04 October 2012: There were a few surprises at the Stephan Welz & Co. sale last night. None of the reasonably estimated Irma Stern paintings saw any serious bidding, nor did the pair of Tretchikoff works - perhaps not so surprising as I think that the public are beginning to understand how bad a painter he in fact was.

I was also surprised by the exceptional prices achieved for the two Peter Clarke paintings – R 450 000 for the “Ruined houses at Simon’s Town C.P.” and R 240 000 for the much smaller “Netball Players”.



The rich and famous certainly weren’t putting their hands deep into their pockets for anything big – such as the large Irma Stern, “Still Life of Fish and Flowers,” which was modestly estimated at R 2 000 000 to R 2 600 000. Dates 1920, this was an exemplary piece from Stern’s formative years in Germany and would be a fine piece for any serious collector of her work. It would seem that none of the Pierneefs in the evening session sold either.



This sale will be remembered for the lack of interest in the works of established celebrated artists from the past with some peculiar exceptions, where a record price of R 240 000 was paid for a rather conventional David Botha “Winter Street Scene Paarl,” and R 200 000 for Alexander Rose-Innes “View of District Six towards Table Bay”.



There were some real bargains to be had at this auction as well, such as a selection of beautiful watercolours by Constance Penstone, appropriately framed and in excellent condition sold for just on the low estimate. The lucky buyer must be most pleased with their acquisition.



The next sale to watch will be the Strauss & Co. auction which takes place on 8 October 2012 at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town, this sale also presents some real star works of art and furniture. And if that was not enough, 16 October 2012 sees the start of a two session sale of South African Art at Bonhams in London.



For a confidential conversation around all aspects of collecting, storing or investing in art, please contact Stefan Hundt at 021-947 3359 or stefan.hundt@sanlam.co.za.