Sotheby’s Australia are very clearly determined to set themselves apart from everyone else: Menzies in March brought together 182 lots, Deutscher + Hackett offer us 163 lots in their May sale, while Bonhams in their last fine art sale offered 114 lots of Australian and aboriginal art.
This almost suggests a mirror to their New York counterpart, which on 2nd May will auction 76 lots – among them one of the most significant paintings to be offered in some time: Edvard Munch’s Scream, 1895. Talk of an US$80 million figure has escalated somewhat, with the New York Times’ Carol Vogel making the seemingly bold claim that it will fetch US$150 to $200 million.
Perhaps with the best-known image after the Mona Lisa, anything is possible. It will surely achieve the highest price ever for a pastel, if not a painting.
Like Sotheby’s New York, Sotheby’s Australia star painting has been in the one private collection since its creation, some 126 years: Frederick McCubbin’s Whispering in Wattle Boughs, 1886 (Lot 12 ).
Does this small, although highly appealing work have a big task in achieving its estimate of $1 to $1.2 million? Who or what really decides value? Previous sales records, Sotheby’s specialists or the last person to raise their paddle on May 8th? Usually the latter.
The highest price for a painting by Frederick McCubbin was $2.31 million for Bush Idyll, a large work at 119.5 x 221.5 cm, sold by Christie’s in Australia in 1998. The much smaller Sawing Timber (63.5 x 83.8 cm) achieved $1.68 million at Christies in London in 2007.
The Boyd dynasty features heavily, with three members and a total of 10 lots. Arthur Boyd is represented with six lots, the most significant of them the cover lot Dry Creek Bed, Alice Springs (1953-1954) (Lot 20 ). This large early work has price expectations of $1 – 1.2 million. In Sotheby’s promotional video David Hansen calls it a transitional work.
Sotheby’s broke the record price on Arthur Boyd in August last year with The Frightened Bridegroom, 1958, which sold for $ 1.2 million incl. buyers premium. Obviously, the scenario and title resonated with the buyer on what had appeared a bullish price for this relatively small work at 61.7 x 63.5 cm.
Perhaps the buyer of ‘Bridegroom’ would like to add a companion piece ‘Lovers by a Creek, 1960 (Lot 32 ), larger at 122 x 91.5 cm and arguably more attractive with its also more appealing estimate of $800,000-1 million.
Penleigh Boyd has three works in the sale (lots 10, 65 and 71). Lot 10, Manly 1922, is priced at $20,000-30,000. A closely related and larger work Fairy Bower, Manly 1922, last sold at Deutscher-Menzies in 2006 for $40,800 incl. b.p.
Brother David’s decorative large scale 1970 work The Dreamer on a Cliff (Lot 53 ) has an estimate of $ 45,000-65,000.
Brett Whiteley is represented by a rather charming piece of pottery,Vase 1980 (Lot 3 ).
Charles Blackman’s The Sleeping Child, 1965 (Lot 5 ) was sold by Sotheby’s nearly 20 years ago, when $ 38,500 was paid. A reasonable return should be assured for this strong and colourful work. The current estimate is $80,000-$100,000.
Ship’s Graveyard by John Perceval (Lot 6 ) last appeared in a Sotheby’s auction in 1988 where it sold for $165,000 incl. b.p. now favourably priced at $250,000-350,000.
This 1950s purchase is one of two Russell Drysdale’s paintings in the sale: Boy on a log, 1953 (Lot 9 ) was purchased from a Macquarie Galleries exhibition in Sydney in 1953 and has now wide expectations between $400,000 and $ 600,000.
Lot 13, a painting in three panels attributed to Thomas Bock from 1847, is a wonderful study of a colonial family. Estimated at $120,000-180,000, one hopes it achieves this and more. It is currently owned by the Catholic Social Services and its sale proceeds are earmarked for research to assist poor and marginalised Australians.
