In the international art market, contemporary art has been de rigueur for every major collector since the early 2000s – not so in our domestic auction market, which is arguably quite conservative when it comes to selling contemporary Australian art, thus making it more challenging and riskier for both the auction house and the vendor.
That said, when the artwork is an outstanding example of the artist’s oeuvre, any lack of sales data on this website, the Australian Art Sales Digest, can be disregarded, as serious, experienced collectors simply have the eye and know a good painting when they see one.
This was proven straight away with lot 1, Jan Nelson’s Walking in Tall Grass, Olivia, 2006, a wonderful example estimated at $12,000-16,000. It sold for a new auction record for the artist at a $15,000 hammer price. Scant works by the artist appear at auction, but I think we can appreciate an unwillingness to sell such is their appeal.
Also from the Geyer Collection were some edgy or rather spiky sculptures: Robert Owen’s Vessel-Memory and Logic Unit #6 (Lot 2 ) carried estimates of $7,000-10,000 and sold just below at $6,500 hammer, while Mari Funaki’s Container, 1997 (Lot 4 ) sold for $10,000 on estimates of $12,000-16,000. The ceramics by current auction room darling Noel McKenna were well sought. Vase with Musical Notes, 2006 (Lot 5 ) went out on a high note for $4,200 on expectations of $2,500-3,500, while Large Vase (2) (Lot 7 ), sold just below the low estimate of $4,000 for $3,500.
Abstract paintings by indigenous and non-indigenous artists alike sold reasonably: Dibirdibi Country, 2009 (Lot 8 ) by Sally Gabori landed at $7,000 on its low estimate, while Dick Watkins’ Escape, 1984 (Lot 12 ), sold for $9,000 just below its estimate of $10,000-15,000, and Ken Whisson’s Factory Poplar Trees and Red Brick Church, 1994-96, sold at $21,000 on $25,000-35,000 hopes.
The second part of the Geyer collection was offered later in the sale as lots 81 – 114. Not being able to view the image of Rosemary Laing’s Ground Speed (Red Piazza) #5, 2001 (lot 83) in the hard copy catalogue or online due to copyright issues did not deter the determined bidders. They accelerated the bidding to the hammer price to $19,000 well above the estimated $8,000-12,000.
A number of works proved more commercially challenging for the auction room and failed to sell, in particular Peter Atkins’ Black Street Journal No. 2, 2005 (Lot 93 ), estimated at $15,000-20,000, John Walker’s Untitled, 1986 (Lot 96 ) on the same expectations, as well as Robert MacPherson’s 555 Frog Poems by Robert Pene, 1990 – 2006 (Lot 106 ), which suffered the same fate.
The challenges of selling contemporary art at auction aside, two rare Brett Whiteley nude drawings executed on the same day in February 1976, both sold: Female Nude (Lot 21 ), estimated at $20,000-30,000, for $22,000 hammer, and the other also titled (unsurprisingly) Female Nude (Lot 22 ), on lower estimates of $18,000-24,000 sold for $16,000 to art dealer and bon vivant Paul Auckett.
In today’s internet infused reality, the more graphic the image (as in clean outlines or realistic), the better its chances of sale. Two paintings personified this: Modern Strategies of Survival, 2003 (Lot 23 ) by Hazel Dooney sold at its high estimate of $16,000, as did Juan Ford’s striking A Bungled Clairvoyance of William Buckley’s…, 2015 (Lot 24 ) which also sold at its high end, this time for $24,000.
Meanwhile, back to the more traditional auction room staples, pretty in pink, Arthur Boyd’s Pink Shoalhaven Landscape (Lot 26 ), with Savill Galleries provenance, sold – given its size - for a most reasonable $70,000 hammer and at its low estimate, to art dealer Richard Martin.
While having none of a blue day, Charles Blackman’s Reflections, 1958 (Lot 27 ), similarly large and with considerable appeal, perhaps due to its rich blue colour palette, did very well selling for $160,000 on estimates of $120,000-180,000.
Sidney Nolan’s Untitled (Mrs Reardon and Child), 1946 (Lot 28 ), proved to be, like a few of the artist’s 1940s pictures, commercially challenging, with condition issues to boot. The vendor was clearly keen to meet the market at any cost and managed to sell the work on the night for $100,000 hammer, on considerably higher estimates of $180,000-240,000.
Tango Lesson (Lot 29 ) by Garry Shead danced off to a $55,000 sale, above its $50,000 high estimate, and given the current red hot climate for nearly everything by Del Kathryn Barton, the appeal of even if it means the end of you, 2010 (Lot 30 ) was obvious, selling mid-estimate for $140,000.
There was however even more interest in the modestly estimated watercolour by Barton which carried estimates of $8,000-12,000. For the Feeling, 2011 (Lot 56 ), must have felt real good for the vendor, as it achieved $35,000, almost three times the high estimate.
A predictable painting by Tim Storrier of a burning log and star studded night sky, The Waterline, 1999 (Lot 31 ), sold for a predictable price of $110,000 on estimates of $120,000-160,000.
Although one of Arthur Boyd’s famous Bride series paintings, Bride Dreaming by a Pool, c1961 (Lot 32 ), was left at the altar, failing to sell directly on the night of the sale, I can report that it sold the morning after for its low estimate of $200,000.
Perhaps one of the most sought after artworks on the night. Bronwyn Oliver’s exquisite Stem, 2005 (Lot 33 ), clearly had several extremely serious bidders: on expectations of $130,000-160,000, there was no let-up until the hammer fell at $190,000.
Brett Whiteley’s The Dove and the Moon, 1983 (Lot 36 ) is a beautiful work and deserved the coveted cover lot spot. It last sold during the global financial crisis in December 2009 for $230,000 hammer ($276,000 including buyer’s premium). In a sign of how much the market has recovered, and particularly in the case of Whiteley, it sold for $450,000 hammer, an exceptional result.
Another painting which just as easily could have been the cover lot was Jeffrey Smart’s Bus by the Tiber (Lot 37 ), and like the Whiteley dove which measured 52.5 x 47.5 cm, not particularly large at 66 x 84 cm. Offering a delicious lesson in perspective, a delightful yellow bus and his signature road signs, this painting didn’t disappoint, achieving a highly respectable $700,000 on up-there estimates of $750,000-950,000.
Amongst the international offerings, and in fact the biggest sale of the night, was courtesy of the international star Andy Warhol. His Head after Picasso, 1985 (Lot 38 ), is destined for overseas after selling to a private collector in Luxembourg for $900,000.
Domestic star Arthur Streeton’s rather interesting self-portrait as a young man from circa 1890 (Lot 40 ) with its celebrity art collector provenance of Barry Humphries, sold nicely for $55,000 hammer on estimates of $40,000-60,000.
On the basis of any painting by Sidney Nolan containing Ned Kelly doing really well, Riverbend (Ned Kelly), 1964 (Lot 50 ), did not disappoint: it sold for twice its low estimate of $25,000 for $50,000.
Another homage to Picasso painting, this time by Ireland-based Australian artist John Kelly After Picasso Again, 2001 (Lot 54 ) sold well at $17,000 above its high estimate of $16,000, while lovers of Jeremy Clarkson presumably competed for his Stig, 2000 (Lot 53 ), selling mid-estimate to a buyer on the internet buyer $10,000.
In all, it was a solid night: the sale achieved a total of $6.9 million including buyer’s premium, and 89% sold by value and 75% sold by volume.
