Art Auction Sale Reviews

Bonhams looks like sharing the spoils of its great 2011 art find Down Under with its arch rival Sotheby's.  The Sotheby's affiliate Noortman Master Paintings (NMP) has been reported in London's Antiques Trade Gazette as being the purchaser at auction of Adriaen Coorte's Three Peaches on a stone ledge with a Painted Lady butterfly found by Bonhams Australia last year and consigned to its December Old Master sale in London.

Biceps will be bulging less after a reduced work load produced a barely changed auction total for 2011, says our special correspondent.

Australia's international art trade continued to produce pleasant surprises to vendors on both sides of the "divide" in the last weeks of a year in which pleasant surprises were few.

At the Menzies sale on 8 December, Martin Farrah had to delay the auction start by 15 minutes due to horrendous traffic caused by a Foo Fighters concert at nearby Sydney Cricket Stadium. But this didn’t stop lot 10, Ben Quilty’s ‘Frog Torana’, 2003, racing to an all time high on a night, which saw a successful 75 % sold by lot. However some big ticket items got there only thanks to reduced estimates. The total value of the sale was $7.495 million incl. buyer’s premium.

It may not be well-known but currently no resale royalties will be payable on the sale of one of the most traded artists in the Australian art market, Sidney Nolan.

At Sotheby’s they may have been dancing the two-step, but on Wednesday night, despite various charms, D+H found it was barely asked to dance. Instead it transpired into a night as rough as the appearance of the hirsute fellow seated in the room with the AC/DC “Highway to Hell” T-shirt and skull-encrusted belt. At night’s end catalogue notations revealed that 56.5 % of lots were sold and 47% by value achieved with a total hammer just short of $2 million.

The “excellent standards of animal husbandry and welfare” claimed by Knowsley Hall Safari Park near Liverpool in the UK should now be lavishly improved following the completion of a deal blessed by the NSW Premier, Barry O'Farrell yesterday.

Ethel Spowers’ Wet Afternoon was greeted with a hail of bids on Tuesday night and equaled her second highest record of $46,000 hammer, but for much of the sale conditions were tough and Sotheby’s staff must have felt like they had experienced Melbourne’s four seasons in one hit.

Bonham’s hoped-for trifecta did not pay off, but accolades should be accorded for the dedicated Selected works from the Estate of Paddy Bedford, which all but cleared and set new benchmarks for the artist’s work at auction.

John Brack and Fred Williams might be tagged the heavy lifters of D+H’s 30 November auction, given that over a third of the auction’s $4.1 million value rests with eight works by Melbourne’s Modern hometown heroes. Another 153 works, sweeping across all periods, support the remaining $2.67 million low estimate tally (beating Menzies Art Brands by 27 lots) amounting to the largest end of year offering amongst the premium auction houses.

Michael Brand is travelling the world looking for major examples of Islamic art in private collections to take back to Toronto. Not long ago helping reorganise the administration at the J Paul Getty Museum in Malibu of which he was the director he is is also keeping a close eye on the islamic art  coming up in the saleroom. The Australian expatriate is settling into a job as consultant to the Aga Khan Foundation and Museum that clearly precludes him from candidacy for the directorship of the Art Gallery of  NSW.

An iconic image by Gert Sellheim achieved a new world record price at auction at Swann Galleries, New York, on 11 November. On estimates of U$3,000 – 4,000, ‘Australia – Surf Club’ from 1936 soared to US $24,000 (incl. buyer’s premium), report David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger.

Sotheby’s Australia are closing their first year under new ownership year with a sixty-four lot “bijoux” November sale carrying a $4 million low estimate.  Amongst the offerings are highlights gleaned from the Irvin Rockman collection and a smattering of repatriated works.

Canada is not the only country where an old book with watercolours pasted in can sell well.  At a Lawson's Annandale sale on Friday two books by Neville W. Cayley sold for many multiples their normal value thanks in part to watercolours of a parrot and a rosella pasted in.