David Hansen whilst admitting to ‘profound confusion’ over this work, through his extensive research has been able to pin down the date of execution to 1847 by identification of several family relationships. His confusion relates to authorship. He feels that the only possible candidate for a work of such competence and quality is Thomas Bock.
A favourite in Colonial Australian paintings, Conrad Martens’ local and recognisable pictures usually do well. Sydney from the South Head Road, Near the Lighthouse, 1849 (Lot 14 ), should appeal to many buyers, estimated at $ 20,000-30,000.
Five works by Arthur Streeton matches the number in Deutscher + Hackett’s May 2nd sale, though not by value. Lot 15 is a well-priced early work, Winter Landscape 1899, estimated at $30,000-40,000. Melbourne, from Sassafrass, 1921 (Lot 33 ) was tried for sale in 2010 at an estimate of $220,000-$280,000 with no luck. A considerable haircut in estimates to $80,000-$100,000 should considerably increase interest levels on this one.
The more interesting of the two works by Clarice Beckett is Running with the Wind, 1928 (Lot 16 ), estimated at $ 25,000-35,000.
Thomas Wright’s Fishing Boats on a Rugged Australasian Coast, 1874, was sold by Davidson Auctions for $9,200 in August 2009. Now with more research by David Hansen and a new title to boot, Ellen’s Head, Phillip Island, 1874, it is lot 26 of the current catalogue.
Hansen notes that in a Victorian Academy of Arts Exhibition in 1874, a Thomas Wright painting was for sale at 30 guineas, while a Eugene von Guerard was a bargain at just 20 pounds. Their paintings of the same scene were hung together and this new information has lead to a healthy estimate revision of $30,000-50,000. The painting has been requested for show at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in December for “Landscapes of Phillip Island and Western Port Bay’.
Geoffrey Smith has achieved some heady prices for works by Albert Tucker at auction, although the highest price was achieved by Deutscher-Menzies at the height of the market in 2007, for John Batman meets Eliza Callaghan, 1971, selling for $840,000 incl. b.p. Explorers (Lot 28 ), a strong work from 1967, has the potential to climb to the top of Tucker’s own leader board in auction sales with estimates of $500,000-$700,000.
Interestingly, lot 37, a small and most appealing work, which could have been painted in close proximity to lot 28, arrives from a private collection in New York for entry into the same sale. Hunter 1967 is unmistakeably Tucker, and looks likely to trounce its $10,000-15,000 estimate.
Abstraction, 1943 (Lot 27 ), an early oil on plywood painting by Donald Friend, has a feel of Braque or Gris, and the estimate at $ 15,000-20,000 is keen for connoisseurs of his 1940s work.
Sotheby’s set the record price for Charles Blackman’s massive 122 x 275 cm Alice’s Journey in 2006, selling for just over $1 million incl. b.p. They could not beat this in 2009 with Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, which fetched $720,000 incl. b.p. Clearly the house feels that There Was, 1953, (Lot 36 ) has the potential to break the 2006 record, as the estimates match it at $700,000-900,000 for this painting’s first appearance on the market since its original purchase.
Despite the overwhelming strength and depth to Peter Booth’s oeuvre over a long period, his auction prices remain surprisingly fragile. Booth’s highest auction price languishes at just $ 176,250 incl. b.p. for Painting (Devil and Laughing Man), 1981, sold by Christies in 2002. Large works by Booth such as the current offering Painting (Figure Group) 1998 (Lot 39 ) deserve to be rewarded with much more than the estimate $180,000-220,000; but still aiming for another record price here.
After a stunning reappraisal of the work of Ethel Spowers in a sale by Bonhams in London mid-April, where The Gust of Wind sold for $175,000, Sotheby’s have a timely selection of two linocuts by the artist and one by her Canadian counterpart Sybil Andrews. All three now seem ridiculously inexpensive with estimates of $8,000-12,000 on each one (lot 74, lot 75, lot 76).
