Two very small paintings from the late 1930s occupied the first two lots of the sale. William Dobell’s Boy Bathing, 1939 (Lot 1 ), dutifully delivered on expectations and achieved a $38,000 hammer price on estimates of $25,000-$35,000.
All prices following are hammer price.
Rah Fizelle’s Three Nudes c1938 (Lot 2 ), an extremely rare modernist painting, sold for the same price of $38,000, estimated at $40,000-$60,000, followed by two much admired paintings from the 1950s by Grace Cossington Smith and John Brack. Yellow Drapes, 1954 (Lot 3 ), had the unusually wide estimate of $100,000-$200,000. It paid off, selling over the top end for a very healthy $220,000. Likewise, John Brack’s Pears, 1957 (Lot 4 ), a wonderfully sublime image, jumped past its $90,000-$120,000 estimate, selling at $135,000.
Back to the 1930s, another pair of very appealing works sold well: Ian Fairweather’s Soochow – Two Bridges, 1933 (Lot 6 ) fetched $60,000, exactly the middle of its estimates of $50,000-$70,000, while Fitzroy Children, 1937 (Lot 8 ) by Danila Vassilieff attracted considerable interest, selling for $48,000, which was $3,000 over its high estimate of $45,000.
Fred Williams’ Fallen Tree, 1966 (Lot 10 ), a round-shaped landscape, was perhaps always going to be a difficult sale, so even with the attractive $100,000-$140,000 estimate, it failed to find a buyer.
A monumental Arthur Boyd landscape, Waterfall on the Banks of the Shoalhaven River (Lot 11 ), including a waterfall and a big white cockatoo to help its appeal, faced no such problems. Businessman Barry Pang bought the showpiece mid-range at $68,000 on $60,000-$80,000 estimates.
Not just one, but two outstanding Jeffrey Smarts were on offer next: the fabulous cover lot On the Cassia, 1965 (Lot 12 ), overshot its $220,000-$280,000 estimates to $350,000 while The Large Tanker, 1984 (Lot 13 ), underbid by Mr Pang at the low estimate of $150,000, went to a phone bidder for $160,000.
The back cover was occupied by renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama: Heart (Aowhton), 2007 (Lot 43 ), sold for the second highest price of the night, $320,000 , a good international result for the auctioneer.
Melbourne art dealer Charles Nodrum secured John Olsen’s deliciously colourful Sydney Nights, 1965 (Lot 14 ), for $50,000 at its mid-range estimate. Meanwhile Brett Whiteley’s Sydney Winter, 1980 (Lot 15 ), perhaps too cold or too sublime, failed to sell on its $160,000-$200,000 estimate.
The countryside fared better: William Robinson’s humorous cow and various assorted animals in Farmyard, 1982 (Lot 17 ) happily found a new owner at $220,000, 10% above the low estimate. John Kelly’s decidedly more cubist cow, Half painted cow on trestles, 1994(Lot 18 ), also met with success, selling just below the high estimate at $55,000.
An interesting mix of modern and contemporary sculptures mostly did well. Clement Meadmore’s very early Untitled (Wall Sculpture) c1956 (Lot 22 ) sold very nicely above its high estimate of $30,000, going for $34,000 , and although two other lots by the artist, lot 59 and 60, more typical but small works from 1984 and 2000, failed to find buyers, Warm Valley, 1994 (Lot 61 ) a most luscious, long and twisty work, sold for $28,000, obliterating it’s $16,000-$20,000 estimates.
Cover up # 1, 2012 (Lot 37 ) by Callum Morton – you decide whether it’s a painting or a sculpture – sold just below low estimate at $22,000 , while Hany Armanious’ Sphinx, 2009 (Lot 38 ), was too enigmatic for most, passing in on estimates of $30,000-$40,000.
Although Radial, 2005 (Lot 39 ) by Patricia Piccinini failed to find a bidder on the night, Deutscher + Hackett’s ‘tireless’ efforts next day secured a sale at a respectable $20,000 The other Piccinini, titled Stem Cell, 2003(Lot 114 ), sold on the night for $4,500.
James Angus’ Fly’s Eye Conic Extrusion, 2008 (Lot 40 ) managed to sell at $14,000, just below the low estimate of $15,000. And proving that Australian art collectors mostly have a sense of humour, The Stockroom Trap, 2005 (Lot 41 ) by Alex Seton, sold comfortably over the top estimate for $28,000.
Hopefully, Deutscher + Hackett will keep adding more contemporary sculpture in the mix of traditional and modern offerings, as well as photography, which was well received on the night. Two large-scale Bill Henson works, Untitled, 1990-91 (from the Paris Opera Project) (Lot 35 ) and Untitled, 1999/2000 (Lot 36 ), sold for $23,000 mid-estimate and $17,000 respectively, while Petrina Hicks’ haunting Lauren in Red, 2003 (Lot 113 ) sold at the top range estimate of $6,500 Following up at the tail end of the sale were two classics by Max Dupain: Jean with Wire Mesh, 1937 (Lot 132 ), sold for $6,000, and the much later Magnolia at Night, 1982 (Lot 133 ) bloomed for $3,800.
Emily Kngwarreye’s A Carpeted Desert, 1990 (Lot 45 ) revealed the ongoing decline in Aboriginal art values at auction even for its stars. The large colourful canvas sold for a hammer price of just $60,000, after its last recorded sale with Christies in October 2004 of $90,000 hammer price, a total of $107,550 IBP.
Surprisingly for Norman Lindsay watercolours, lots 51, 52, 82 and 83 all failed to sell on the night, while Diana (Lot 81 ), a Lindsay sculpture, hunted down a buyer the day after for $13,000.
The much admired Van Gogh after John Russell, 2004 (Lot 64 ) by Ben Quilty attracted strong bidding as the conservative estimate of $12,000-$16,000 stirred significant interest, eventually selling for a healthy $27,000.
Hugh Ramsay’s Man with Staff, c1894-1900 (Lot 77 ) returned a surprising but no doubt very pleasing result for the seller: competitive bidding saw the accomplished, though very ‘art school’ looking painting, soar to $52,000 , $17,000 over the high estimate.
