LONDON.- Bonhams next South African Art sale on March 23 has attracted so many outstanding works following the breaking of the record for South African art last year in New Bond Street, that the sale will now include an evening auction of 20 masterpieces.

These 20 pictures are some of the most outstanding and desirable works by Irma Stern Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Maggie Laubser and Gerard Sekoto. The glowing colours and vibrancy of this art out of Africa is already attracting huge interest. Many of these pictures flooded in to Bonhams following the £2.4m (R26.6m) result at Bonhams October sale for Irma Stern’s `Bahora Girl’, an image of a young Indian girl painted in Zanzibar on one of the artists beloved forays deep into Africa.

Giles Peppiatt, Head of South African Art at Bonhams says: “In the five years that we have held stand-alone South African art sales in London, the quality of the work on offer has steadily grown in stature. Without doubt, this latest offering is in a class of its own, hence the decision to hold an evening sale of true masterpieces. These range in value from £100,000 to £2m. It is without doubt the most exciting collection of South African images that I have seen.”

The works have been sourced from South Africa, Europe, Canada and the USA, Israel and Australia.

The masterpiece paintings on offer will include:

• Irma Stern (1894-1966) 'Arab Priest', £1,500,000 to £2,000,000

• Irma Stern, `Seated Nude with Oranges’, £800,000 to £1,200,000

• Irma Stern, Still Life of Lilies £700,000 to £1,000,000

• Irma Stern, Still life of Irises, oil £700,000 to £1,000,000

• Irma Stern, `Portrait of a Malay child’ £700,000 to £1,000,000

• Irma Stern, `Swazi Youth’ £600,000 to £900,000.

• Irma Stern, `Woman in blue’, £400,000 to £600,000

• Irma Stern, `Portrait of an African Woman’ £300,000 to £500,000.

• Irma Stern, 'Pondo Mother and Child', £200,000 to £300,000.

• Gerard Sekoto, (1913-1993) `Yellow Houses, District Six’ £200,000 to £300,000

• Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (1886-1957) `Bosveld’ £180,000 to £220,000

• Irma Stern, `Still life of tree tulips’ £150,000 to £200,000.

• Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, ‘Stormclouds over the veld’ £120000 to £180,000

• Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, `Veld scene’£120,000 to £180,000

• Irma Stern, 'The Fete' £120,000 to £180000

• Gerard Sekoto, Schoolgirls (Sophiatown?) circa 1943/44) £100,000 to £150,000

The main sale starting at 2.30pm on March 23 in Bonhams New Bond Street saleroom will include some 100 plus pictures.