With 77 % sold by volume and 81 % sold by value, the auction achieved a total of $5.73 million hammer price and $7.04 million including buyer’s premium.
The 1950s was perhaps as important a time for Australian art as the 1850s. Five Australian artists’ works from this decade led the sale: John Brack’s tiny yet terrific Head of a Woman, 1954 (Lot 1 ) sold above its low estimate of $8,000 to sell for $9,000 hammer, and still looked like a bargain, whilst Jeffrey Smart’s The Two-Up Players, 1952, (Lot 2 ) presumably sold at its reserve of $14,000 on $15,000-$25,000 estimates.
Margel Hinder’s wonderfully organic Maquette for Growth Forms, 1958-9 (Lot 4 ) with Gallery A provenance surpassed its $3,000-$4,000 suggestion selling for $5,000 hammer.
Meanwhile, two fabulous early John Coburn oil on boards, Moon Drenched c1957 (Lot 3 ) and The Lovers, 1959 (Lot 5 ) both sold somewhat light of their low estimates at $5,500 and $15,000. Perhaps without the later clean lines, this was a deterrent to paying more.
Out of two very blue Blackmans of the same medium and same size, it was clear which one was most loved: Midnight Orchid (Lot 6 ) sold for $15,000 below its estimates of $16,000-$22,000, while Blue Tablecloth (Lot 7 ) sailed past its $14,000-$18,000 estimate to $21,000 hammer. Which one do you prefer?
Likewise, Ben Quilty’s The Lot No. 1, 2010, (Lot 10 ), sold for $28,000 on a $20,000-$30,000 estimate, whilst The Lot No. 4 (Lot 11 ) – same medium, same size, same year – sold below estimate for $18,000.
If you want to know what internet bidders want, look no further than lot 8, one of Leach’s earlier and more minimalist studies, this time of a cockroach. Perhaps not everybody’s cup of tea, but it surpassed its high estimate of $7,000, selling comfortably for $8,000.
Although to some extent at a disadvantage by the delays of the internet compared to the phone and room bidding (NBN where are you?), internet bidding was unusually prolific last night, with 10 artworks being sold to internet bidders, including Jason Benjamin’s massive painting She’s Always Watching, 2006 (Lot 50 ), measuring 183 x 245 cm, which sold for $34,000 on $35,000-$45,000 expectations.
It was good to see so much interest for Tim Maguire’s Untitled 2011 0111 (Lot 9 ): this modestly sized work for Maguire, but beautifully formed and easily bloomed past the $14,000-$18,000 estimate, selling with competitive bidding at $22,000.
Michael Johnson’s bold statement Cadmiums, 2009 (Lot 12 ) meanwhile on $16,000-$20,000 sold just below at $15,000.
Gauguin inspired painter Ray Crooke sadly passed away last week at the age of 93. All three of the artist’s works sold at Menzies. One of his typical Island series paintings (Lot 18 ) estimated at $22,000-$28,000, sold for $30,000 hammer.
Particularly pursued was Sam Fullbrook’s Portrait of a Girl, 1968 (Lot 24 ), which eclipsed the $12,000-$16,000 estimate, selling for $26,000.
It was not Garry Shead’s night: Dancing Up the Stairs, 2001 (Lot 27 ), estimated at $40,000-$50,000 and Queen of Spades, 1995 (Lot 48 ), $50,000-$60,000 both failed to find buyers.
Meanwhile, Brett Whiteley’s Wind from the East (Lot 28 ), an ink filled Sydney Harbour scene sold comfortably at the mid-estimate of $65,000.
On the international side, Jean Arp’s bronze sculpture Torse Fruit (Lot 35 ) was competitively fought over by two phone bidders on estimates of $400,000-$600,000 selling for the high expectation of $600,000 – during which battle Cameron Menzies had his German language skills tested while assisting an international client, and securing the trophy piece.
Perhaps more surprisingly, the cover lot, William Robinson’s Farmyard Scene with Goats and Cows, 1983 (Lot 36 ), will be heading overseas as well: it was purchased by a Swiss collector with his own private museum. A good purchase having bought at the low estimate of $220,000 hammer, the buyer would have been assisted yet more by the strength of the Swiss franc against the Aussie dollar.
The subtle pastel toned Fred Williams Bush Road with Cootamundras, 1977 (Lot 40 ) was a non-sale on its $370,000-$420,000 estimate, whereas John Brack’s very large, very green and frequently sold Adagio 1967-69 (Lot 41 ) went for $750,000, well above the low estimate of $600,000.
Another winner was Jeffrey Smart’s Level Crossing, 1997 (Lot 42 ), looking perfectly pitched at $450,000-$550,000, selling for a cool half million dollars.
The undoubted highlight of the auction entertainment-wise was saved for lots 60 to 67, a collection of two small paintings and five works on paper by Thomas Tyrwhitt Balcombe. The phone bidders did not stand a chance in this bidding war between two equally determined female contestants. In the end, they seemed quite happy to divvy up the offerings between themselves. Whilst the Swiss private museum missed out, the Mitchell Library won the two oils, and a private collector from Victoria purchased all five drawings.
The previous highest price for a work by T. T. Balcombe was set in November 2013, when Aborigines Fishing by Torchlight sold at Sotheby’s for $25,000 hammer. – a result surpassed three times last night and setting a new record of $98,182 incl. bp. for the artist at auction. The extraordinary results led Auctioneer Martin Farrah to comment after selling the last of the 7 works “Can we get some more of these?”
Works by Balcombe are extremely scarce with just 8 previously appearing at auction between 1970 and 2013 according to Australian Art Sales Digest records.
Most of the artist’s known works are held by two institutions, the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Australia. Perhaps a collaborative retrospective of this important though little known artist by either institution is now due to shine a torchlight on an artist we are sure more Australians would like to know more about.
