A mass sale of art by former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste has caused a slump in the price of paintings by famed South African artist, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, according to Bloomberg.
Jooste, known as a collector, has been selling various works locally through private dealers to raise funds, according to anonymous sources. He owned a number of works by Pierneef, a prolific landscape painter who died in 1957 and remains a staple of auction houses in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Jooste quit as head of Steinhoff due to reported accounting irregularities in 2017. According to Steinhoff, he was the chief architect of various financial dealings that triggered the company’s near collapse. He is the subject of a R850m claim for damages by Steinhoff, and other lawsuits. Jooste, who has not been charged, denies any wrongdoing.
A record price of almost R20.5 million – for a Pierneef work – was paid for ‘Farm Jonkershoek with Twin Peaks Beyond, Stellenbosch’ in June 2017, about six months before the Steinhoff scandal erupted.
Art dealers had expected the market to grow from there, but were left confused when some works the following year went unsold. Word quickly spread that Jooste was offloading at least part of his collection.
Johannesburg-based Strauss & Co sold nine Pierneef lots for a combined R9.65m in Cape Town this month, marking a ‘return to form’, according to a statement on 15 October on the auctioneer’s website. ‘Prices had been diluted by a recent fire sale by a distressed collector,’ it said.