Pierneef’s former home and studio is host venue for Strauss & Co’s debut Pretoria auction
Strauss & Co is pleased to share details of its first-ever auction in Pretoria, a two-part live sale of collectable ceramics and modern and contemporary art to be held at the former home of cherished landscape painter J.H. Pierneef. Due to be held on Sunday, 21 July 2024, the two sales acknowledge the centrality of Pretoria in the story of South African art.
The first sale, Sculpted Narratives: Contemporary South African Ceramics, which begins at 10am, features high-value sculptural ceramics by Astrid Dahl, Andile Dyalvane, Ian Garrett, Frances Goodman, Nesta Nala, Hylton Nel and Bonnie Ntshalintshali. It also includes work by three noted Pretoria artists – Walter Battiss, Esias Bosch and Robert Hodgins – as a well as a single-owner collection of Ardmore ceramic pieces acquired by diplomat and scholar the late Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza.
This medium-specific sale is followed by the Pretoria Sale: Modern & Contemporary Art, which includes high-value works by Keith Alexander, William Kentridge and Portia Zvavahera. The catalogue for this spotlight sale also gathers important works by a cohort of celebrated Pretoria artists, among them Walter Battiss, Alice Elahi, Erich Mayer, Frans Oerder, Alexis Preller, Pieter Wenning, Anton van Vouw and, of course, J.H. Pierneef.
“It is an extraordinary privilege to present these two sales at Pierneef’s Kraal Guest Lodge in what was once the home and studio of a much-loved South African artist,” says Alastair Meredith, Head of Sale, Strauss & Co. “Henk Pierneef acquired the property beneath Lukasrand koppie on the then eastern outskirts of Pretoria in 1939. He named his home Elangeni, or place in the sun, and lavished great attention on creating an indigenous garden around his stone-and-thatch home. We are especially delighted to be offering a work depicting the artist’s garden at Elangeni.”
