Business Art
FRANK KILBOURN Art lover and collector www.straussart.co.za
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trauss & Co recently celebrated their best year ever, recording R329 million in turnover – an increase of 80% over the previous year. Art Times asked Frank Kilbourn, who was appointed as executive chairman of Stephan Welz’s firm in May 2017, for his insights.
An art lover and collector since his student days some 30 years ago, Frank Kilbourn is revered for his business flair. Brought up on a maize farm in North West, Kilbourn was an excellent law student who has since sailed to the top of a variety of industries, including law, corporate finance, and hospitality, before founding the Bright Group of Companies in 2002. It was his love of art, however, that ultimately brought him to Strauss & Co. “About five years ago,” says Kilbourn, “my wife Lizelle and I went to support a fundraising auction by Stephan Welz to renovate and restore Welgemeend, the second oldest continually occupied homestead in South Africa, dating back to 1697, on the premises of Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck – and Stephan suggested that we join forces. We seized the opportunity. Since then, Strauss & Co sponsored the gala fundraising dinner and put the auction events together. We hold the talks, arrange the annual exhibition – last year in collaboration with Pieter Colyn, a friend and co-collector, where we hung a collection of nonfigurative abstract art from the 50s to the 70s – and use the opportunity to present the art and Welgemeend to the public.
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