Renowned auctioneer and art connoisseur Stephan Aage Welz died on Christmas Day at his home in Johannesburg after a brief illness. Welz, born in Worcester in the Cape in 1943, was introduced to art at an early age. His father Jean was a renowned artist and the young Stephan assisted in his mother Inger's art and antique gallery.Early in his career, Welz worked in financial and administrative posts, assisting Professor Walter Battiss in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of South Africa.He was appointed a director of Sotheby's London in 1983. The company's South African interests were bought out four years later, leading to the formation of Stephan Welz & Co, which conducted auctions as the sole local representative for Sotheby's.Although the company still bears his name, Welz sold the business in 2006 and joined Strauss & Co.His vast knowledge of South African art and antiques earned him many accolades.In an interview last month with the Sunday Times, Welz shared fond memories of the decades he spent immersed in the art and auctioneering world.Softly spoken and a towering presence, he was described by associates as a formidable storyteller and, in his spare time, a passionate farmer.Trust, Welz told the Sunday Times, was everything in the art business."You don't know me. I walk into your house with a little piece of paper and I walk out with R15-million of your property."How often don't I walk out of a house with a painting under my arm that's worth more than the house," he said.Welz was a sought-after public speaker on the arts - both fine and decorative - and presented a TV series for more than six years on the evaluation of works of art.He also wrote what is considered the definitive book about Cape silver.He is survived by his wife Carmen, daughter Tanya, son Konrad and two grandchildren...