As Johannesburg marks its 140th anniversary in October 2026, the city's appetite for examining and preserving its cultural heritage is sharper than ever. And it is fitting timing then for a landmark sale that feels as much like a museum exhibition as it does an auction. Deep Roots: Selected Works from Stephan and Carmen Welz promises to be one of the most emotionally resonant sales Strauss & Co has staged, offering up the personal collection assembled by the legendary auctioneer and his wife.
Growing up with art royalty
With his childhood in the Breede River Valley town of Worcester in the 1950s, Stephan Welz was surrounded by artists. Irma Stern and Walter Battiss were frequent houseguests. The painter Cecil Higgs once gifted him a budgie and painted his portrait as a young boy. His father was Jean Welz, an Austrian-born architect who emigrated and eventually found his true calling as an acclaimed modernist painter in the Cape. (Johannesburg locals might know Jean Welz best for his architectural footprint, having designed the Geosciences Building at Wits University before his pivot to the canvas).
It was this upbringing in the company of artists that was the initial spark for him to later professionalise South Africa's auction world. His formal education in the art business started at UNISA's fledgling art department in Pretoria. Working alongside Battiss, Welz was a first-hand witness to his mentor's wild transformation from a respected modernist painter into a "Fookian trickster".
After his time with Battiss in Pretoria, Welz joined Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1970 under the tutelage of Reinhold Cassirer, a German auctioneer. Welz eventually inherited the mantle and, with Stephan Welz & Co, he presided over a massive boom in the value of South African art for 26 years.
After a health scare, he sold Stephan Welz & Co but in 2008, he returned to the fold to establish Strauss & Co with business leaders Elisabeth Bradley and Dr Conrad Strauss.
The Joburg exception
Typically, Strauss & Co divides its focus, with Johannesburg handling fine art while Cape Town mostly manages decorative arts and furniture. However, given Welz's deep ties to the city – he lived with these objects in his Parkview home – and the logistical headache and cost of shipping, the auction house made a rare exception to keep the collection together in Gauteng.
Following the immersive success of the recent Anna Starcke auction, Strauss & Co's chief curator Wilhelm van Rensburg has once again transformed their Houghton showroom. Rather than a sterile white cube, the intimate room deliberately evokes the domestic warmth and milieu of the Welz family home. It is essentially a home installation, inviting buyers directly into a deeply personal space.
What the walls hold
At the heart of the collection are 58 works by Jean Welz. Spanning abstract and figurative paintings, drawings and prints, these pieces represent a rare opportunity to engage with the artist's vision in a concentrated form. Alongside them sit works by Irma Stern, Frans Oerder, Karel Nel, William Timlin and Adolph Jentsch.
The furniture and decorative arts consignment is equally engrossing. Standout pieces include a massive, and collapsible, 14-seater dining-room table alongside military and naval chests and elegant Cape chairs. The ceramics span blue-and-white porcelain and Victorian figurines including works by local makers Linnware.
There really are some unique and wonderful pieces in this auction, and it's one of those where more than a few have us considering placing our own bids. Some of our standouts include a gorgeous mahogany Wellington chest that has some unique features, including a piece to stop the drawers sliding open when you move it. Also in the furniture department is a rosewood bureau that we would love to write our next article on; we didn’t even get a chance to explore all the hidden pigeonholes, drawers and compartments. Many of the furniture pieces are going at a fraction of the price compared to if you were buying them from an antique shop, so if you’re looking for more furniture, this is the auction to do so.
In terms of art, there is a Stern and sketches by Pierneef that collectors will love, but it is Jean Welz’s paintings that steal the show. For Van Rensburg, the two portraits, Portrait of a Woman and Carmen are particularly enchanting, but for us the soft blues and greens of House by the Sea No. 47 stand out in how it almost synthesises his work in abstraction with that in his portraits. Another one worth mentioning is the portrait of Battiss, an excellent compliment to the self-portrait of Battiss found at Strauss & Co's Modern and Contemporary art sale, running concurrently. Perhaps our favourite is S.W. Africa by Adolph Jentsch, a tiny watercolour on paper that is too cute for words and remarkable in its incredible detail given its size.
Importantly, the estimates are set to attract a broad range of buyers, with Van Rensburg saying this is one of their most accessible auctions to date. This makes it a rare chance to pick up a piece of South African cultural history without necessarily needing a seasoned collector's budget.
Looking at the rooms filled with a lifetime of considered collecting, it is hard not share Strauss & Co's Alastair Meredith's view as he says, "It is a bittersweet sale for us."
A note for book-lovers
For bibliophiles, there will be a separate online-only sale of Welz's remarkable library, Long Pursuits, that closes on Thu, May 28, 2026 from 14:00. The collection features artist monographs and the reference books on silverware that informed Welz's landmark 1976 publication, Cape Silver & Silversmiths.Make a weekend of it
Before the gavels fall, make the pilgrimage to the gallery in Houghton to see the collection for yourself. Strauss & Co will also exhibit high-value highlights at RMB Latitudes 2026 at Shepstone Gardens from Fri, May 22 – Sun, May 24. Between viewing the Welz collection and catching the fair's highly anticipated Nigeria in Focus programme, it is a bumper weekend for the city's art lovers.
Deep Roots: Selected Works from Stephan and Carmen Welz runs alongside Strauss & Co's Modern and Contemporary Art sales. Make sure to go view the lots before the auction closes (there are some truly extraordinary works), either during Strauss & Co's viewing times, weekdays from 09:00 – 16:00, or pop over for specialist-led walkabouts on Sat, May 23 at 15:00 and Sun, May 24 at 11:00. In addition, Strauss & Co will host a panel discussion with Dan Corder on Sat, May 23 at 12:00 and a Sunday Art Class with Jo Voysey on Sun, May 14 at 10:00.
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