Kudos then must go to Webb’s who have put a lot of effort into recognising what the buyers want – their newish premises in Mt Eden which always seem to be a work in progress have ticked the box for generous parking right out-front, the tallest walls and ceiling for displaying those extra large works, a walk in wine cellar, opening nights which have DJs and drinks by Scapegrace Gin and Brothers Beer as well as the usual wine and champagne. And most importantly the grazing platters of cheeses, breads and salami which are replenished during the auction are a welcome relief for those of us who have run out the door without eating to make a 6.30pm start and are staying until the end of the night.
Webb’s is on the sale treadmill at the moment with a constant succession of online and in room auctions from all the departments continuously in play. The somewhat ambiguous sale titles and mix of stock makes it hard to differentiate the hierarchy of sales but this sale, titled Works of Art held in Auckland on 28 November, with its proximity to the major sales of the other auction houses appears to be their premium sale category.
Highlights in the early lots of the sale included Peter Robinson’s Spirit Stick (Lot 5 ) which sold for $3,250 against a $1,500 reserve and Gordon Walters largest print Amoka (Lot 6 ) which had great colour and was beautifully framed and realised $15,000 to the absentee bidder against a low estimate of $12,000. Prominent art dealer John Gow had a busy night, multitasking clients in the room and on the phone to successfully acquire a number of lots including Fiona Partington’s very subtle and haunting photograph Inseparable Huia (Lot 18 ), well over the estimate of $25,000-$35,000 for $47,500 as well as several lots from the Una Platts collection.
Some of the major works in the mid-section of the sale didn’t fare as well; notable unsold lots include Tony Fomison’s E Tu, Brutus (Lot 28 ) which had a small price reduction from $40,000 when it was offered in August at another auction house, to $32,000 this time round but remained unsold. Another casualty was Don Binney’s classic Te Henga landscape (Lot 44 ) (without a bird) in a small, ‘apartment size’ format of 50 x 60cm which failed to sell on the night. It was bid to $35,000 in the room against a $40,000 low estimate and had good engagement from room and phone bidders but wasn’t enough to hit reserve and is still currently sitting as unsold in the Webb’s results.
Luckily Webb’s had the Una Platts collection to balance things out, a super group of very interesting and small scale pictures and sculpture. A fascinating catalogue essay written by Linda Tyler with lots of in-situ photos provided some background to this important art historian and artist. The first lot from the collection, Muriwai (Lot 31 ) by Colin McCahon was well recognised as an exceptional painting with John Gow and art consultant Sophie Coupland bidding for clients, having a true auction room duel starting at the low estimate of $80,000 right up to $111,000 where it was secured by John Gow for buyer #60. The same client also won the right to negotiate on, Entombment (Lot 33 ), a watercolour on paper from 1947 also by McCahon, when it was sold subject at $31,000 and subsequently sold at that price.
A significant cement sculpture, Bird Watcher (Lot 39 ) by the female sculptor Molly Macalister who was great friends with both McCahon and Una Platts was conservatively estimated at $5,000-$10,000 in line with the very few auction prices in existence. This unusual piece was very popular with the phone, internet and John Gow once again, when it sold for $11,250. One of the most interesting lots from the Platts collection was an all-time favourite picture genre, ‘artists painting artists’. In this case, Una at Elam Art Class (Lot 35 ) by fellow artist Olivia Spencer Bower gives a snapshot into this Auckland art institution circa 1943. A mix of men and women artists come together in drawing class to study form, according to the inscription verso. This wonderful ink wash and graphite drawing was lightly estimated at $1,000-$2,000 but realised $3,400 between two room and one internet bidder and was a great buy at that.
The last section of the auction was a collection of contemporary Chinese painting, 18 lots in total, all with the same provenance, Private Collection, Auckland. These received mixed results under the hammer with Ai Wei Wei’s The Artist Activist 2014 (Lot 61 ) a book housed within a silk scarf on a marble slope successfully selling for $8,500 and Liu Fei’s Girl with Gun (Lot 62 ) which sped past its estimate to realised $16,000 against a $10,000 reserve, but other works failing to sell leading to a 50% clearance rate in this section, the market in Auckland preferring to support the artists it knows and recognises.
Overall the sale realised around $500,000 on the night with more works from the Platts collection sold the next day among others. The sale totals have been slowly creeping up since the acquisition of Bowerbank Ninow and the changes to the Art Department have led to an improvement in the quality of stock. The team should be pleased with the gains they have made in 2019 and are no doubt looking forward to what they can do in 2020.
All prices are hammer and expressed in $NZ.
