In the ascendant, only one painting (Lot 11 ) cleared the $100,000 hurdle—the deeply spiritual purple chasm Blue Mountains, 1922, by Penleigh Boyd. It sparkled with the quality of an amethyst, cutting past its $50,000 upper estimate in a battle between room bidders and telephones, to settle beyond blue at $110,000 ($134,200 IBP). It is a milestone work fresh to the market, by an artist who died at the tender age of 33, ending a career that nurtured too few works.
The momentum generated by this hotly contested sale did not carry into the next (Lot 12 ), Arthur Streeton’s Doge’s Palace, Venice, 1908, also new to the market, and also painted in dulcet mauve tones, it hung through the viewing alongside the Boyd. The Streeton failed to find a buyer on the night, despite the modest reserve near $300,000. It remains a seminal painting of Venice’s transcendent light—the deft paintwork across the palace façade angles the light and covers the layers of history that we associate with this place.
Mossgreen’s sale generated only half the dollars expected, so many other significant lots failed to find a home: Brett Whiteley’s bronze, Study for Her (Lot 17 ) from an edition of 9, did not sell, even though it reveals all the humanist qualities of his bathroom/beach paintings of the women in his life, with gestures that are both intimate and arabesque, and it reveals them in three dimensions. Whiteley was fascinated by the flight paths of birds, and his Young Kookaburra Taking its First Laugh (Lot 19 ) is a generator of sound and action from under a collaged cloak of feathers. In the past, many of his bird paintings, even with branches and collaged nests affixed have exceeded the lower estimate of $500,000 of the current work.
On the other hand, the Jeffrey Smart Conversation Piece (Lot 33 ) with an impeccable provenance and history of display, still failed to attract a bid, and in this case potential suitors possibly had their nuptials cancelled by the reserve. Although subdued in colour, it is a virtuoso piece of draughtsmanship—its horizontal format composed of two abutting golden rectangles that reveal further golden sections within. With classic poise, Smart places his protagonist figures at one end of the canvas as counterpoint to the constructed architecture.
If, as the audience has done, we put these big ticket items aside, then there are some interesting reveals at lower levels in the market—indeed some sprightly sales. Well-priced pieces of post 1970 Contemporary Art are finally winning favour. It is pleasing to see that Australian auction houses are following the lead of London and New York, where Contemporary has been the driving force for most of the last decade. This fashion is catching hold in the ‘much-smaller-than-European’ Australian collector base. There were solid realisations $41,000 and $31,000 for the magnificent free-wheeling varnish canvasses of Dale Frank (Lot 7 ) and (Lot 34 ), 2008, each with difficult titles, the first exceeding the upper estimate and the second exceeding the lower estimate when the buyer’s premium is included. Bill Henson’s achingly blue Untitled triptych (Lot 35 ) from 1983-4 settled into its estimated range when it realised nearly $15,000 IBP. For this writer, Stephen Busch’s The Lure of Paris , #1, (Lot 8 ), an art historically significant canvas, painted in sepia monochrome seemed one of the superb bargains at this pricing level of $46,360 IBP. In an early post-modern pact, Bush has set about replicating this ‘abseiling Barbar’ since this #1 canvas was first painted in 1992; he is now created more than twenty of these. The current important #1 had been intriguingly flavoured by its previous owner by housing it in a c1900 gilt frame. This is interactive high post-modernism for both painter and owner.
The fantastic offering of four Richard Larter canvasses resulted in only one sale—of Shitkickers Ball or Turd Wallopers Tango (Lot 38 ), 1975, near the low estimate. When the previous Larter (Lot 37 ), Jean # 11, 1977, was offered and no buyers were found the auctioneer enquired: ‘Is this one a bit tame for you?’ The audience didn’t flinch. Larter offers an unabashed heady mix of promiscuity and politics. His post-pop jewel-like canvasses deserve to be more highly prized.
Rounding out the Contemporary section, the bargain of the night was an early canvas by Richard Bell (Lot 112 ), scooped up by collector Tom Lowenstein for $3,172 IBP, well above the pre-sale estimate. Heritage in Black and White, 1991, is a formidable work of political activism, with a stained brown canvas and white dripping overlays. (Bell achieved prominence in 2003 by winning the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award.)
There is still much life in the Modern period of Australian Art. A beautiful cubist portrait Yasmin (Lot 13 ) by Elaine Haxton floated effortlessly above its $10,000 to $15,000 presale estimate to settle at $26,840 IBP. It is a sumptuous work in layers of aquamarine and gold leaf, its flat interlocking surfaces reminiscent of the cubist canvasses of saleroom favourite Roy de Maistre.
Finally, it must be noted that that sale of grouped collections, with associated provenance of loved ownership, should lead to excellent results if the reserves are humble. A Corporate collection from Perth offered some rare large canvasses by West Australian Robert Juniper—the best of these (Lot 64 ) with engaging figures and an incised painted surface like a school-child’s desk top reached $17,080 including premium, well above its estimated range. From the same collection, a competent 1920s-style topographical survey Swan River by Walter Meston (Lot 58 ) hit its mid-range at $61,000 IBP. Meston’s paintings are community-minded rather than parochial and are much-loved by collectors when they can get their hands on them. Similarly, the Suncorp Collection of 18 lots offered material that was new to the market. Included in its ranks was the 2.75 metre iconic Lawrence Daws (Lot 96 ), Glasshouse Mountains Landscape with Poinciana. This immersive work, silver with shimmering mountains and red with the flowering Poinciana tree, was like a painting of pure blood, earth and water. The auctioneer dredged a bargain hammer of $26,840 IBP from an audience that had by now grown wary of the fickle plays of the market.
This was a disappointing sale for Mossgreen, but one that was heaped with potential; their previous largest sale in dollar terms was on 7 November 2011 when they sold the Estate of Ann Lewis AO in Sydney with the art lots fetching $3.9 million against estimates of $1.99 to 2.99 million. The Lewis sale was characterised by enticingly-low reserves and the romance of famous ownership; a potent mix that may yet prove hard for Mossgreen to beat.
