Guy Ngans flat, geometric bronze sculptures sitting on a small plinth are amongst the artists’ most recognisable forms, and some have sold in recent years realising about $16,000. Ron Sang’s example was larger than most, but no one could have anticipated the heated competition for the work, which led to it selling for $258,000 against a $20,000 low estimate.
Back in 2015, Ron Sang sold the first part of his collection through Art + Object, which garnered huge interest and attention. The collection was displayed for viewing in Sang’s own house, nestled amongst the leafy streets of Epsom. The house, of his own design seamlessly showcased the architectural features for which he was so well regarded, alongside his impressive art collection which contained works by Don Binney, Pat Hanly, Gretchen Albrecht among others. Ceramics were also a passion and Sang collected widely, including some of New Zealand’s top ceramicists such as Len Castle and Barry Brickell and glass artist Ann Robinson At that time, the sale of the collection set numerous auction records.
Since then, Sang has sadly passed away and his family decided to sell the home and most of the remaining art, furniture and books in another standalone sale at Art + Object. The house was once again a major drawcard, when it was opened to the public for the viewing, and as many as 800 people went through on the days prior to the auction.
Wandering around the house at the viewing, it was hard to imagine how the contents of the 2015 sale would have been accomodated inside as well, as the house looked full, with groups of ceramics, walls covered in prints and lots of furniture featuring a greatest hits of 20th century design icons.
The current collection featured a group of modern prints by various artists such as Gordon Walters, Michael Smither and Robin White. All of these prints were in absolutely pristine condition, which was great to see as often they appear on the market in faded or foxed condition. Robin White’s ‘White Oyster and Harbour Cone’ from 1977 (Lot 38 ) just slid in at $23,000 to set the new top price for a print by the artist at auction. The less commercial but still important image of ‘Florence and Harbour Cone’ (Lot 39 ) made $19,000. Other examples of both these images had previously sold last year for about $5,000 less.
Most of the major paintings had been sold in the 2015 sale, and only a few paintings remained, including a magnificent work by Robert Ellis. The painting, Te Rawhiti V (lot 26), was perhaps a favourite of Ron Sang, as it had graced the cover of his own publication on the artist, and was one of the best works to come through on the secondary market. Modestly estimated at $50,000-$85,000, the work ended up selling to a consultant in the room for $105,000, the second painting by the artist to realise over $100,000 in the past six months.
Like Robert Ellis, the artist Guy Ngan has seen a reassessment in his prices over the last few years. His work is hard to define or categorise, it fits into the modernist movement, but as a Chinese New Zealander, it pulls from a variety of influences. Often overlooked within critical art history in the previous decades, Ngan had found a champion in Ron Sang and they worked together on commercial projects, where Ngan provided site specific installation pieces. As a result, Sang owned a large number of sculptures by the artist, other pieces had been sold in his first sale, for considerably less sums.
Highlights from this section included Sea Scape (Lot 5 ), a four metre long wall sculpture which had originally been in the Wool Board Building in Wellington. Priced with a ‘must sell’ estimate of $25,000-$45,000, it was well contested in the room to make $139,000 hammer which would have set the record for the artist, until Cast Bronze Sculpture No. 216 (Lot 53 ) was offered.
The flat, geometric bronze sculptures sitting on a small plinth are amongst the artists’ most recognisable forms, and some have sold in recent years realising about $16,000. Ron Sang’s example was highly polished and larger than most, but no one could have anticipated the heated competition for the work, which led to it selling for $258,000 against a $20,000 low estimate. The successful room bidder beat a hasty retreat out of the auction room, possibly to cool down and digest the full extent of what had just occurred.
The outdoor sculptures didn’t quite excite the bidders in the same way as the smaller works which was understandable as many of them looked quite at home in the garden and buyers would need to factor relocation costs and possibly re-engineering costs into any purchase. The outdoor works were all attractively estimated to reflect the fact that they were not staying with the house, and highest price in this section was Paul Dibble’s Huia Above (Lot 40 ) which was the cover lot of the sale. A crowd-pleasing piece, combining some of Dibble’s most popular forms of a huia perched on a kowhai flower, was well bid above the low estimate of $140,000 to sell for $210,000 to a private collector in the room.
The collection of furniture and ceramics, all sold very strongly, possibly to some of the many friends, family and clients who were present at the auction. New auction records were achieved for Len Castle and Roy Cowan for the best examples of their ceramic practise and many of the pieces of classic 20th century furniture also exceeded estimates such as the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona day bed which realised $11,000 against a $4,000 estimate.
It took about four hours to sell 246 lots, over a very successful afternoon. Just prior to the art sale, the house itself had also been auctioned by real estate agents from Ray White and sold for $5.5 million. In the end, with just a book remaining unsold, the sale realised $2,089,060 and the end of an era for the Ron Sang collection.
All prices quoted are hammer price only in $NZ and do not include the buyer's premium of 19% plus GST.