There will be no beating the Mossgreen's Ann Lewis estate sale for crowds and kudos, but at least Bonhams has the distraction of three separate sale catalogues to split the focus and scrutiny of its end of year finale on 21 November at the Byron Kennedy Hall in Moore Park, Sydney.

The estate sale of Ann Lewis AO at the Art Gallery of NSW on Monday night was a glittering success. Her reputation as arts patron extraordinaire created the most interest in any art sale in quite some time. Mossgreen director and auctioneer Paul Sumner confirmed that an incredible 1,500 people registered. David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger report how they fared during the 6½ hour auction marathon.

Sotheby’s sold only 54 of 136 lots (42% by volume) worth a total of $1,010,400 including buyer’s premium (49% by value on low estimates) at its Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art sale on October 18^th. Even its close supporters had to admit that it was not a good night.

Twelve classic Australian travel posters feature prominently in Swann Auction Galleries sale of rare and important travel posters on 11 November, in New York. The 186 lots inspire dreams of travelling in style to exotic places all over the world, write David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger.

The estate of Ann Lewis AO is perhaps the estate sale coup of the year for Paul Sumner’s Mossgreen Auctions, writes David Hulme. The auctioneer’s task on 7 November in the Art Gallery of NSW will be daunting, but only for the numbers involved: on offer are almost 600 lots.

In a big fillip to the colonial art market, now undergoing a renaissance, a bid of $C1.9 million  ($A1.822 million) was made to secure 10 early colonial watercolours plus a series of lesser drawings at a sale in London, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday.

The last-minute discovery of an extremely rare 1972 Clifford Possum board in New York, and the sale of the entire Paddy Bedford Estate, have set the scene for a fascinating end to the 2011 Aboriginal art calendar.

Doomsayers predicting and even proclaiming the demise of the Aboriginal art market were soundly disproved in Melbourne  on Sunday (18/09) when Philips Auctions Australia showed that it is full of life and legitimacy

It may come as a surprise to some, but Victorian Liberal Party power broker Michael Kroger has long been a big fan of Napoleon Bonaparte. But only to those who have not have been guests at his recently sold town house in Melbourne's South Yarra.

At Menzies Art Brands auction, seats in the generously-sized ANZ Pavilion were only two-thirds full and this proved to be a true indication of where the action lay.  Instead, the prime activity stemmed from the telephones, often jousting with book bids left by absentee bidders.  MAB have worked hard on building their Sydney presence and maybe this was part of that pay-off.  

Menzies Art Brands’ $11.2 million low estimate 14 September sale catalogue of 123 lots features the customary Australian art selection alongside a suite of European sculptures by well known artists from the last century.

Every seat was occupied, the air filled with expectation and curiosity, and a posse of TV and film cameras flanked the back of the room, poised to film the spectacle of lot 1 at Deutscher+ Hackett’s August sale. Pundits were confident that Currency was destined to sell, secure in the knowledge that an instant profit could be made at the $15,000 low estimate

Donald Friend lived in Sri Lanka for just five short years from 1957 to 1962, creating an exceptional body of work which continues to excite as Leonard Joel’s last Sunday fine art auction revealed. 

A slight pall hung over the room before the Sotheby’s Important Australian & International Art auction last night. No doubt this was fuelled in part by the results at Bonham’s the night prior, but auctioneer Martin Gallon was upbeat and, luckily for Sotheby’s, was able to bring the hammer down on most lots – including the million dollar Boyd – to rack up a total around $4.1 million; just one Fred Williams and a couple of bread and butter Gleesons short of the vaunted pre-sale low-end of $4.6M.

The global director of Bonhams London Jonathan Horwich did not realise he was not required to say "passed" in Australia whenever a lot was unsold at the inaugural Bonhams Australia sale in Sydney on Monday night.

