South African art in pound seats in London
The palsied rand is a bonanza for South African artists who sell their work in London. So said the head of South African art at auction house Bonham s, Hannah O'Leary."London is the place to maximis e prices for South African artists," she said.Bonhams has sold R1-billion of South African art in London in the past 10 years. It auctioned a Gerard Sekoto painting for over £120,000 (R1.7-million then) in 2007.O'Leary travels the world hunting art and has found South African works in Canada, Australia - and a castle in France."When expats left the country, some took art as a way to move money abroad minus the exchange-control costs," she said.Buyers include investors and "South Africans with deep pockets living abroad" .Bonhams' record price for a piece of South African art sold in London was R34.4-million, for Arab Priest, by Irma Stern, in 2011.The house sold Stern's Arab in Black for R17.9-million last year. Betty Suzman, sister-in-law of anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman, donated it in the 1950s to raise funds for Nelson Mandela and other ANC stalwarts during the 1956 Treason Trials.The 10 most expensive South African paintings sold in the past five years, in London by Bonhams and in Cape Town by Strauss, fetched a total of R207.8-million."African and South African art is very much in fashion in London," said Julian Roup, Bonhams's former marketing head...
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