore the continent’s physical representation but also delve into cultural and socio-political themes rooted in African history.”
Painted in 1929, when the artist was at the height of his public acclaim, JH Pierneef’s Church Street, Tulbach (estimate R1.5 – 2.5 million) shows a gravel roadway flanked by whitewashed buildings, framed in the distance by the Witzenberg Mountains. Many of the buildings in Pierneef’s tour de force of architectural observation were destroyed in a 1969 earthquake that ravaged the historical colony settlement of Tulbagh. Fortunately, the building on the right, previously named de Wet Huis and now Monbijou still stands.
Dated 2017, Cinga Sampson’s Hliso Street V (estimate R2 – 3 million) depicts a costumed figure centrally posed in a verdant landscape emotionally linked to the artist’s youth. Part of a small series of portraits paying homage to the artist’s deceased mother, this breakthrough painting concretised Sampson’s enigmatic, magical-realist approach to describing place and history. It was first exhibited at the 2017 edition of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair.
“Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present will coincide with the 2024 edition of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair and will be broadcast globally through our auction platforms, such as Invaluable,” says Leigh Leyde, joint Head of Sale, Strauss & Co. “This offers an unparalleled opportunity to reach a wide and influential audience precisely when the world’s attention is focused on Cape Town. Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present is a platform for both established and emerging artists, allowing them to showcase their work and garner attention for the fair.”
Strauss & Co will once again be hosting an international symposium focussed on current art debates in Africa during Cape Town art week in the build up to the auction. Details to follow.
Says Leigh Leyde: “Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present is a necessarily ambitious initiative with an objective to unite across continents. Our vision for this annual project is to present a compelling auction around a robust theme that is attractive to collectors, as well as provide an educational platform that is the source of lively debates from an African perspective. Our vision is to strengthen our local art ecosystem, emphasizing the extraordinary power and beauty of African art.”
