Each of the works ticks a different classic genre box; Portraiture, Nude, Still Life and Landscape –“four” is hard at work and may prove to be the magic number!
Heading the bill is John Brack’s Double Nude 1 c1982-3 (Lot 37 ) estimated at $1.5-2 million, a few shades below the artist’s highest recorded result for the year of $1.8 million for Backs and Fronts.
While the latter is embroiled in legal argument, the auction house doesn’t expect Double Nude 1 to cause any kind of double trouble, and regardless of preconceptions related to its trading history, more likely aspire for its sale price to catapult it into Brack’s Top 5.
High hopes are held for the front cover image, Russell Drysdale’s portrait of Warrego Jim c1964 (Lot 36 ) estimated comparatively modestly at $800,000-1.2 million in the wake of Sotheby’s record setting price of $1.89 million (IBP) in 2008 for portrait of Rocky McCormack 1962-3.
The painting has re-surfaced after 46 years in the collection of Lieutenant –Colonel C.P. Dawnay (a former Military Assistant to British Field Commander Marshal Montgomery). Warrego Jim has rock solid provenance having been acquired from its original London exhibition in 1964, (interestingly on the advice of Margaret Carnegie) and has remained in family’s hands ever since.
Menzies have bravely positioned three of the four prime lots sequentially and completing the trio is the ‘odd man’ aka non-Australian modern, Bouquet de cheminée 1913 by Pierre Bonnard. The still life is offered at 20% less than its DM hammer price two years ago, a wise strategy to attract interest from an audience that largely favours home grown artists.
Essayist, Professor Ken Wach, aptly described the pretty, softly hued palette of the floral still life as a painting that “whispers rather than shouts”[1] in marked contrast to another artwork equally dedicated to celebrating aestheticism; Brett Whiteley’s blazing Little Orange (Sunset ) 1974 (Lot 27 ).
An exuberant and elegant study in beauty, this landscape (or rather “harbourscape”) has a companion work, Big Orange (Sunset) which author Patrick White donated to the AGNSW and may serve to add gravitas. Sold for $720,000 IBP in 2006 at DM, the painting’s estimate four years later suggests prudence or pragmatism at $750,000-850,000.
The Whiteley forms the centerpiece of the Barbara Heine Estate collection, which is supported by a further seven works in the auction estimated at $1.1 million.
Sale proceeds will benefit her family’s philanthropic entity, the Kids and Families Foundation, whose grassroots programs include a scholarship fund that supports former foster children through university.
The collection kicks off with a very pretty Clarice Beckett Evening Calm c1928 (lot 22, est $32-40,000) and is book-ended by Septimus Power’s A Fox Hunt in the Midlands (lot 29, est 90,000-120,000). Heine surprised the market in 2007 when her winning bid on this painting set a new auction record for Power, an artist more popular in preceding decades. However when one learns of her great love for horses and her harnessing of their abilities in treating children as a Hippotherapist, it becomes a fitting illustration of her shared passions.
Tim Maguire’s good looking painting of imagined fruit Untitled 20030201 (lot 28, est $70,000-90,000) flies the flag for contemporary art in a collection dominated by moderns. Tendered at 30% below Heine’s 2008 purchase price, the lot reflects the dip in demand for Maguire’s work in the secondary market.
In addition to the obvious high-end contenders for collector attention, there are a few more lots that may at least invoke curiosity if not prompt bidders into raising their paddles. Lin Onus makes a welcome appearance with One Afternoon in Yokohama c1992 (lot 32, est $90,000-120,000) and Bronwyn Oliver’s spherical sculpture Shell 2003 (Lot 39 ) could set her second highest auction price.
The serious and evocative image of The Punter at Night 1963 by Robert Dickerson has not been seen since Bonython Galleries exhibited it that same year and has been teased out from a British collection. Its conservative low estimate of $30,000 pushes the glory days even further away, especially when recalling the $105,160 IBP paid in 2004 at Christie’s for Professional Punter.
A strong sense of familiarity greets Jeffrey Smart’s Dampier III 1967 (lot 34, est $280,000-350,000) yet this belies its relative freshness to the auction market after 13 years; keeping in mind that in the art world calendar years have transformed into dog years.
The image’s resonance rests with its wide circulation through his touring retrospective (1999-2000) and illustration in all three major Smart publications. This lot will provide an interesting gauge of a key auction performer whose market has been very flat throughout 2010.
On a volume scale 60%, of Menzies’ 129 lot auction comprises works under $20,000, however it’s doubtful that industry and collector focus will lie in this segment.
Instead, the closest attention will be paid to the fate of the $50k + works in an attempt to divine any kernels of truth or indicators for 2011.
If Menzies manage to buck this year’s trend and sell more than a third of their high value lots then there may be cause for celebration all around.
[1] Associate Professor Ken Wach in Menzies: Australian and International Fine Art catalogue, Melbourne, 15 December 2010, p.62
