Monday, March 1

Seldom has there been so much interest in a local auction of contemporary art as there is in Important South African Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture, scheduled to take place in Cape Town on March 15 under the hammer of Strauss & Co.

The reason: for the first time ever, a Jane Alexander sculpture will go on the block, providing a unique opportunity for collectors and art institutions, both here and abroad, to acquire a major work by this widely admired sculptor, whose work is seldom on the market, and who, famously, is not represented by a gallery.

This remarkable piece is entitled Racework - in the event of an earthquake. In the Strauss & Co catalogue, Lucy Alexander gives a description: 'This pair of boys dressed as men overtly exhibit compliance with social norms, dress, sobriety and restraint: in turn they will be rewarded and given leave to control. One is suited for the West; the other is masked for the East '. A small seated figure with a human body and an animal head, a tractor and a scythe complete the tableau. The artist made the piece in 1998, following a visit to Tokyo, where her earlier work, Bom Boys was exhibited as part of 'Africa Africa'. The auctioneers have listed the estimate as R800 000 - R1000 000

The auctioneers are probably holding their breaths to see if an earthquake will occur in the saleroom. Will the work sell well - reaching or far surpassing the estimate? Should it not sell, it would be bad not only for Strauss & Co, but for the artist, indicating a lack of interest from the market in acquiring her work. However, if the work sells for way above the estimate, the auctioneers would be well pleased but it might set an impossibly high new benchmark for Alexander's work overall - a benchmark which the rest of the market might not be able reach. Thus there might be a dropoff in other sales of Alexander's work.

It is not only Alexander herself who will be affected, but the sale will be a testing ground for the auction market's appetite for contemporary art in this country - up to now, the auction stars have been from the generation which included Gerard Sekoto and Irma Stern.

Ultimately it is the artists who are most affected by the aftershocks of auction sales. Watch this space for a reportback.