Denis Savill could never be accused of being of a retiring nature, and that was certainly the case at Sotheby’s fine art sale held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney. The “retired” art dealer was as active as ever with very persistent bidding for one of Arthur Boyd’s prized Shoalhaven landscapes on copper. The first lot in fine art sales is often a real gem of a picture used by auctioneers to get a sale off to a rip-roaring start, and Narcissus and Cave, 1976 (Lot 1 ) lived up to expectations, almost doubling its high estimate and selling to Mr Savill for $75,000 hammer price against a catalogue estimate of $30,000-$40,000.
Bargains are still to be had, even at Sotheby’s, and the delightful Fred Williams gouache on paper Treefern Hillside near Tallebudgera, 1971 (Lot 2 ) was surprisingly snapped up for its low estimate of $30,000.
Justin O’Brien’s Maremma Landscape, 1986 (Lot 3 ) felt like a top of the estimates kind of painting too. Nonetheless, $65,000 was enough to secure this enchanting landscape on $60,000-$80,000 expectations. Still in Tuscany, Lloyd Rees’ Tuscany, 1957-72 (Lot 4 ) failed to excite any buyers and this imposing oil on canvas missed its expectations of $180,000-$220,000 on the night, having last sold with Christies in 2003 for $170,000 hammer.
Interest picked up again for a Charles Blackman 1950s Schoolgirls Series – no, this time, The Schoolboys, 1954 (Lot 6 ) - and spirited bidding for this important and rare painting led to it selling right on the high estimate of $120,000.
For Brett Whiteley, it was a rather disappointing night, usually guaranteed to cause some fireworks amongst anxious trophy hunter art buyers. Moreton Bay Fig, Botanic Gardens, 1984 (Lot 7 ), carried estimates of $900,000-$1,1 million, but did not ignite the passion. The door-sized The Meeting, 1981 (Lot 36 ), estimate at $1.2-$1.4 million complete with actual rocks embedded in the board, failed to fly even with the added original provenance of Mr Bob Ansett.
Two much more challenging Whiteley works, Around Bathurst, 1959 (Lot 102 ), estimated at $150,000-250,000 and Requite, 1967 (Lot 108 ), with estimates of $300,000-$400,000 also could not entice the required to bids to sell on the evening.
Whiteley’s pride was however saved by the sale of Bathroom and Figure, 1963 (Lot 23 ), these now much lauded abstract paintings since the publication of Kathie Sutherland’s Brett Whiteley – A Sensual Line 1957 – 1967 in 2010. This most appealing early semi-abstract work sold solidly for $420,000 estimates of $350,000-$450,000.
On the positive side, six auction records were broken for significant paintings by five Australian and one New Zealand artist: William Delafield Cook (Lot 8 ), Lin Onus (10), Del Kathryn Barton (Lot 12 ), Gottfried Lindauer (98), Peter Upward (Lot 101 ) and J.W. Curtis (Lot 132 ).
William Delafield Cook’s huge hyper-realist Headland, Hawkesbury River, 1985 (Lot 8 ) was one of the most heavily fought over paintings of the night: bidding only stopped at the magical $300,000 mark, twice the low estimate of $150,000.
Two monumental paintings by Lin Onus originally commissioned for Melbourne Airport, did actually fly and deservedly so. The only factor that might have held these two masterpieces back is their size, both diptychs measuring 200 x 550 cm, so not really suited for an inner city studio apartment.
Art dealer Michael Nagy underbid Fish, Ferns and Rocks (1995) (Lot 10 ) to $600,000. Estimated at $450,000-650,000, it sold to a phone bidder for the top estimate of $650,000, setting a new auction record for Lin Onus, whilst Fish at Dusk (1996) (Lot 11 ) sold mid-range its estimates at $550,000 hammer – interestingly to the same phone bidder who presumably has got the required wall space for their display.
