The photography section started the sale and proved popular. There is a definite interest in contemporary photography at auction in New Zealand and Art + Object were rewarded for their efforts in this area by achieving $16,000 (hammer) for a suite of Anne Noble photographs (Lot 13 ) well above their $12,000 reserve.
The sale continued with the Peter Fay Collection. A portion of his Australian works had been sold at Shapiro in Sydney last week to a fairly subdued response, so no doubt Peter Fay (watching live from Sydney) would have been pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm for his works. Highlights in this section included a photograph by Ava Seymour (Lot 34 ) selling for $8,300 (hammer) against a $3,500 reserve and Bill Culbert’s Bulb Box Reflection 1 (Lot 66 ) realising $11,000 (hammer) against a $6,000 reserve.
The Stellar Group Collection (lots 102-121) contained the right names but some examples of the artists work weren’t the most commercial, and the results for this section were up and down. A few perennial favourites achieved well above estimate such as (Lot 111 ) Paul Dibble’s Soft Geometric Model $14,000 (hammer) against a $10,000 low estimate and (Lot 117 ) Michael Parekowhai Portrait of Elmar Keith $15,500 (hammer) against a $12,000 low end.
The lots in the remainder of the sale were from mixed vendors and again results were varied. A really stunning Charles Tole, Road to the Quarry (Lot 129 ) had multiple bids to achieve $24,000 (hammer).
The two highest prices on the night were achieved by Colin McCahon, both works on paper, (Lot 124 ) Necessary Protection achieving $55,000 (hammer) and Kauri (Lot 132 ) $50,000.
Two of the most unusual paintings in the sale coincidently came from the same vendor. Painted 80 years apart and totally different in style and subject matter, a previously ‘lost’ Girolamo Nerli, The Ascension (Lot 125 ) sold on low end to the phone for $35,000 (hammer) and a truly lovely Milan Mrkusich Painting 62-3 (Lot 135 ) realised $45,000 (hammer)
For such a large sale (164 lots), the auctioneer Ben Plumbly moved things along at a cracking pace with humour and fun and the auction had a great atmosphere. The sale realised $945,000 (IBP) and cleared 60% by lot, a solid result.
