In short the most relevant changes were as follows:
1. The auctioneer must disclose all vendor bids at each stage of the auction.
2. Items owned by the auction house and sold via auction must be disclosed as such.
3. Bids may be withdrawn before the end of the auction.
The auction room was filled with representatives from all the major New Zealand auction houses, with all eager to see how the disclosure of vendor bids would effect the sale and how the auctioneer would manage the all important auction flow, crowd enthusiasm and interest.
As it happened the change to vendor bidding didn’t seem to have an adverse effect from the perspective of the audience. In fact it sped up the auction and kept the pace moving, because if a lot had no interest, it was quickly passed in.
The other refreshing change was that the starting bids were much closer to the auction estimate. In previous sales the lots could have been started at 50% less than low estimate and then bid to 75% of low estimate and an offer taken to the vendor if there was no further interest. This time we got straight down to business with opening bids called very close to reserve. If there was no interest, there was no sale. If there was genuine interest, bids were taken and the work sold or bid referred. From this perspective it felt more like a true auction rather than a platform for a post sale negotiation / private sale.
So to the actual auction itself, while the disclosure of vendor bidding didn’t seem to create too many problems, Webb’s will probably be disappointed at the final total and clearance rate after the auction. As well as being the guinea pigs for the new legislation, Webb’s really seemed to have the odds stacked against them when one of their star lots and highest priced paintings (Lot 23 ) Colin McCahon, Elias (estimate $250,000-$350,000) was withdrawn at the 11th hour. Let's hope they managed to collect withdrawal fees to compensate for this loss.
Highlights included a really stunning Tony Fomison #226 (Lot 8 ), previously in the collection of Pat Hanly which sold for $46,000 (hammer) against a low estimate of $25,000 and a fantastic result for the Colin McCahon Rosegarden (Lot 51 ) which sold for $127,500 against a low estimate of $80,000. Interestingly this painting had been up for sale in March at Webb’s and failed to sell with a low estimate of $120,000, proving yet again that sometimes a revised estimate and fresh eyes can bring more on a second outing.
There was a very good result for Grahame Sydney, Sunset Near Omarama (Lot 27 ) which achieved the second highest price at auction for his work, reaching $145,000 (hammer) against a low estimate of $100,000. The few historical paintings did well with a Charles Blomfield, White Terraces, Rotomahana (lot 27) being hotly contested to $36,000 hammer by multiple bidders. This work was almost identical to another Charles Blomfield offered by Webb’s at the end of last year which was unsold at $20,000, demonstrating that art valuing can be a very inexact science.
The remainder of the sale was deftly dealt with by auctioneer Charles Ninnow but with a lot passed in and seemingly few referred bids to work with on the lower priced items, the art department will have some hard work ahead. It will be interesting to see how the other auction houses react to the introduction of the new legislation. I expect that in the hands of a less accomplished auctioneer, auctions with a lack of interest and bids could feel pretty grim. However the introduction of resale royalty tax in Australia didn’t have an immediate adverse effect on the market there as predicted, so the same may apply here. We will wait and see with interest.
At the end of the sale the hammer total was $1,029,350 giving totals of 34% by value and a clearance rate of 34% by lot. Please note these figures do not include post sales.
