The ninety-two lot sale, with a low estimate just under $4 million, opens, perhaps unexpectedly, not with heavy duty oils, but with a series of linocuts. Placing their faith firmly in Power and Spowers, D+H must be confident that the recent increase in collecting interest for the Grosvenor School will continue. In the November auction last year, Ethel Spowers occupied close to pole position with Swings at lot 2. On this occasion, she keeps her place but might fly higher with Kites 1936 (est. $15,000-20,000).
Spowers is joined by fellow Grosvenor School artist, Cyril Power whose linocut, The Tube Station puts the sale on track. The print’s highest price stands at CAN$25,000 (EUR17,590) set in 2006, but all others have sold for EUR10,000 or less, suggesting that the estimate of $30,000-50,000 may be a touch ambitious in its clear aim to set a record.
Conversely, The Concerto’s (Lot 3 ) estimate of $15,000-20,000 is closely aligned with the two most recent and also best results for this image, so it too might be in the running to score a record for this work.
The 1930s linocuts render a mere diversion from the contemporary tilt of the auction which is underscored by the choice of the front cover lot, Howard Arkley’s Spray Veneer (Vernice a Spruzzo) 1994 at $250,000-350,000. Heralded as a masterpiece by the auction house, it certainly has the right credentials. Owned by acclaimed architect Alan Powell who acquired it from Tolarno Galleries, it was selected to be part of The Home Show, Howard Arkley’s exhibition at the 1999 Venice Biennale. With the provenance bar set so high, so too is the quote.
Lately Dale Frank’s name has been proposed by speculative auction watchers as a possible candidate for future glory in the secondary market. Whether or not this eventuates, particularly for such a prolific abstractionist, is anyone’s guess but he certainly is an artist whose work is appreciably offered more frequently on the auction circuit. With a quote of $25,000 plus, in keeping with recent results, collectors may hope that the sentiment of Lot 5, The Critic Loved and Praised His Work… translates exponentially into the trading sphere.
In contrast, scaled back estimates and reduced vendor expectations are evident for the pre-GFC contemporary darling, Tim Maguire. Sensibly, Untitled 20070301, 2007 (flower) is pitched at a rationalised level of $30,000-40,000.
Illustrating that lack of seniority is not a hindrance is Ben Quilty. As a younger member amongst the art ranks, he boasts an enviable track record of fifteen out of seventeen auction sales. Picnic 3’s (Lot 7 ) quote of $35,000 plus, reflects both this statistical success and ambition – its pricing certainly does not concede or subscribe to the “it’s a buyer’s market” school of thought.
By lot 14 we enter more familiar territory with the connoisseurs’ choice of Ian Fairweather (est. $90,000-120,000 ) followed by fellow figurative–abstractionists of the modern era, Colin McMahon (lot 16, est. $65,000-85,000), Tony Tuckson (lot 17, est. $60,000-80,000) and Ken Whisson (lot 18, est. $35,000-45,000). Jeffrey Smart adds weight with Mr T.S. Eugenides, Morning, Shaftesbury Avenue 1978 (lot 20, est. $250,000-350,000), a painting that has been off-market time since it was bought three decades ago. Sitting alongside and complimenting Smart in terms of an enigmatic sensibility and an engagement with a solitary male figure is Man in Office c1954 (lot 21, est. $40,000-60,000) by Edwin Tanner.
The boxes are ticked for Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, however the latter’s painting, Christ Walking on the Water c1947-48 (lot 26, est $80,000-120,000) will presumably appeal to a rather slim audience both in terms of subject matter and its execution.
The sale’s next punctuation point is provided by Assembly 1989 by John Brack (lot 29, est. $250,000-350,000). All too soon though we move away from the bright and tight, cerebral compositions of the modern master, Brack, towards Margaret Olley’s florid symphonies in brown and orange; Solandras 1966 (lot 31, est. $70,000-90,000) and Spanish Jug and Kelim 2001 (lot 32, est. $45,000-55,000. Followed by noughties auction hero, Garry Shead with The Manuscript (lot 33, est. $38,000–48,000). Results of the last few years suggest that for the time being, collectors have put that book to bed.
Aficionados of the colonial era are catered for with A Pair of Portraits of the Family of Thomas and Mary Bunbury, Oatlands, Tasmania c1845 (lot 36, est. $30,000-40,000) attributed to Thomas Bock and S.T. Gill’s A Collection of Sketches from Horrocks Expedition, 1846 and South Australia c1846 (lot 37, est. $80,000-120,000).
Before the catalogue moves away from single page features towards more moderate works is Elaine Haxton’s charming painting Old Sydney, 1942 (lot 44, est. $25,000-35,000) which captures the eye for longer than most.
In an over-serviced premium secondary art market, and at the tail end of the auction calendar, D+H’s thin sale is characterized by its early signs of modestly marking out and emphasizing the next chapter in collector taste and direction. A wise move.
