Strauss & Co is celebrating the legacy of one of South Africa’s most influential artists through two online auctions opening this August. Running the Rule: Works on Paper from the Walter Battiss Estate, including Prints from Rorke’s Drift and August ART offer collectors the opportunity to acquire works spanning South African art history, contemporary practice and printmaking.
Designed to appeal to both first-time buyers and established collectors, the auctions feature accessible price points across a wide range of media while highlighting artists whose work continues to shape South Africa’s visual arts landscape.
Celebrating Walter Battiss’ artistic legacy
Running the Rule centres on the life and work of Walter Battiss, whose career extended beyond painting into printmaking, education, archaeology and art criticism. Born in Somerset East in 1906, Battiss became one of South Africa’s most influential artists and remains widely recognised for creating the fictional world of Fook Island, an imaginative project that explored identity, language and artistic freedom.
The auction includes Battiss’ own abstract works alongside pieces from artists he admired and collected, including Katrine Harries, Enslin du Plessis, Michael Costello, Dennis Press, Chris Spies, Tom Phillips and Gerrit Hilhorst. Together, the selection reflects both his personal artistic practice and the creative relationships that shaped his career.
Honouring the Rorke’s Drift printmakers
The sale also highlights Battiss’ longstanding relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift, where he served as an external moderator, mentor and board member during the early 1970s.
Collectors will find woodcuts, linocuts and screenprints by celebrated artists including Ephraim Ziqubu, John Muafengejo, Caiphas Nxumalo and Azaria Mbatha. The works showcase the distinctive narrative printmaking tradition associated with Rorke’s Drift while recognising Battiss’ commitment to supporting emerging artists throughout his teaching career.
Contemporary voices at August ART
Alongside the Battiss sale, Strauss & Co’s August ART auction includes a curated section titled Ctrl + Z: A Selection of Works for the 2026 Heat Winter Arts Festival. The works form part of the exhibition Dreaming Impossible Things, presented at the Alliance Française du Cap from 6 to 15 August as part of this year’s festival.
Responding to the festival’s theme, Ctrl + Z, the exhibition considers ideas of repair, restitution and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Rather than suggesting simple solutions, the featured artists reflect on the lasting effects of colonialism, environmental destruction and systems of inequality while imagining more sustainable futures.
Featured artists include Christine Dixie, Raymond Fuyana, Judy Woodborne, Husan and Husain Essop, Greatjoy Ndlovu, Rain Battiss, Clifford Mpai and Raymond Andrews, whose works examine themes of land, memory, environmental stewardship and hope.
Bidding now open
In addition to the curated exhibition section, August ART includes dedicated sessions for paintings, works on paper, prints and multiples, ceramics, sculpture, books and textiles.
Both auctions are now open for bidding. August ART closes on Monday, 17 August from 2pm, while Running the Rule: Works on Paper from the Walter Battiss Estate, including Prints from Rorke’s Drift closes on Tuesday, 18 August from 2pm.
