LONDON.-The second South African art auction at Bonhams New Bond Street will be the most valuable sale of South African ever to have been held worldwide. It is expected that the sale on January 30 2008 will total £4 million (ZAR 50 Million). Standard Bank of South Africa Standard Bank is sponsoring the sale’s private view and reception.

Giles Peppiatt, Director of South African Art at Bonhams says: “The demand for high quality South African painting has moved beyond the domestic South African market and it is now truly international. Our last South African sale set five new world records for artists work and we fully expect another similar figure for the January sale. The South African Sale series at Bonhams is now part of London’s art events calendar.”

“We are honoured to be able to co-host the pre-sale reception with The Mandela Rhodes Foundation and in fact are also offering a work by Mandela himself, an original signed lithograph ‘The Window’ from the ‘My Robben Island’ series showing the bars of Mandela’s cell with the sea and Table Mountain beyond which is estimated to sell for £10,000 – 15,000).”

The major and lead lot in the sale is a hauntingly beautiful study by Irma Stern titled ‘Portrait of a Pondo Woman’. This work dates from 1929 and comes from a period in Stern’s work when she was exploring the differences in appearance and dress found in the African tribal women. Oils from this period are exceedingly rare and this example is the first of its type to have come on the market for fifteen years. The picture is estimated to sell for £300,000 to £500,000. Another wonderful Irma Stern titled Still Life of Marigolds is estimated to make £250,000 to £350,000.

The artist Dylan Lewis is considered the leading wildlife sculptor wild-wide but has decided to change his artistic focus to the human form and will no longer be producing wildlife subjects. The bronze sculpture ‘Cheetah sitting II’ therefore represents a wonderful opportunity to acquire a full size bronze by this artist’s most commercial subject matter. It is estimated to attract bids of £25,000 to £35,000.

Other major lots include a Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Acacia trees on the veld, £60,000 to £90,000; a Maggie Loubser, The Water Carrier, £30,000 to £50,000; a Gerald Sekoto, Woman by an empty cupboard, £40,000 to £60,000; and a Helen Sibidi, Where do we go from here, £30,000 to £40,000.