In a sign of growing confidence in the East African art market, Strauss & Co, Africa’s largest auction house, has entered a strategic partnership with Nairobi-based Art Auction East Africa for a landmark November 2025 sale. The collaboration, announced last week with YourLuxury Africa as its official media partner aims to bolster the region’s burgeoning secondary art market.
The auction, titled Art Auction East Africa | Strauss & Co, will be a two-part event. The centrepiece is a 65-lot live-virtual sale of modern and contemporary art in Nairobi on 5 November accompanied by a timed-online auction of works on paper, concluding the same day.
The partnership marries Strauss & Co’s international client base and auctioneering expertise with the deep regional expertise of Circle Art Agency, which founded Art Auction East Africa in 2013. The Nairobi-based platform has been instrumental in cultivating a market for East African artists, particularly those from the post-independence era.
“This is a significant validation of the market we have been building for over a decade,” said Danda Jaroljmek, Director of Circle Art Agency. “The quality of the works… underscore the breadth of artistic practices across East Africa over the past six decades.”
Susie Goodman, Managing Executive of Strauss & Co, framed the initiative as a necessary step towards a more integrated pan-African art ecosystem.
“This bold initiative recognises the importance of collaboration,” she said. “We have a global client base, and we are excited at the prospect of taking our clients on this exciting journey.”
The involvement of YourLuxury Africa as media partner underscores the event’s aim to reach a high-net-worth audience, aligning the sale with the narrative of African cultural luxury. The auction will also feature a transnational selection of works, including pieces by Egyptian painter Souad Abdelrassoul and Zimbabwean artist Misheck Masamvu, highlighting the auction houses’ broader regional ambitions.
