The Nolan had emerged as a sleeper of sorts at Doyle’s in New York in June 1999 where it was purchased by Gould for $227,577, after he outbid now retired Sydney dealer and long term rival Denis Savill, who had a commissioned bidder in the room.
Gould plans to close his long-established South Yarra gallery and open a gallery selling contemporary art in an inner Melbourne suburb such as Collingwood.
This time, Ned Kelly - Outlaw appeared to go to an Asian bidder in the room, with private dealer Michael Carr the underbidder. The bidding made it the second highest price Nolan ever auctioned, the top spot being First Class Marksman, sold for $5.4 million in 2010 in Sydney by Menzies.
Nolan's first generation Kellys tend to be mostly held by institutions so buyers look for signature emblematic works in the artist’s repeat visits to the subject.
Brett Whiteley’s large Galah 1988 (Lot 17 ) estimated at $600,000 to $800,000 was knocked down for $700,000 hammer equal to $854,000 with premium. This large collage and wire on canvas last went through the saleroom, according to the catalogue provenance, at Deutscher-Menzies in Melbourne in 2005 at $252,000 IBP.
The subject was painted from an unusual angle showing the bird behind wire caging. It went to Sydney dealer Michael Nagy, who is said to have Andrew Lloyd Webber among his clients.
The sale was held in the Cell Block Theatre of the National Art School in Sydney with which D + H is happy to associate.
There was barely a Sydney artist represented in the sale and the decision to hold the sale in Sydney would therefore appear to reflect the common belief that Sydney is where the money now lies – a complete turnaround since the art and auction scene shifted to Melbourne so the buyer's premium could be charged when in the 1980s it was banned in NSW
Only Sir William Dobell stood out from the Sydney school with two exceptional examples.
One of the Dobells, (Lot 14 ) showing Helen Blaxland and Tonia Blaxland sitting on a settee with their terrier on the floor, appeared to go begging.
This typical Sydney charm school painting, once titled Conversation, was passed in at $85,000 although $100,000 to $140,000, which was rather high, was expected. The last auction sale price was $64,500 at Sotheby’s sale of the Rene Rivkin collection in 2001. The Sydney charm school appears to be losing its allure in its home town.
This, with other reasons, was reflected in the indifferent response to the Donald Friends in the sale, although other sensationalist factors have recently been at work in this artist’s market.
John Perceval’s ceramic Acrobat Angel (Lot 1 ) set the sale off on a sprightly note when it was knocked down for $80,000 hammer (estimate $40,000 to $60,000) to art consultant David Hulme, who had arrived with bids of around $1 million, which were discreetly executed.
Gould’s casualties were mostly in the less expensive offerings. But Albert Tucker’s vivid Intruder and Parrots (Lot 24 ), appeared to be going that way also when it was shelved at $500,000 (against an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000). It was announced as sold a few lots later, possibly to the last bidder, David Hulme.
Major paintings of Williamstown by Perceval made around estimates.
Annette Larkin was the underbidder ton a Boyd, Wimmera Landscape with Cockatoos, (Lot 13 ) which landed at $220,000 hammer against estimates of $160,000 to $200,000 to the telephone.
The biggest gain since its last sighting in a saleroom was in the price of Rosalie Gascoigne’s Ledger 1992 (Lot 18 ), made of split soft drink crates, which sold for $250,000 to a commissioned bidder against $160,000 to $200,000 estimates.
But one has to subtract a little (or could it be a lot?) of the increase from the $11,000 paid for it at Phillips De Pury and Company, Sydney in 1992 for Lauraine Diggins who owned it for some of the interim.