It’s curious to ponder what traditionally-minded collectors would make of the appearance of lot 1, Currency by Denis Beaubois,  est $15,000-25,000, the outcome of an Australia Council Grant. Confronted by two wads of cash totalling $20,000 they may be perplexed, bemused or even appalled at the gaucheness of such a gesture under the guise of art.  “Oh, get with the program!” you hear collectors of the zeitgeist muttering under their breath.  “At least Beaubois offers something tangible, (and transferrable) “ they say.  “ When you acquire Tino Seghal’s conceptual work, [similarly focused on market perceptions and mechanics of value],  you may receive just one specially chosen whispered word…it’s a “no note” transaction” they pun. [1]

The world has now learned who the London dealer Angela Nevill was acting for when she out-distanced New York dealer Otto Naumann to secure a work by the Italian Renaissance master Correggio, Madonna and Child with the infant Saint John the Baptist at the auction of Old Master and British paintings held by Sotheby's on the evening of July 6.

At a combined low estimate of $4.63 million the first Australian Art sale by Bonhams Australia in Sydney on August 22 tops the coming sale by the local bearer of the name of its major global adversary, Sotheby's Australia, by a razor slim $30,700. But whether Bonhams comes out in front will largely be determined - coincidentally - by a mixed media work which also happens to incorporate a real razor and that work may not be everybody's cup of tea.

Sotheby’s upcoming August 23 Important Australian and International Art sale boasts a magic million dollar Boyd. The Frightened Bridegroom, 1958 (Lot 14), estimate $1-1.2 million, would see the record for this body of work ($900K, set in 2001) fall to a significantly smaller and quieter example. The work carries an impressive exhibition provenance and significant profile in academic publications on the artist. It also comes with connections to literati, having been used for an edition of Thomas Keneally’s classic, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.

A New Zealand auction house is expecting a solid turnout for its next sale despite the very modest size of its offering. The auction comprises just 25 lots. The sale is in Christchurch next Thursday ( August 11) and is Watson's first designated full-on art auction since the earthquake on February 22.

A previously unknown series of early colonial watercolours has been discovered in a house in Ontario, Canada by an auctioneer commissioned to clear it.  The watercolours are mostly pasted into Captain James Wallis' own copy of <i>An Historical Account of NSW</i> which was one of the first wave of picture plate books published to show off Australia to the world

John Albrecht, its managing director, has purchased the two thirds interest in Leonard Joel that he did not previously own, for a sum believed to value the business at around $6 million.

Who are the most traded artists at auction worldwide? How do our local art heroes feature in the top 500 artists traded at auction globally? And on the other hand, how are top-ranked international artists faring at auction down under? David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger take a closer look at the top 500 internationally and domestically – with some surprising findings.

It was expected to ignite collector interest, but Bonham’s first Aboriginal art auction on June 28^th disappointed an almost all counts.  Specialists Francesca Cavazzini, Greer Adams and Tim Klingender had more than a year to prepare for the launch of their new department.

A bold attempt to sell overseas art in Australia was rewarded when three newly imported sculptures added $1.5 million to the total achieved by Menzies Auctions for its sale in its rooms in Sydney's Kensington on Thursday night.

The smallish Picasso painting Jeune fille endormie (Young girl sleeping) was sold in June 21 in London (5 am Australian time today) on behalf of the University of Sydney for £13.5 million ($A20,626,312 million) by Christie's.

This year's ArtBasel struck a very considered tone, casting the bling bling art of just a few years ago into the distant past. Galleries attuned to the economic mood put careful thought into their stand selections and quality reigned. Ideas were privileged and prioritised over the more easily digestible "look at me" art of boom times.

 On results alone you would be forgiven for thinking that D’Lan Davidson’s second Aboriginal art sale was a failure. The Directors of Sotheby’s Australia have, however, a great deal to be happy about.

In November 2010 Bonham’s announced that two former staff from the Aboriginal Art department at Sotheby's Australia, Francesca Cavazzini and Greer Adams, had been employed as specialists in charge of their new Aboriginal Art Department. 

