A stellar line-up of worldwide artists, amongst them icons of the twentieth century like Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Marc Chagall, David Hockney and Pablo Picasso, attracted bidders from 20 nations to Strauss & Co’s annual International Sale on Tuesday.

The two-part sale earned a mixed income of R24.9 million with 69 of the 97 tons within the Evening Sale promoting (71% lot sell-through charge). 

Marc Chagall’s mixed-media drawing La Fenêtre à Paris (Window in Paris), 1974, earned the highest worth when it offered to a phone bidder for R8 million.

A decided phone bidder additionally secured Pablo Picasso’s Tête (Head), a recto-verso drawing from 1967, for R7.3 million, one among 5 works by the Spanish grasp offered for above estimate.

Scottish painter Jack Vettriano’s The Proposal netted R1.6 million. 

In a sale chock-a-block with massive names, it was the little-known Czech artist Zdeněk Burian – a celebrated painter, e-book illustrator and paleoartist famend for his depictions of prehistoric life – who introduced the best buzz.

Burian’s oil portray of a feathered dinosaur, Archaeopteryx, attracted 4 phone and a number of on-line bidders and ultimately offered for R462 100. All eight works by Burian supplied – three oils and 5 works on paper – offered for nicely above their estimates.

Alongside Chagall and Picasso, stable costs have been achieved for British painters like Merlyn Evans, Ken Howard, Sidney Nolan and John Piper.

Harrington Mann’s undated Woman in an Interior offered nicely above estimate, attaining R323 470 after 38 enthusiastic bids. 

Collector curiosity in Picasso endures.

His aquatint etching Le Peintre et son Modèle (The Artist and His Model), 1963, one among 5 works by the Spanish colossus supplied, offered for R293 125 to a phone bidder.

The International Sale included a star-studded listing of artists acquired by legendary Johannesburg artwork vendor Linda Givon (1936-2020), together with editions by John Baldessari, Louise Bourgeois and Henry Moore.

Original works on paper by Alan Davie, Mimmo Paladino and David Shrigley, additionally from the Givon Collection, achieved or exceeded their estimates.

Works on paper have been a well-liked draw all through the 2 periods, with stable outcomes achieved for works by Pierre Bonnard and Georges Braque.

An artist’s proof of Francis Bacon’s intaglio and aquatint triptych Metropolitan offered for R693 150. 

Five ink and gouache drawings by Zdeněk Burian within the Day Sale attracted a number of bids, with the 2 top-selling works, Ape Men and Ape in Quicksand and Roaming Bear, attracting greater than 50 bids apiece and promoting for R152 425 every.

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