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THE SOUTH AFRICAN

October 2008 • Issue 10 Vol 3 • Subscription RSA 180 p.a • October Print & Distrib. 7 000 copies • Full online version available at www.arttimes.co.za

ART

TIMES

A still from Paul Emmanuel’s

3 SAI a Rite of Passage

12 minute lm that is currently taking the art world by storm. See page 12

Page 2South African Art Times. October 2008

Custom Stretched CanvassesHand made EaselsPainting & print stretching

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Michael CoulsonThe established art auction housesare about to face a new challenger backed by substantial capital andthe expertise of the doyen of theindustry, Stefan Welz. Newlyformed Strauss & Co is alreadyworking on its rst sale, to be heldat the Johannesburg Country Clubon March 9.

The “Strauss” of the company isdirector Conrad Strauss, an econo

mist by training whose long career at Standard Bank culminated inhis assumption of the chair, from1992-2000. He was instrumental insponsorships like Standard BankGallery and the Standard BankYoung Artists Award. While Straussis one of the backers, a larger share of the capital has been put upby chairman (the term she prefers)Elisabeth Bradley, daughter of industrialist Albert Wessels, whosefamily recently sold out of major investments in Toyota SA andJohannesburg’s Rosebank Hotel.

Apart from Welz, the two mainplayers are Mary-Jane Darroll(executive director) and Francis Antonie (MD). Darroll – generallyknown as MJ in the art world – hasa wealth of experience, includingmany years at Welz’s former com

pany, Stefan Welz in Associationwith Sotheby’s, and more recentlywith the Everard Read Galleryin Johanesburg. Antonie, a Witsgraduate in politics and law, later studied music in London and Parisand has had a lifelong interest inart; his CV includes spells as aneconomist with Standard Bank anddirector of the Wits ManagementSchool.

With the name Welz unavailable,MJ says Strauss was chosen ascarrying both English and Afrikaansconnotations at home, as well asbeing familiar abroad and easy toremember, and having associationswith the music world. Antonie addsthat it was their idea, and Conradalmost fell over backwards whenit was proposed that the rm takehis name.

Does Stefan’s re-entry into busi

ness immediately after the expiryof his 18-month restraint of tradeagreement with his old rm meanthat he was sorry he sold?“Denitely not,” he says. “It tooka hell of a weight off my mind at atime when I was seriously ill. I hadevery intention of going farming,but then I was presented out of theblue with an unexpected land claim.So when my health improved andthese guys approached me, I didn’ttake much persuading.”

He adds, though, that he’s disap

pointed with the general level of expertise in the market at themoment, and makes it clear thathis business philosophy differsfrom that of the new owners of his old business. But he deniesthe rumour that he’d made anapproach to buy it back, saying thatliterally the only communicationbetween them since the sale wasan exchange of lawyer’s lettersover a charity auction he’d agreedto run before he sold.

When we spoke, incidentally, Welzwas just back from running the an

nual Nederburg wine auction, whichwas specically excluded from hisrestraint agreement.

Strauss has taken about 530sq m in a brand new building inHoughton, still being decorated insleek black, silver and grey. MJsays that it was in New York thatshe rst saw auction houses breakaway from the traditional staid Vic

torian ambience, and was keen toreplicate this modernist approach.

It’s a large space, and though twoor three mainstream auctions ayear off-site will be the main focus,Strauss may use it for smaller exhibitions or sales, talks, or cocktail functions. MJ says they’dlike to ll the gap in art educationand promotion that local museums,unlike their counterparts abroad,have left vacant.

Strauss intends to compete onprice as well as quantity, settingboth the seller’s commission andbuyer’s premium at 10% each. AtWelz/Sotheby, both range from12%-17%, though 12% would bethe rate for most art works. Addthat to the wide respect MJ andStefan command, and they’recertain to be serious contenders.Indeed, they’ve already had animpact, to judge by Welz/Sotheby’scancellation of its planned sale of contemporary SA art and rumouredtelescoping of some upcoming

sales into one.

Formidable new art auctionhouse launched withindustry heavyweights

Patrick BurnettCount Natale Labia has won hisbid to have his childhood home re

turned to him by the government.Labia had donated the property – the Natale Labia Museum inMuizenberg – to the governmentin 1985 for use as a museum.But the museum was later closedin 2004. Labia maintained this wasin breach of contract and the prop

erty, a 20-room Venetian manor built by his father and overlookingFalse Bay, should therefore bereturned to him by the Departmentof Public Works.The museum was built by Labia’sfather and he lived in the houseduring his teenage years inthe 1930s. The matter was setdown in the Cape High Court for September 9, but was preventedfrom going to court due to an out

of court settlement.

In terms of the settlement, Labiawas entitled to take possessionof the property and the govern

ment undertook to pay to haveit transferred to Labia’s name byMay 2009. “I am very pleased thatit all went well and justice hadbeen done,” said Labia. “I am gladthe ownership has come back tome. I’ll look at what is possibleto keep it going [as a museum]but there are major problems,especially in terms of parking.”Other issues that formed part of the original case included Labiaseeking compensation for the saleof an adjacent piece of land nextto the museum, which was sold for R50,000 and later resold, together with other land, for R950,000.Labia was asking for compensa

tion for this land.However, Labia said in order to avoid going to court he hadagreed to fore-go the compensa

-tion claim.