Acknowledging that Australian modern and contemporary works continue to dominate market attention and results, Menzies mid season fine art Sydney auction, scheduled for June 23, serves up a dose of highlights to amass a pre-sale low end of $11 million, the biggest auction to be held since the crash of 2007. And, as if to ward off any lingering art market blues–no doubt coincidental rather than curated–the top four lots are all aglow with warm hues.

Ronan Sulich, Christie's Australian representative, is brushing up on his Chinese brush paintings after a vigorous spell in the rostrum in Hong Kong on May 31.

An exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW pays homage to the legendary Australian art teacher, mentor and artist Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo (1870 – 1955). He taught many of the Sydney Moderns, including Grace Cossington Smith, Roy de Maistre and Roland Wakelin. His influence on Australian art history can’t be underestimated and includes the founding of the Manly Art Gallery.

The catalogue is everything one would expect of a top rate Sotheby’s sale. High quality artifacts and carvings, old bark paintings, early western desert boards, Papunya Tula acrylic paintings, and Hermannsburg watercolours abound. These in fact constitute 129 lots, or 73% of this 176-lot offering. Ninety-one items  (52%) were created prior to 1980 while only twenty-four (14%) were created post 2000.

Brimful of confidence D & H offered 243 works worth $2.7-$3.6 million in its first Aboriginal art sale for 2011. Industry observers have been hoping that this sale (the first of three planned by the major auction houses during May/June) would indicate a warming market, after the decline post 2007.

Australian auction houses are relying on the advice, help and in some cases their own experience in the global auction industry to shield them from the new much discussed problem of Asian defaulters.

On Tuesday night at Sotheby’s Australia all seats were filled and  the room awash with silver haired heads, indicating that  members of the old guard might be there to engage in serious battle.  And face off they did, often competing vigorously with one another, the clerk and the telephones for covetable and recently repatriated works and  in spite of some patchy moments, the sale notched up a $4.95 million hammer result.   

The Summer auction hiatus has served Sotheby's Australia well. During their extended collecting period, un-afforded by the August and November sales, they have uncovered some curious and intriguing pieces, teasing out works from long-standing collections to create a high calibre May sale focused on an arresting  trio of quality, freshness and rarity. 

A piece of Australia's Nazi holocaust heritage appears to have evaded detection and capture Down Under and been dispersed overseas. The heritage consisted of three paintings, one at least of which had connections with the family of Anne Frank

Even though John Watt Beattie is credited with being Australia’s first official photographer appointed in 1896, he is perhaps not so well known today, and just three auction records are listed in AASD.

OMG. I feel like Rip Van Winkle! Did I fall asleep in November 2007 and miss the GFC? Did I just dream the Aboriginal art market is off the boil?  Going through the first 30 works of the Deutscher and Hackett catalogue to be offered for sale on the 18^th of May feels more like the market on steroids!

Two auctions of Aboriginal art will be held in Paris auctions during the second week of May. The first will be the first for auction house Cornette de Saint Cyr. It will comprise works entirely from the Arnaud Serval collection and is to be held at the Drouot Montaigne on the 9^th May 2011. The other is a mixed bag put together by specialist Marc Yvonnou for Gaia Auctions at the Quartier Drouot on the 14^th May.

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing this week of Dr. Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James AO, best known simply as Thancoupie, the potter. She died at Weipa Base Hospital FNQ after a long illness.

A room full of expectant buyers braved Melbourne’s weather on Wednesday evening to attend Deutscher and Hackett’s first auction for 2011.

With plot twists and innuendos to rival a John Grisham novel, the voluntary administration of the Smith & Hall group under parent International Art Holdings Pty Ltd, now officially in receivership, has seen two of the companies already emerge from under investigation to be re-registered by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Throughout the process, the Administrator’s scorched earth policy in the hunt for liquid assets has come under fire from investors already burned by the company collapse

Shapiro’s offering of Australian and international art certainly showed plenty of promise at their Queen Street sale on Wednesday evening

Deutscher + Hackett’s Fine Art sale this April will be a true litmus of the market. The sale is anchored with fresh, major works by Smart, Brack, Williams, Robinson, Nolan and Tucker. While the bulk of the value lies in these key lots, the depth of this sale stems from museum-quality works by some of Australia’s lesser-known, but arguably more interesting artists.

