Notwithstanding social distancing measures, Menzies’ second fine art auction of 2020 with a full room of bidders backed this up. The sale generated a $ 3.695 million IBP, with 72% sold by value and 83% by number.
With plenty of hungry buyers in the room, on the phones and online, their first lot, Jeffrey Smart’s Study for Redleaf, 1962 (Lot 1 ) quickly found keen interest and sold above its hopes of $12,000-16,000 for a sound $20,000 hammer price.
Ray Crooke’s Family Resting by River (Lot 10 ) clearly resonated with many, selling for $20,000 hammer, $5,000 above its high estimates.
This year some exceptional examples of Albert Namatjira’s work have appeared on the market, with Deutscher + Hackett, Leonard Joel, Coo-ee Art Market Place and Smith & Singer all recording higher than average prices for exceptional images.
It was Menzies turn last night when another of Namatjira’s rarer and appealing portrait format landscapes was offered with expectations of $20,000-30,000 (Lot 11 ). Having good colouring and with a rare date of 1942, it didn’t disappoint, selling at $36,000 hammer.
Another very different Aboriginal artist whose prices are on an upwards trajectory is Sally Gabori. Menzies offered three of her bright, abstract compositions (Lot 14 ), (Lot 68 ), and (Lot 69 ), and sold all, with Dibirdibi Country, 2008 (Lot 14 ) on hopes of $7,000-10,000 achieving $15,000 hammer.
Emily Kngwarreye was a harder sell though: Arlatyite Dreaming, Bush Potato, 1995 (Lot 15 ), did sell for $18,000 hammer, just below the estimates of $20,000-26,000, while Wildflower Dreaming (Lot 72 ), on lower hopes of $18,000-24,000 failed to attract a buyer on the night.
Regular subscribers to the Australian Art Sales Digest might be surprised by the number of artworks by Pablo Picasso sold in Australia and New Zealand with a startling 619 recorded offered since 1972. The vast majority of these are multiples (hand signed editioned prints) which have always been strongly sought in Oceania. The rise in interest in Picasso’s Madoura pottery has now caught up and led to exceptional price growth in recent years both internationally and in Australia for these ceramic wares. Still very affordable, your piece of Picasso can be achieved for $20,000 to $30,000.
The two sales at Menzies confirmed this continued interest and fascination with arguably the world’s most famous artist. Minotaure Attaquant une Amazone (Lot 16 ) from the highly regarded Vollard suite of prints 1939 sold above its high estimates for $16,000 hammer, whilst Chouette aux Plumes (Feathered Owl), 1951 (Lot 17 ), flew well above expectations, finally settling at $22,000 hammer on $10,000-15,000 hopes. We could not find a higher selling price for a Picasso Madoura ceramic from the Australian Art Sales Digest’s record of previous local sales.
Arbitrage, or the game of repatriating art from a market where it is undervalued to another where it is more valued, is not without risks, especially now when buying and selling costs have risen in recent years.
Bertram Mackennal’s Salome c1895 (Lot 20 ) is a case in point. Mackennal’s sublimely beautiful sculptures often endure an overseas trip from Europe before their sale in an Australian auction room, and the example offered was a recent purchase at a fine art auction in the UK in March 2020, selling there for £6,000 (AU$11,000). After adding buyer’s premium and shipping to the purchase price, the $14,000 hammer last night on hopes of $18,000-26,000 would most likely be a wasted effort for the vendor.
Of the 8 artworks by Sidney Nolan offered at Menzies, 5 sold, with the highest price achieved for Bush, 1978 (Lot 88 ), selling for $19,000 hammer, on estimates of $16,000-20,000.
Meanwhile, buyers are back for Norman Lindsay. All four examples sold, with Thieves Kitchen, 1928 (Lot 53 ), on hopes of $16,000-24,000 seizing the highest price of $26,000.
Mid-range estimates were achieved for Garry Shead’s The Queen of Australia, 1999 (Lot 25 ), selling for $140,000 hammer on estimates of $120,000-160,000.
A scene that we associate more with fellow artist John Perceval, Charles Blackman’s dramatic Boats at Williamstown, 1956 (Lot 26 ) was sold below expectations of $200,000-300,000 for $180,000 hammer, a result repeated for Lin Onus’ Mandiginingi, 1992 (Lot 31 ). Perhaps appropriately, this painting including mother and two baby crocodiles is heading to a significant private Queensland collection.
Not surprisingly, there was great interest in one of the most important paintings by Grace Cossington Smith to appear at auction, presented as the cover lot. With expectations of $300,000-400,000, Jug with Fruit in the Window, 1960 (Lot 28 ) generated frenetic phone and room bidding, selling for an impressive $520,000 hammer.
Jug with Fruit in the Window is the second highest price at auction for a work by Grace Cossington Smith, following the much larger The Window, 1956, which was sold by Sotheby’s Australia in November 2014 for $550,000 hammer, and was subsequently gifted by Graham and Judy Martin to the Art Gallery of NSW. Last night’s purchase will be going to a very important private collection of Australian art in Sydney.
The sleeper of the sale was not one, but three paintings (Lot 44 ) of early Sydney harbour scenes. Although the artist or artists were unknown, comparable works are located in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, and as colonial art becomes ever rarer, the $8,000-12,000 estimates brought out numerous bidders, eventually selling very well and no doubt very pleasing to the vendor, at three times the high estimates for $36,000 hammer.