Another matter involved com

pensation for the loss of an 18thCentury painting by James Stark.This, he said, was still in the proc

ess of negotiation

Count Labia wins battle

- but at a cost

The South African

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EDITORIAL

his month the Standard Bank Galleryhosts Judith Mason’s retrospectiveexhibition, what a treat for all our demons. In having said this, Judith,I have realized, is a very shy andextremely caring person who has adeep concern and love for humanity.On a website compiled by one of her children an image of her is indexedas “momport” which for me says thather tender relationship is reectedwith love and the image isn’t titled“WorldFamousRockstar” as could bea suitable image title for Damian Hirst,who has briey rocked the art marketout of its depression - for now.In terms of rocking it seems to thatsuccession battles haven’t yet endedwith Zuma this month, as mist andshadows surround both the country’sleading institutions as both the NationalGallery and Joburg Art Gallery arelooking for suitable new directors.Word has it that we are down to a fewnames on the SANG but a furiousbattle rages at the JAG. Some partiesit may seem, want a token head,a celebrity that will schmooze withministers and look good in photos.Personally, warts and all do it for me, inmy mind South Africa has to embracechange, from the inside out,.What weneed is someone with a strong senseof management but with a good senseof knowing and respecting who weare, were we came from and hardestof all where we all would like to go.Lastly my congratulations to the Davidand Goliath Auction in Joburg lastweek. Well done to all parties in raisingR 450 000 for legal fees. MaybeJohannesburg has got some spunkin getting it together now both withthe Joburg Art Fair and this auctionmanifests a healthy unity in tackingserious issues. I must say that the raretimes when walking into Mr Price, Iwonder who is avour of the month interms of SA artists being copied andnot credited. Maybe it’s time for Vansa – or someone else to start gettingsomething going here for working for more legal rights for artists.

South African Art Times. October 2008 Page 3

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Walter Battiss, ‘Sgrafto landscape’

Michael CoulsonBehind all the superlatives, therewere some warning signs atBonhams’ latest London sale of SAart. True, Pierneef’s magisterialhe Baobab Tree fetched£ 826 400*, well above the previ

ous auction record for SA art of about £ 500 000, for an Irma Sternat a previous sale, and almosthree times the top of the

£ 200 000-£ 300 000 estimate.

rue, too, the sale grossed £ 7.1m,£ 2m more than Bonhams’January sale, but a high percent

age of items remained unsoldand there were a large number of minor works. Of the 375 lots (not450, as Bonhams’ post-sale pressrelease claims – that ignores theact that there no lots 218-299),prices were recorded for onlyabout 254. That means that atleast a third of items were unsold,possibly more, as some for whichprices were recorded may havebeen bought in by the auctioneer.Even 375 lots, though, forcedBonhams to split the sale intwo. The rst 217 lots were soldat Bonhams’ lesser gallery inKnightsbridge the night before themain sale. Percentage-wise, theseactually did better than the mainsale, with only 31% unsold, butonly four items topped £ 10 000.Part One of the sale in factgrossed less than £ 500 000, theaverage price of lots sold being

about £ 3 100.

Top price was £ 19 200 for a19th-century view of Cape Townharbour. Of more modern work,£ 14 400 was bid for a Zanzibar landscape by the little-known AnnePetrie, £ 13 200 for a Tretchikoff Red Lilies (est only £ 2 000-£ 3 000, so the renaissance in thisartist is continuing) and £ 11 400for a Sekoto gouache of a wom

an’s head, est £ 3 000-£ 4 000.The main auction was ooded byStern (52 paintings and drawings),Sekoto (22) and Pierneef (13).The Sterns grossed about £ 4.3m,so together with the Pierneef Baobab Tree contributed morethan 70% of the total raised. Nofewer than 20 of the Sterns wereunsold, but those that did sellgenerally went for the upper end of the estimate or even above.Top price was £ 390 000 for lot321, a Malay lady (est £ 200 000-£300 000), followed by £ 356 000for lot 350, a still life (est £ 200000-£ 300 000) and £ 334 000 for each of lots 353 (Congolese girls,est £ 150 000-£ 200 000) and 365(still life, est £ 200 000-£ 300 000).Noteworthy against the estimateswere lots 339, a girl, at £ 288 000(est £ 70 000-£ 100 000), and 349,a still life, also at £ 288 000 (£ 100000-£ 150 000).Only three Pierneefs weren’t sold,with no prices marked for twoothers that were presumably soldprivately before the auction. Butonly lot 388, Trees on the Veld,fetched a noteworthy price: £ 120000 (est £ 60 000-£ 90 000).Of other bluechip names, aVan Essche Congolese marketreached £ 72 000 (est £ 30 000-£45 000). Only ve of the Sekotoswere unsold, but prices wereunexceptional. Among the casualties, four of thesix William Kentridges went un

sold, as did both “Nelson Mandela”lithos – The Window and Hand of Africa (est £ 12 000-18 000 and£ 10 000- £ 15 000 respectively).Given the debate surroundingthese works, it’s surprising thatBonhams listed them without com

ment and at such high estimates.Overall, though, apart from acouple of obvious features thegeneral impression was of amarket consolidating rather thanmaking further advances, whilerecent gains could be ushinginferior works out into the open toaugment the supply.*All prices quoted include the 12%buyer’s premium but not sales tax,which is levied only on UK-resi

dent buyers.

Latest Bonhams sale conrms relativestrength of blue chip SA Masters

Giles Peppiatt takes the hammer at the latest Bonhams auction. Photo from Bonhams