Some of South Africa’s most influential women artists will take centre stage when Strauss & Co hosts its flagship Evening Sale in Cape Town on 15 September 2026.
The live-virtual auction brings together works spanning generations of South African modern and contemporary art, with major pieces by Irma Stern, Maggie Laubser and Penny Siopis among the highlights.
The wider catalogue also features artists including Kate Gottgens, Georgina Gratrix, Gladys Mgudlandlu, Esther Mahlangu, Cecily Sash and Maude Sumner.
A landmark period for Stern and Laubser
The inclusion of Stern and Laubser is particularly significant because several of their works date from the 1930s, a period that helped establish both artists as leading figures in South African painting.
Elmarie van Straten, Strauss & Co’s Senior Art Specialist and Head of Cape Town Art Department, described the works as part of an important period in the artists’ careers.
According to Van Straten, the pair moved from facing resistance and criticism during the 1920s to receiving wider public appreciation and institutional recognition.
Their growing influence helped place them at the forefront of South African modernism, paving the way for generations of artists who followed.
Stern’s ‘Dahlias’ expected to attract major interest
Among the most valuable pieces in the sale is Irma Stern’s 1935 painting Dahlias, which carries an estimated value of between R8 million and R10 million.
The work depicts one of Stern’s favourite flowers and belongs to a period in which she produced some of her most ambitious floral compositions.
The painting has an interesting exhibition history.
It was displayed at the Criterion Restaurant Ballroom in Johannesburg in May 1935, where it attracted a substantial price and was sold on the first day of the exhibition.
Stern’s presence in the auction extends beyond floral still lifes, with the artist also represented through portraits and marine landscapes.
Laubser work comes with notable provenance
Maggie Laubser is represented by several works, including Portrait of a Woman with Headscarf Holding Flowers, painted during the early 1930s.
The painting is estimated at between R700 000 and R1 million and comes with a notable history of ownership.
It was previously acquired through Martin L. du Toit, an academic and critic who championed expressionism and organised Laubser’s first Transvaal exhibition in 1931.
The work also gained an unexpected place in recent South African political history after appearing in the background of former president F. W. de Klerk’s 2021 posthumous video apology for apartheid.
Working women remain a Laubser theme
Another Laubser offering demonstrates how depictions of working women remained an important part of her artistic output.
Her 1976 double-sided composition, Portrait of a Woman and Child; A Landscape with Houses in the Background, carries an estimate of R400 000 to R600 000.
Together, Laubser’s works in the sale provide an opportunity to trace recurring themes in her practice while showing the development of her style over several decades.
Contemporary voices add another dimension
The auction moves beyond early modernism with a strong selection of contemporary works.
Penny Siopis’s Swarm, a glue-and-ink diptych created in 2014, is among the leading contemporary works. It has an estimated value of R500 000 to R700 000 and was previously featured in surveys at the South African National Gallery and Wits Art Museum.
Georgina Gratrix’s 2014 painting Jewel Face, estimated at R300 000 to R500 000, reflects her distinctive approach to texture and dramatic painting.
Kate Gottgens is represented by The Big Rip, completed in 2018 and estimated at R160 000 to R200 000. The work arrives as attention also turns to a mid-career survey of Gottgens scheduled to open at the Norval Foundation in September.
The auction reflects a century of South African art
Although women artists feature prominently, the September sale is not limited to their work.
Strauss & Co’s catalogue brings together modernist and contemporary artists across approximately a century of South African art, creating a broader picture of the country’s evolving visual culture.
Among the male artists represented are George Pemba, J.H. Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto and Wolf Kibel.
Pierneef’s Trees in a Landscape, estimated at R800 000 to R1.2 million, has a particularly personal provenance.
The painting was acquired directly from the artist by his sister, Susanna Pierneef.
Sekoto and Pemba highlight social realism
The catalogue also includes important works by Gerard Sekoto and George Pemba, two artists celebrated for their social realist approaches.
Sekoto’s The Mother on the Road, valued at between R1.5 million and R2 million, was painted shortly before the artist left South Africa in self-imposed exile in 1947.
The work later formed part of a major Sekoto career survey held at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1989.
Pemba’s Communal Supper, painted in 1975 and estimated at R300 000 to R500 000, depicts three young people sharing a meal and reflects the artist’s interest in community life.
More major names feature in the catalogue
Other notable works include Gerard Sithole’s Medicine Man, Lewis’s Leopard Fragment II, Edoardo Villa’s Standing Figure and William Kentridge’s Female on Podium, Shadow Quartet (2).
The estimates range considerably, from Villa’s R30 000 to R50 000 valuation to Kentridge’s R600 000 to R800 000 estimate.
Lewis’s Leopard Fragment II, valued at R500 000 to R700 000, has an additional charitable dimension.
It forms part of seven works in the catalogue whose proceeds will support the Dassenberg Horse and Dog Rescue Centre on Touchwood Farm, which cares for abused and abandoned horses and dogs in the Atlantis and Malmesbury areas.
Special collection supports animal rescue
The charity-focused collection is being presented in collaboration with Everard Read.
It includes works by Dylan Lewis, Velaphi Mzimba, Blessing Ngobeni, Caryn Scrimgeour, Paul Sekete, Helmut Starke and Vivien van der Merwe.
The initiative adds a philanthropic element to an auction otherwise focused heavily on the history, development and commercial value of South African art.
Preview and online catalogue
Ahead of the Evening Sale, Strauss & Co will stage a preview exhibition at its Brickfield Canvas gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town.
Collectors and prospective bidders will also have access to an online catalogue containing detailed information about individual works, including their provenance and artistic histories.
The catalogue is designed to complement the physical viewing experience and provides further context for works by artists such as Stern, Laubser, Pierneef, Pemba, Sekoto and Kibel.
Mid-Century Modern sale follows
The September programme will extend beyond paintings and sculpture, with Strauss & Co also staging three Mid-Century Modern auctions.
One will be a live auction on 16 September at 19:00, while two online sales will run from 18 August through 16 September.
The design programme explores the evolution of modern aesthetics, tracing developments from late-19th-century Art Nouveau through to Postmodernism in the 1970s.
The gallery display has been curated by Marc-Anthony Hewson of LIM and features a selection of furniture and design pieces connected to the Mid-Century Modern auctions.
What’s next?
The Evening Sale will take place as a live-virtual auction on Tuesday, 15 September 2026 at 19:00.
A separate Day Sale will run as a timed online auction from 19 August until 15 September, giving collectors several opportunities to participate in Strauss & Co’s September programme.
The auction house is encouraging prospective buyers to examine the online catalogue and preview exhibition before the sales begin.
Summary
Strauss & Co’s September Evening Sale is shaping up as a major showcase of South African art, with Irma Stern and Maggie Laubser among the biggest names leading the catalogue.
Stern’s Dahlias carries the highest estimate at R8 million to R10 million, while significant works by Laubser, Siopis, Gratrix, Gottgens, Sekoto and other established artists add depth to the offering.
With works spanning modernism, social realism and contemporary practice, the auction also highlights the increasingly prominent role of women artists in the story of South African art.