Three exceptional and very comparable paintings by Del Kathryn Barton have just been offered at auction in the last month: Deutscher + Hackett sold Satellite Fade-Out 8, 2011 for $125,000 hammer on 18 April, whilst Menzies sold Satellite Fade-Out 7, 2011, from the same Roslyn Oxley 9 exhibition for a record-breaking hammer price of $195,000 on 26 April. This record only lasted three weeks, when Of Pollen (Lot 12 ) sold for an unprecedented $310,000 hammer last night at Sotheby’s.
Scooping one of his dad’s paintings for $260,000, John Olsen’s Night Train and Owls, 1980, (Lot 35 ), had Australian Galleries and Savill Galleries provenance, and now has Olsen Galleries to add to it. Tim Olsen paid considerably above the high estimate of $180,000 to secure this joyful painting. He also purchased the much more modestly priced The Dead Flea, 2001 (Lot 15 ) by David Larwill for $19,000 just above the low estimate of $18,000.
Speaking of fleas, Jeffrey Smart’s early Flea Market, Paris (1949 – 50), sold at its low estimate of $70,000.
Sidney Nolan had a good outing with some major sales of important paintings, which included Carcass of Ram, 1953 (Lot 37 ). This pivotal though not very commercial painting sold for $150,000 at the low estimate of its $150,000-200,000 hopes.
A late Ned Kelly painting from 1973 (Lot 46 ) managed to nudge just above low estimate, finding a buyer at $460,000 on a wide estimation of $450,000-$650,000. Meanwhile, the most sought after Nolan was from the JGL Collection, Antarctic Sea, 1964 (Lot 107 ), was fiercely contested continuing to capture the imagination of art collectors after more than 50 years. This painting of the cold ran hot up to $100,000 on expectations of $50,000-$70,000.
Sotheby’s Australia like to list the perhaps most well-known owner of a work at the top of the page, even if not the current seller: Norman Lindsay’s The Blue Hat, 1938 (Lot 61 ) was once owned by Lady Susan Renouf before being offered through Menzies in August 2002 where it sold for $140,000 hammer, and now selling for the exact same figure again on estimates of $100,000-$120,000.
Large, important and beautiful sculptures by Danila Vassilieff are very rare to market, and Three Forms (1953) (Lot 100 ) ticked all the relevant boxes; it sold for a rock solid $52,000 on hopes of $30,000-$50,000.
John Perceval’s highly symbolic The Man, 1942 (Lot 103 ), the cover painting from the J.G.L. collection, sold mid-range the estimates for $290,000.
The two New Zealand paintings in the sale, Charles Frederick Goldie’s Pokai (The Strategist) 1921 (Lot 97 ), estimated at $300,000-$400,000, and Gottfried Lindauer’s Maori Girl learning the Haka (ca 1907 (Lot 98 ) estimated at $250,000-$350,000 were granted their own special catalogue for this sale, and both rewarded the accolade by selling for $300,000 and $250,000 respectively. The Lindauer sale represents a new auction record for an especially charming painting.
Three Albert Tucker works from 1972, all titled Image of Modern Evil sparked considerable interest. The very large pastel (Lot 110 ) was a hard fought battle, but won out by a room bidder in the end for $36,000 hammer, $6,000 above its high estimate of $30,000. The two other Tuckers (Lot 111 ) and lot 112), both of the same title and year, were extraordinary bronze sculptures from editions of just 6 examples, and both estimated at $20,000-30,000. Lot 111 sold for $38,000, while lot 112 had three very determined bidders, selling eventually for $73,000 hammer.
Three historically interesting paintings by James Waltham Curtis (lot 132, lot 133, lot 134) brought excitement at the end of the 2 ½ hour sale after most room attendees had left, selling considerably above their high estimates. However, it was Cathedral Stillness (Lot 132 ) which created the most noise, selling for $55,000 hammer on expectations of $20,000-$30,000, and breaking a 30 year old auction record for the artist.
