Buried in a story about the effect of the Chinese stock market on the value of South African art (don’t worry, there doesn’t seem to be a connection) are these two interesting figures for works by South African artists that were bought and sold within the last quarter century providing returns that exceeded the JSE All Share index’s 17% return.

• Jacob Hendrik Pierneef‘s Extensive Landscap Northern Transvaal sold for R120000 in 1985 and R10.58m in 2011, giving a tax-free annualised return of 19.11% over 25 years
• There was a 28.97% return on Irma Stern‘s Still Life of Delphiniums, sold for R209000 in 1995 and R10.58m in 2011

China’s New Wealth Moves Art Markets (BD Live)