With Strauss & Co's May annual live auction - Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art - almost upon us, we thought we'd underscore the auction's robust inclusion of powerhouse female artists and female portraiture.
The lots cover art from the modern, post-war and contemporary sectors and include a keen curation of both male and female artists, but it's the latter we're here to celebrate.
Women have been the focus of countless artworks throughout history — too often as nudes, with the numbers against their male nude counterparts heavily swayed. Whether clothed or not, we can list a glut of famed female portraits without trying too hard: the likes of Whistler's Mother by James McNeill Whistler, The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer should ring a few bells.
We also know that, historically, female artists have fetched lower prices for their works when compared to male artists. But this is changing, says Marion Dixon, a specialist at Strauss & Co.
"Representation by women artists is increasing at a steady pace, with more women artists appearing on auction and higher prices being achieved," she explains, citing Irma Stern as the third most valuable artist of the 30 top-selling African artists globally on auction after Marlene Dumas and Julie Mehretu.
Stern also happens to be Strauss & Co's top-selling artist (male or female) historically. Perhaps the tides are changing, after all.
Stern is one of the stellar female artists in the line-up whose works will go under the hammer this month. She is joined by, among others, Mmapula Mmakgoba Helen Sebidi, Cecily Sash, Nandipha Mntambo, Judith Mason and Maud Sumner — an enticing cast of many of the country's foremost women artists.
Mntambo's bronze sculpture Minotaurus in particular is one to look out for, touted as a sought-after maquette with an estimate of R160,000 to R180,000.
There are five lots up for auction by Stern, including: Three African Women, a tightly framed study of a trio of amaMfengu (or Fingo) women; Still Life with Lilies which dates from 1948, the golden age for works in this genre; and The Yellow Hat - a colour-drenched portrayal of a young man wearing a sou'wester rain hat. The highest estimate for these reaches up to R8m.
Stern's bold and expressionistic portraits are the result of the people she encountered on her travels as well as friends and family nearer to her.
"Another outstanding portrait painter is Maggie Laubser, whose intense and deeply perceptive portraits are influenced by her overseas study, like Stern, of particularly German expressionists. She portrays workers on the farm where she lived and other people around her," Dixon explains.
Laubser's lots include four paintings: Portrait of a Youth, Black Swans; Landscape with Trees recto; Landscape with Mountains verso; and Still Life with Flowers and Fruit Dish recto, Vase of Flowers, unfinished verso.
From the contemporary field, the auction holds works by Penny Siopis, Deborah Bell, Diane Victor, Esther Mahlangu and Georgina Gratrix — the latter's solo at Norval Foundation runs until May 31.
Gratrix is best known for her heavily layered and boldly coloured paintings which typically manifest as satirical, distorted portraits with wicked names.
"Women artists are becoming the focus of major local and international museums and commercial exhibitions," Dixon notes, citing names such as Zanele Muholi, Sebidi and Gratrix featuring in heavyweight shows here and abroad of late.
If the upcoming auction is anything to go by, the country's representation of female artists is indeed gaining momentum.
• 'Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art', the live virtual auction runs online from May 17-18 2021. Visit straussart.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.