AUCTION HOUSE NEWS BUSINESS ART
Bonhams, London With sales exceeding $18 million in 2011 Bonhams is the global market leader in South African Art. We hold the world records for all the major South African artists with the highlight being the $5 million sale of Irma Stern’s “Arab Priest”. As proved by the successful auctions, this field is no longer of purely domestic interest. Modern South African Art has been propelled into the front lines of the global art market and is still producing exceptional prices. The South African Sale will be held at Bonhams in London (New Bond Street) on 18 March 2015. Here are some highlights of this upcoming auction:
Irma Stern Fisherman, Madeira Stern painted the present lot during a three month visit to Madeira in 1931. This was a difficult period in the artist’s life. Anti-Semitism was on the rise in her native Germany, and her marriage to Johannes Prinz was on the verge of collapse. Far from elevating her depressed spirits, Madeira only served to remind Stern of an earlier lost love, the Portuguese novelist Hippolyto Raposo. Shortly after arriving on the island, she suffered a nervous breakdown. Stern’s Madeira paintings often reflect her anguished mental state. ‘Fisherman’ is no exception. The man’s careworn expression and dark circled eyes convey an exhaustion that is beyond physical. Stern exhibited these works in Cape Town in 1935. The critic, Edward Roworth was moved to comment on their “sinister” colours and “hectic, feverish atmosphere”. In spite of her self-proclaimed “fantastic agonies”, Stern was incredibly prolific in Madeira. She later said she only left the island as she needed a rest from the “intensive work” she had been doing. Since its creation, ‘Fisherman, Madeira’ has been recognised as one of Stern’s finest oils, achieving the highest price at auction in 1975.
Irma Stern, “Fisherman, Madeira” 93 x 67cm, £300,000-500,000
Jacob Hendrik Pierneef The bush camp of Anton van Wouw Godfather, tutor, mentor and friend: the sculptor Anton van Wouw was many things to the painter J.H. Pierneef. Pierneef spent his formative years in Van Wouw’s studio at Pretoria. Here, he absorbed the older artist’s belief in the fundamental importance of drawing and close observation. FransOerder and Pieter Wenning were frequent visitors to the studio and often involved Pierneef in their artistic debates. Pierneef shared Van Wouw’s love of nature and the artists spent much time sketching together out in the veld. This oil depicts one of these excursions. The intimate scene conveys the ease of their relationship. The artists’ painting coats have been casually suspended from a tree outside their tent. To the left, Van Wouw and his wife share tea or coffee with the first Mrs Pierneef, freshly brewed on the camp stove beside them. The painting is a touching testament to a relationship that spanned over half a century and inspired some of South Africa’s greatest artworks.
Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, “The bush camp of Anton van Wouw” 51 x 66cm, £120,000-180,000
Some more highlights from the upcoming South African Sale:
Maggie (Maria Magdalena) Laubser, “Landscape with houses and figures”, signed ‘M. Laubser’ (lower right), oil on board, 44.5 x 50cm, £25,000-35,000
Sydney Alex Kumalo, “Imbongi”, signed ‘S KUMALO’ and numbered ‘1-3’, Bronze, 94cm high (excluding base), £30,000-50,000
Dumile Feni-Mhlaba (Zwelidumile Mxgazi), “Male Torso”, Tallix foundry mark (back of right leg), Bronze, 148cm high, £70,000-90,000