Hilton Arts Festival
Hilton College: 14 – 16 September
Residing in the History Room for the second year, Strauss & Co will be displaying a number of magnificent works of art over this weekend at the 26th Hilton Arts Festival.
The fine art auctioneers have been an acknowledged pioneer of the online auction platform in South Africa since 2013. Prior to their move to online, in March 2009 Strauss & Co held its highly successful inaugural auction selling 87% of the lots on offer. They are based in Johannesburg and Cape Town and host bi-annual auctions.
Running concurrently with the festival, there is an online auction featuring affordable prints, paintings, sculpture and works on paper, closing on Monday 17 September.
Apart from the artworks on display in the History Room, they will be presenting a free talk by art specialist, Alastair Meredith entitled The Intrigue of Alexis Preller. Preller is often described as South Africa’s most important post–War painter, having trained at the Westminster School of Art and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. His work was influenced by the likes of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and it is said that he used to visit European galleries and museums to study these artists’work. His career spanned for decades with his last major show taking place at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. Nowadays Preller’s distinct art fetches eye-watering prices at auctions.
In a fun mock auction, auction specialists Susie Goodman; Alastair Meredith and Wilhelm van Rensburg will share their knowledge of the auction world and secondary art market in an informative hour entitled Do You Know Your Gavel From Your Paddle? A Picasso From A Pierneef?
Director for the Festival, Sue Clarence said, “Can you imagine biding for the Mona Lisa or a da Vinci or Rembrandt. It will be great fun to spend millions and ‘own’ a historic piece, just for a moment. We can always dream!”
During the festival, you can bring your art works, sculptures or works on paper to be assessed by the team of art experts in an obligation free valuation. They will be available from 9am to 5pm daily over festival weekend.
For more info on Strauss & Co you can visit their website, www.straussart.co.za where there is a wealth of information about bidding online for novice buyers.
The festival would not be possible without the generous support of Hilton College, Grindrod Bank, Black Coffee Design, DWR Distribution, Extreme Events, Bidvest Car Rental, KZN Dept of Arts & Culture, Redlands Hotel, Assitej South Africa, Loud Crowd, Sappi, BASA, RMB and Corona.
For more info visit http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za/ or like the Facebook page, Hilton Arts Festival. Follow us on Twitter @HiltonFest and Instagram. All enquiries on 033 383 0126 / 7 or tickets@hiltoncollege.com. The 26th annual Hilton Arts Festival will run from 14 to 16 September. The full programme is on www.hiltonfestival.co.za. Online bookings are open, and programmes are available from various outlets in KZN. Refer to website for list of outlets.
