Irma Stern phenomenon continues with top picture selling at R17.6M

Top item in the sale was her ‘Still life with African Woman’ which sold for £962,500 (R17.6m). The 128 lot sale made a total of £2.4m (R44m).

Two paintings by Alexis Preller that were inspired by the artist’s international travels also fetched high prices. ‘The Creation of Adam II’, which sold for £326,500 (R6m), was motivated by the artist’s visit to Greece, where he was struck by the distilled beauty of the Greek kouros figures: archaic sculptures from the 6th century BC that celebrated young athletes at the height of their physical prowess. ‘Pirogues, Beau Vallon’, which sold for £122,000 (R2.2m), depicts a scene in the Seychelles, a trip he made in 1948 as an homage to the work and life of Paul Gauguin.

South Africa’s leading black artist, Gerard Sekoto, also fetched a six-figure sum. ‘The Kitchen table’, which sold for £158,500 (R2.9m), depicts a kitchen interior of a shanty in Sophiatown. Sekoto’s unique skill as an artist lay in his ability to convey the human drama behind such domestic scenes. Hannah O’Leary, Head of South African Art, explains: “This painting reveals more than a simple kitchen interior; it expresses the deep familial bond that exists between the sitters. By emphasising their humanity, Sekoto encourages us to empathise with these figures and recognise the injustice of their situation.”