Sam Mitchell’s homage to Michael Jackson, Untitled (Oh Michael! Not Again) (Lot 1 ) went for $2400 (double the low estimate of $1200). This was followed by a long slow bidding war on Shane Cotton’s Blue/Black VI (Lot 2 ) which went for $9000 ($7000). Then there was Robin White’s preparatory drawing for Michael, Allen’s Beach (Lot 3 ) going for $13,000 ($15,000) and one of Lois Whites religious works, St Francis of Assisi (Lot 4 ) at $7250 ($6000).
Then there were four small McCahons; an insubstantial drawing of Kurow Hill (Lot 6 ) which failed to sell at $11,000 ($18,000), then an untitled landscape (Lot 7 ) $21,000 ($18,000) a jewel like Waterfall work (Lot 8 ) $26,000 ($15,000) and an abstract ink on paper work Northland (Lot 9 ) going for $54,000 ($45,000).
However after a dozen lots the prices started to stall with buyers offering 10% - 15% less than the reserves. A couple of dozen major works failed to sell on the night and were likely to sell post auction.
These included the Ralph Hotere Song of Solomon (Lot 37) at $130,000 ($160,000) Gordon Walters untitled ink work (Lot16) struggling to $40,000 ($50,000) and Bill Hammond Boulder Bay II (Lot 25 ) reaching only $135,000 ($170,000)
Auctioneer Sophie Coupland normally runs a fairly sedate auction but she managed to inject a bit of humour when selling the Dick Frizzell Self Portrait (Lot 18 ) noting that “we all need a bit of Dick in the lounge”
Unfortunately nobody got that particular work which only achieved $14,000 ($20,000).
Some of the more modestly priced works fared well with a Lois White untitled nude (Lot 40 ) reaching $14,000 ($15,000), Karl Maughan’s Sidone Avenue (Lot 74 ) going for $24,000 ($20,000) and the Theo Schoon Portrait of Rita Angus (Lot 48 ) going for $29,000 ($30,000)
Some of the higher priced works which sold well included Colin McCahons painting, Northland (Lot 36 ) which went for $83,000 ($80,000) and Bill Sutton’s Landscape Synthesis (Lot 26 ) for $41,000 ($30,000).
Paul Hartigan’s The Phantom (Lot 30 ) which has become the iconic image of New Zealand Pop Art of the 1970’s sold well at $50,000 ($50,000). Also from the 1970’s were a couple of Gretchen Albrecht colour wash paintings; Black and Red Colour Bands (Lot 17 ) went for $20,000 ($20,000) and Blue Passage (Lot 42 ) for $14,000 ($16,000)
A Richard Killeen work from the late 1960’s, Dancing Woman and Yellow Chair (Lot 21 ) sold at $16,000 ($16,000) and one of the best of Shane Cotton’s sepia, tiered landscapes Tekau Ma Ono (Lot 32 ) went for $120,000 ($130,000)
The highest achieving work of the night was The Farmers Daughter (Lot 27 ) by Frances Hodgkins which sold for $230,000 ($250,000). This portrait of Annie Coggan from the early 1930’s is related to a couple of other portraits by the artist in the Auckland City Art Gallery.
(All prices shown are hammer prices. A buyer's premium of 12.5% applies to all lots in this sale)