It is now official: the much-publicised sale of art by Lord Jeffrey Archer will contain at least two major Australian works. Ronan Sulich of Christies Australia confirmed from London this morning that two Australian works by Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan have been added to the Jeffrey Archer sale held on 28th June 2011 at Christies South Kensington, London. 

From a record breaking Ray Crooke painting to a plethora of plush sofas there were plenty of hot sellers at Mossgreen’s sale of the contents of the Nettlefold family home in Hobart on Sunday, March 27.

Bondi’s beachside real estate is worth millions, as are iconic images of its beach bums. Brett Whiteley’s, Washing the Salt off I, 1985 (Lot 42) jumped midway into the artist’s top ten results last night with its sale of $1.55 million, plus buyer’s premium. This highlight pushed the auction’s total to $5,963,000 (hammer), representing 71% of its lauded mid-estimate pre-sale value.

Robert Davidson’s reputation for honesty and integrity in a sometimes shadowy auction market is perhaps one thing that keeps his regular clientele coming back for more – even on a particularly bleak and rainy day.

It’s billed as Tasmania’s biggest sale in yonks. From the sprawling turn-of-the- century Nettlefold home in Hobart’s Sandy Bay comes an array of classic English and Continental furniture, ceramics, bronzes and clocks, silver, chandeliers and curios, even fascinating Australiana.

Hoping to secure a knock-out first blow in the season’s auction calendar, Menzies Art Brands is delivering a whopping $7.2–$9.5 million sale for its first outing. With only one hundred lots on offer, and $6.5 million loaded into the first fifty, the 24 March Australian & International Fine Art auction catalogue looks lean and mean.

The Australian antique and art trade is enjoying a big lift in morale with the opening of Bonhams Australia’s new premises at 76 Paddington Street, Paddington. This follows a serious depletion of the industry's ranks over the past decade.

The 23 February Quarterly Fine Art Auction produced clearances just shy of 80%, in both volume and value. While fresh top lots have sold well over the past two years, critics have bemoaned the market’s diffidence across other stock profiles. Given the make-up of the 253 sales last night, the statistics augur well for renewed interest from Lawson’s traditional support base in re-engaging with the market.

Art+Object in Auckland is making a strong start to its auction year with four auction sessions over three consecutive days featuring around 1050 lots from five diverse collections, together with outside entries.

If 2010 was a mixed year for art and antiques at auction, there are some who are clearly convinced that 2011 will be a big improvement. Paul Sumner’s Mossgreen Auctions has lined up no less than seven one-owner sales for the first half of the year, several of which are expected to bring in $1million or so each.

A strong Aussie dollar means hunting and bidding for Australian art at auction overseas has never been more alluring.  

A work by Frederick McCubbin, Shipyards Williamstown was stolen in a burglary of a home in Adelaide on December 17, 2010.

Sebastian is a trustee of an SMSF (self-managed super fund). The SMSF holds an artwork as an investment and the artwork is displayed in Sebastian’s house. In order to comply with the regulations, Sebastian enters into a lease arrangement to display the artwork in an art gallery.

Explanatory memo example to Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 2) Bill 2011: SMSF investment in collectables and personal use assets exposure draft

Hobart gambler David Walsh has turned art collecting and connoisseurship into a game and lifted the stakes for art buyers, not only in Australia but the rest of the world.

While First East Auction Holdings Ltd's (FEAL) interest in Leonard Joel, Melbourne is to stay with FEAL (chaired by Mr Tim Goodman), its wholly owned Bay East is to go with Sotheby's Australia to the new consortium headed by Mr Geoffrey Smith.