The 1960s slogan ''suppose they gave a war and nobody came'' could be juxtaposed to ''suppose they gave an auction and nobody came'' to sum up the attendance at webb's launch into the tough and crowded cut-throat Auckland secondary art market. And despite the efforts of the auctioneer, Marcus Atkinson who has 20 years' experience in fine and rare wines in the UK, France, Australia and New Zealand, bidding was subdued for such a momentous occasion. In Auckland a ''Crowded [auction] House'' scene, while in our capital city of Wellington, one auction house has ruled the roost for close to 100 years now.. but I digress.
Top price paid was for the large and impressive bronze sculpture by Palmerston North based sculptor Paul Dibble with his heavy weight View Over the Vineyards (Lot 13 ) which sold for $90,000 exceeding the high estimate of $85,000. The elegant female form with her wistful gaze is, as the title suggests, destined for a new location...you guessed it, in a vineyard. The price set a new record for the artist for a work sold at auction.
Two key works in the sale produced quite similar results. The large Peter Robinson pre-millennium work simply entitled Painting (Lot 14 ) 1999 attracted one bid from a prominent Auckland dealer of $175,000 but remains unsold. Carrying a pre-sale estimate of $220,000- $280,000, the large text-based work in black white and red is a stunner but the size is more on a gallery scale rather than a domestic scale. Although this tough work had been previously on the market, webb's had given a much-publicised price guarantee to the vendor.
Another key work was Fiona Partington's Kereru Wings Waiheke 2010 (Lot 29 ) which was also awarded a double page spread in the catalogue. The work was produced for, and exhibited at Hobart's MONA, but fell well short of the pre-sale estimate of $55,000-$65,000 attracting just a couple of bids and selling subject to vendor's approval for $46,000.
Although there was the odd exception, the results on the night appeared to be somewhat flat, that was until Dick Frizzell's "Pa-Kow!" (Lot 41 ) went under the hammer.
The life-sized fibreglass horned bovine made for the "CowParade" in 2003, attracted many bids selling for $16,000, well above the estimate of $12,000-14,000.
Although the sale highlights were few, the company's web site reveals that many of the works that were sold "subject to" on the night have found new owners and webb's and their internet provider should be congratulated for publishing the results promptly. The sale raised $371,000 including buyer's premium with 30% of the lots by value, and 43% by number finding a new home. Let us hope that future sales of Significant Art will attract much more in-room activity on the night because it is the intention of the new owners and staff to restore the webb's brand to the forefront of the secondary market, and many people "in the know'' are saying that it is not going to be an easy job...
All prices quoted are in $NZ and are hammer unless otherwise indicated.
