This painting shows Watkins tinkering with form and colour at a time when Colour Field Painting was being digested in Australia on the coat tails of lyrical forms of Abstract Expressionism from the late 1950s. Watkins was only about 25 when he painted it, and his vision has remained experimental and uncompromising ever since.
Mossgreen’s catalogue broke new ground: it was large format, with ample space for full-page images and interesting academic notes; there was considered attention to details of provenance; most of the offerings were fresh to the market, or at least, had not been seem for some time. Strong results were recorded on pieces with modest estimates, giving a clearance rate of 57% by number and 67% by value, with a sale total of $1.29 million including buyer's premium. Pieces were sourced from far and wide, with auctioneer Paul Sumner congratulating his team for the freshness and diversity of the catalogue. In fact, there was an almost curated look to the 54 lots on offer. ‘Important Art’ was sourced in all price ranges and from across the art spectrum: iconic photography; blockbuster painted gems; intriguing contemporary and retro Australiana.
The show-stopper works appeared early in the auction. In photography, Max Dupain’s popular Sunbaker, 1937/1980s, (Lot 5 ) from the Collection of Peter Burch AM BM, reached more than $68,000. This is the second-highest price point to date. Other versions of this image have been sold in 2016 by Mossgreen for over $105,000 and by Sothebys for $62,000. (Quoted realisations include BP.) We hope that the love spreads to other images that Dupain captured of our Australian way.
Some of the blockbuster paintings achieved excellent results. Arthur Streeton’s Wollstonecraft, 1914, (Lot 13 ) consisting of restless paintwork on a small oblong panel radiates clarity and calm through the moving brush. This painting from the Trout Collection, auctioned so famously by Christies in 1989, has resided with the current owner ever since. Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Wildflower Dreaming: Dry Season, 1995, (Lot 15 ), with its spread of six full panels across 6 metres again had impeccable provenance having last been shown and acquired from the Lauraine Diggins exhibition Earth Creations: The Paintings of Emily Kame Kngwarreye in 1998. Earth Creation 1, similar in period, scale and richness in pigment density, sold last week for a record-breaking $2.1 million, but this failed to ignite Mossgreen’s buyers and Wildflower Dreaming was passed in at $170,000. The quieter Rover Thomas, Tumbi (Owl), 1989, (Lot 16 ) seemed to have an inner strength under a restrained delicate surface, and it sold just above the top of the estimated range at $208,000.
The auction started strongly with bidders fighting over two meticulous pencil drawings of Sydney/NSW by Lloyd Rees: Homestead near Thompson’s Corner, Pennant Hill, 1933, (Lot 1 ) and Walsh Bay (Lot 2 ) which sold for more than $18,000 and $30,000 respectively. Three studies of Cypress Trees, 1977, (Lot 10 ) painted by Brett Whiteley during an Italian sojourn at Arthur Boyd’s Tuscan farmhouse, embodied the countryside with the voluptuous look of famous Whiteley nudes. This work was part of the John and Margaret Hooper Collection—and fitted well with Mossgreen’s specialisation and success with modest single-owner collections. Cypress Trees, a sensual earthy trilogy, sparked a war with three telephones that was settled at $113,000, well above the $80,000 top of the estimated range—this in spite of the over-wrought 1970s framing.
However, even with a magnificent gilded Edwardian frame that resonated with the impressionistic image, Emanuel Phillips Fox’s, Autumn, was surprisingly passed in at $31,000 and remains a gem for post-sale pickup. Also unsold at only $14,000, alas, was Imants Tillers’ magnificent multi-panel Monaro Index II, 2000, (Lot 29 ). This work, with the text HORIZON carved into its surface, is spiritual testament to the sun-baked country on the drive south from Canberra.
The bank of telephones was busy, but sometimes room bidders were able to out-manoeuvre the telephones, by being in the right place at the right time to catch the auctioneer’s eye: it seems to me that for the collector who intends to buy, it is best to travel to the auction in person to actually see what is happening. Mossgreen apparently secured only one lot through internet bidding; an online approach might be a cool way to purchase retail things, but remains somewhat detached as a means of appreciating the flesh and blood of Art. And then, if and when technology fails, it dampens the auction spirit like the Grinch who stole Christmas. Power to the woman in the room who fought for, and secured, the marvellous Freda Robertshaw Spring Flowers (Lot 53 ) for little more than $10,000. Robertshaw’s image might be mistaken for an Adrian Feint, so definitely has the right idiosyncratic post-war style. Good things can come in small packages.
