Stephan Welz & Co

Sotheby Parke Bernet was a South African auction house founded in 1968 in Johannesburg by Reinhold Cassirer, a German collector who managed the first major art auction of the country in 1971. That year, Stephan Welz joined the company and became Cassirer’s protégé, working his way up to head auctioneer until Cassirer retired. The company was renamed Stephan Welz & Co after a buy-out from Sotheby’s in 1987. Welz established the credibility of the company during the political turmoil of apartheid, participating in the growth of South African art. Since then, the auction house has established several record sales of South African artworks including a painting by Maggie Laubser sold for R4 million in 2006, and a large vitrified panel by Esias Bosch for R1.4 million in 2018. With salesrooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the auctioneer organizes several on site and online sales of paintings, sculptures, antique furniture, silverware, collectible cars, and stamps per year.

Strauss & Co

After selling up its company in 2006, Stephan Welz came out of retirement in 2008 to found Strauss & Co, which quickly became the largest fine art auction house in South Africa and the global leader in the South African art market. The company organizes several periodic sales per year, focusing on South African art and decorative arts, and has also pioneered online auctions in the country. Strauss & Co holds the records for nine of the ten most expensive paintings ever sold at auction in South Africa including a previously unseen painting of JH Pierneef sold for R20 million, and a painting of Irma Stern sold for R21 million. Shortly before Welz's death in 2015, the auctioneer knocked down a painting by Alexis Preller titled The Creation of Adam I (1968) for R8.5 million, which sets a new auction record for the artist. Last year, the combined contemporary and decorative arts auctions achieved R51 million in sales with a value sell-through rate of 80% for painting and sculpture.

Aspire Art Auctions

Aspire Art Auctions is a South African auctioneering company established in Johannesburg in 2016 by a pair of former employees of Stephan Welz & Co and Strauss & Co. The company launched its inaugural auction with 121 lots achieving R35 million, with a sell-through rate of 80% and an average hammer price of R320,000. Aspire targets contemporary artworks and art books, using live events and its online platform to host and manage interactive auctions. With the possibilities offered by technology, the auctioneer wishes to meet the needs of a growing market for younger collectors and at the same time move away from the standard approach when offering works of art. Through their platform, people could send an absentee bid by email before the sale, bid in person by phone, or bid online. Last year, their online auction provided important results with significant prices achieved for photographic works by David Goldblatt.

ArtHouse Contemporary

Founded in 2007, ArtHouse Contemporary is a Nigerian auction house that specialises in modern and contemporary art from West Africa. The company hosts two seasonal auctions per year in Lagos, Nigeria. Each sale features both modern and contemporary artworks from the country’s most renowned artists including Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, Ben Osawe, Abayomi Barber, Jacob Afolabi, and Ato Delaquis. Over the years, several auction records have been set by works of these artists, and so far the sales total over N2 billion from auctioning 1,750 lots. In 2014, Arthouse Contemporary inaugurated an annual auction series, which features artworks offered at a more affordable price. The auction, which targets young professionals and first time buyers, is part of its endeavour to build a new group of collectors for the rapidly growing local art market.

Circle Art Agency

Circle Art Agency was founded in 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya to give more visibility to East African artists and increase the interest of collectors for African art. In 2013, the company held its first auction of contemporary art including 47 lots of paintings, photographs, and sculptures selected across the East African region, with sales totaling over K18.5 million. In 2015, the evening’s sales totalled over Ksh 19.5 million ($187,000) with 4 lots fetching more than Ksh 1 million each, proving there is a healthy art market in the region. An early painting by Geoffrey Mukasa (1954-2009) sourced from a private collector, was the highest selling work fetching over $18,500 during the annual auction. In 2017, the fourth edition was the most successful by recording gross sales of over Ksh 23 million ($230,000) with 85% of lots sold (including sales post-auction).