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A rich and rare African art focused auction coming to Cape Town Art Week

As Investec Cape Town Art Fair prepares for its eighth edition, Aspire and Piasa are set to add to the overall offering of Cape Town Art Week taking place in February 2020.
Aspire x Piasa at Cape Town Art Week
Ablade Glover, Market in Blues, 1989 | Estimate: R100 000 – 130 000

As ever-increasing global interest in art from Africa is changing the art market, Aspire has partnered with Paris-based auction house, Piasa, to initiate an Africa-focused auction that presents some of the best examples of modern and contemporary art produced on this continent.

Top lots by value include J.H. Pierneef’s Baobabs with Soutpansberg in the distance, valued at over R6 million, and William Kentridge’s Whilst Reaching Down (Slowly) valued at over R3 million, says Aspire Senior Art Specialist, Emma Bedford

The Kentridge work is a series of drawings on dictionary paper in which the famous South African artist explores his inter-related interests in drawing, text and film.

Aspire x Piasa at Cape Town Art Week
William Kentridge, Whilst Reaching Down (Slowly), 2013 | Estimate: R3 000 000 – 5 000 000

Art enthusiasts can also view a related animation with music and singing by Neo Muyanga in William Kentridge: Why Should I Hesitate? Putting Drawings to Work currently on exhibition at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa.

Although it is difficult to isolate a single stand-out work which will spike bidder interest in African art, Bedford noted that collectors will no doubt be watching the auction’s powerful selection of African art, such as the 1966 drawing by Dumile Feni and impressive works from established artists like Ghanaian Ablade Glover and Moshekwa Langa.

A rich and rare African art focused auction coming to Cape Town Art Week 1
Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef, Baobabs with Soutpansberg in the distance, 1920 | Estimate: R6 000 000 – 9 000 000
A rich and rare African art focused auction coming to Cape Town Art Week 2
Mustafa Maluka, We forgot how life’s supposed to be, 2007 | Estimate: R250 000 – 350 000
Aspire x Piasa at Cape Town Art Week
Marlene Dumas, Oktober 1973, 1973 | Estimate: R3 000 000 – 5 000 000

The Aspire and Piasa auction starts on 14 February at OroAfrica House in Cape Town. 

For more details, you can view the catalogue here. 

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