Chairman, Geoffrey Smith’s curatorial skills are particularly pronounced in the catalogue (Deutscher+Hackett are the only other competitor to rival this curatorial approach) with a 97 lot selection that ticks the boxes across all periods and categories of art. Pleasingly, Dr David Hansen’s accompanying essays are edifying and give context, rather than just content to each lot.
The auction carrying a low presale estimate of $5.67 million , is sensibly weighted towards the business end of the market with two-thirds of lots by volume estimated under $50,000. Just over ten percent are estimated at the sensitive upper end over $100,000, so if Sotheby's Australia sale follows recent patterns of higher turnover at the lower segment of the market, we may see the resulting ’confidence’ spill over into the top end.
Arthur Boyd’s early Shoalhaven landscape, Pink Sky and Riverbank 1974-76 launches the sale with an upbeat estimate of $60,000-80,000 . The auctioneers would be hoping to emulate the success of a comparable Shoalhaven on copper offered with the same estimate in November last year which more than doubled Sotheby's Australia expectations and was hammered for $130,000.
Perhaps, it’s just my quirky perception, but the refined appearance and style of Pink Sky and Riverbank seems to set the tone for much of the sale - it’s as if a theme of delicacy and fineness is surreptitiously weaving its thread through much of the catalogue from Clarice Beckett’s tonal renderings to the numerous feminine floral still lifes.
A few lots after Boyd these concepts find perfect expression in the exquisitely articulated ceramics of Gwyn Hanssen Piggot in Sigh 2006 ( lot 2), estimated at $18,000-20,000 . Shifting mediums within the 3D realm, Robert Klippel’s No.830 1986 (Lot 35 ), estimated at $15,000-18,000 continues the theme.
Similarly Mari Funaki’s elegant sculpture (Untitled, lot 5, estimated at $30,000-40,000 possesses delicacy, but also strength in equal measure and to my mind prompts memories of Louise Bourgeois’ famous enveloping and spindly spider, Maman.
The aptly titled Delicate Cutting by Sally Smart (Lot 44 ), estimated at $10,000-15,000 taps into this subject once more through the process of collage. Beyond these examples, the sale simply offers a healthy selection of fine art works.
Justifiably, The Picnic 1980 (Lot 12 ) by Jeffrey Smart as the highest ticket item graces the catalogue front cover. Estimated at $600,000-800,000 it will be eagerly watched to see if it reaches the million dollar heights achieved by Autobahn in the Black Forest II sold by D+H last month. Comparisons are understandable because the two same-scaled works were painted within a year of each other, and share an impressive provenance, exhibition and literary history. The Picnic’s imagery is less iconic and pictorially less punchy, however it trumps Autobahn.. on the enigma scale, so it may come close.
Set to whet the appetite of the historical collector is an extremely early and rare rendering of Sydney Town dated around 1812-14 by soldier and amateur artist, William Lyttleton (Lot 26 ), estimated at $60,000-80,000 . Ludwig Becker’s miniatures bring a poignant dimension to colonial art. These three portraits from 1852 are one of the few existent records of the persecuted and ill-fated indigenous Palwa people of Tasmania (Lot 36 ), est. $60,000-80,000 . Until the middle of last century the portraits were in the collection of film producer and director Robert Flaherty and then his descendents. Having just been extricated from Finland, the portraits represent a rare acquisition opportunity for the dedicated ethnographic collector and institution.
Another set of Aboriginal portraits c1853 by Robert Dowling with the same provenance are on the auction block (Lot 41 ) , estimated at $12,000-18,000 Interestingly these are considered an alternate translation of Dowling’s copies found in the collection of the British Museum and drawn from a set of original Thomas Bock watercolours .
In a deft curatorial touch, contemporary Aboriginal portraits by Brook Andrew are featured a few lots later. Andrew’s works Sexy and Dangerous I and II (lots 42 and 43), like Dowling, use ethnographic portraits as their source material. This time however poignancy and character studies are swapped for political concerns but the exotic element remains.
Presenting a more challenging collecting proposition are a handful of curious and less characteristic offerings including Eugene von Guerard’s View of Palermo from Santa Maria di Gesu 1840 , (lot 39, estimated at $50,000-70,000 ) and formerly from the Mertz collection, Roger Kemp’s St Francis and the Birds 1964 which displays an unusual hybrid of abstraction figuration,(lot 15, estimated at $50,000-70,000 ).
Turning our attention to the potential gems of the sale there’s sure to be some buzz about Rosalie Gascoigne’s Swarm I 1998 (Lot 23 ) estimated at $50,000-60,000 ). Interest should greet Joy Hester’s substantial Lovers 1957 (Lot 7 ) estimated at $60,000-80,000 and Fred Williams’ Landscape 1967 (Lot 50 ), estimated at $180,000-220,000 tantalises with the promise of being even better in the flesh.
The noticeable breadth and depth of sculpture in the sale is a welcome breath of fresh air. Representing about 10% of the auction, seven artists including Robert Klippel, Clement Meadmore and Lenton Parr will be jockeying for collector attention with presale expectations high for Akio Makigawa’s suite of three works at $80,000-100,000 . Even if the lot sells at low estimate, this will set an auction record for the artist. In light of the $17,000 hammer price realised by Bonhams+Goodman in 2009 for another edition of Ron Robertson-Swann’s Vault (Lot 32 ), the $12,000-18,000 estimate appears most reasonable.
The Estate of Marjory Green makes its entrance in the last stage of the auction. Formed by her late husband Cecil Green, the two standout works from the collection of the twenty-three lots under offer are Rupert Bunny’s romantic and classic La Chenille Vert 1910 (Lot 75 ), estimated at $200,000-300,000 and George Lambert’s beautifully intimate and affectionate portrait of his young family in Mother and Sons 1909 (Lot 92 ), estimated at $90,000-100,000 .
Interestingly the AGNSW originally purchased Bunny’s La Chenille Vert for its own collection, however, a year later in an unusual move, it relinquished it for Bunny’s A Summer Morning. Since 1911 it has only been in two sets of private hands including that of Cecil Green who acquired it over 50 years ago.
Cecil Green was an admirer of the classic genres, particularly the nude with many exuberant and flamboyant scenes by Norman Lindsay, much in evidence (their inclusion, no doubt encouraged by his friendship with the artist). Green responded to quieter expressions too, his collection revealing an array of pretty still lifes by artists including, Hans Heysen and Albert Sherman, to landsapes by Elioth Gurner and sensitively rendered nude by Dora Wilson aptly titled, Pensive Thoughts (Lot 94 ).
This catalogue should, should put to rest, at least until the next auction round, speculation about the anticipated effects of the looming competition. Sotheby's Australia varied and balanced offering not only reignites the collector flame it also promises to provide great ringside viewing for market observers come auction night.
The Picnic 1980 by Jeffrey Smart, graces the catalogue cover it will be eagerly watched to see if it reaches the million dollar heights achieved by Autobahn in the Black Forest II sold by D+H last month.
Comparisons are understandable because the two same-scaled works were painted within a year of each other, and share an impressive provenance, exhibition and literary history. The Picnic’s imagery is less iconic and pictorially less punchy, however it trumps Autobahn.. on the enigma scale, so it may come close.
