Any sale, coming off the back of the Burr/Tatham sale was going to be a hard act to follow. Over $18 million dollars had been transacted across three Auckland auction houses within four days just a few weeks earlier potentially diverting art buying funds away from these final end of year sales. This sale despite being larger in number than recent offerings at Art + Object had more of a mixed feel to it with some works included that probably would have been catalogued in a ‘new collectors’ sale category in the past. Such is the ebb and flow of the auction business, sometimes the stock flows freely, and sometimes it doesn’t but sale dates still come around and a catalogue has to be put together. It can’t always be blockbuster pictures and record prices.
The first 21 lots belonging to the Fitzherbert Post-Impressionist Society Art Buying group fared well with group member engagement pushing some works well above estimates. Trans-Tasman artist Euan Macleod’s painting Coastal Figure (Lot 13 ) was well bid to $18,000 against an estimate of $10,000-$15,000 and the interest in senior New Zealand painter Philip Trusttum continues with both his works included selling very well. The excellent example of a small Garden Painting (Lot 11 ) work from the early 1970s made $10,500 against a $4,000 reserve. This continues on from the recent results at Dunbar Sloane in Wellington where a couple of larger works from the same period sold for over $40,000 each. Trusttum has made a significant contribution to New Zealand art history and his prices have long fallen short of importance as a painter, so this reassessment is long overdue. Overall the group sold 20 out of 21 works under the hammer with all either on or above low estimate which would have been a very positive result for the group which is disbanding.
It wouldn’t be a 2021 New Zealand art market report without a mention of photographer du jour, Fiona Pardington whose works find an insatiable audience at auction with prices paid on the secondary market well exceeding their retail price at her dealer gallery Starkwhite, which is located 300 meters away from the Art + Object saleroom. New Zealand doesn’t really have art market where flipping work is commonplace, but the Pardington market is the closest we get to that with works now appearing at auction which have been produced in the preceding few years becoming commonplace.
Of the three examples in this auction, Andrew’s Huia Pair (Lot 28 ) printed just two years ago, sold for $82,000 off a $45,000-$65,000 estimate. A smaller and earlier work in a boutique low edition of just 5, Mother and Daughter Huia 2006 (Lot 32 ), was well contested by two room bidders and one online and sold to art consultant Sophie Coupland who secured it for a client at $37,000 against a low estimate of $20,000. The biggest surprise was the lack of interest in Davis Kea Wings (Below) (Lot 59 ). The glowing, luminescent view of the wings of the Kea from above sold at A+O for $111,000 back in August. The underside view, while still appealing just wasn’t as sought after as was sold subject at $61,000 against a reserve of $70,000.
I would usually struggle to describe any work by Tony Fomison as charming, but this feels like a good word to characterise his painting Untitled (Lot 61 ) in the sale. As an artist known for dark and often difficult subject matter, this small painting on hessian with a brightish palette and a well-dressed figure wearing a jaunty hat is very different from what is usually seen by the artist. It seems that buyers prefer Fomison's challenging paintings and the work was passed at $70,000 without a bid and remains unsold a few days post sale.
Two phone bidders, registered for another high value work, Pat Hanly’s Pacific Hope Vessel (Lot 62 ) failed to participate and a lone internet bidder had the work sold subject to them at $95,000 which was below the estimate of $120,000-$160,000 and it too remains unsold.
However, the two works with the highest estimates both sold to contribute a handy $1,210,000 (hammer) to the final sale total.
Bill Hammond will take the crown for the highest jump in prices at auction this year with his previous highest price of $280,000 set in 2013 being surpassed five times in a month at auctions in Auckland. Signal Box: A Convocation of Eagles. Cave Painting No. 7 (Lot 57 ), had what felt like a punchy estimate ($450,000-$650,000) for a 1.3 x 1.8m painting but after the prices of late, putting an estimate on a work like this feels like a stab in the dark. Lots of birds, lots of lush drippy paint and a good domestic size meant that bidders online and on the phone engaged from a low start at $350,000 until the work was swiftly dispatched at $560,000.
The star lot also had the best provenance of the sale, Gordon Walters Koru (Lot 58 ) had been in the private collection of the legendary Wellington gallerist Peter Macleavy and his wife Hillary and was now being sold by the family. Of typical koru form but in the atypical colour way of very light mauve rather than the more common black and white, despite its large size, it probably didn’t appeal to the trophy hunters due to the colour palette. One bidder on the phone held a subject bid at $500,000 and a sale was successfully negotiated the following day at the reserve of $650,000.
Other highlights included huge prices for two very small original works on paper by Ralph Hotere. The first Winter Solstice, Carey’s Bay (Lot 79 ) was about the size of a postcard and featured a very basic cross form in pastel. One could imagine this being a work gifted by the artist who was known for his generosity for giving away works to all and sundry. This drawing realised $23,000 against a $10,000 low estimate. Similarly, another solstice work Winter Solstice (Lot 80 ) also made $23,000 against an even lower $6,000 low estimate.
Artist Jenny Dolezel, who found popularity in the 1990s with her dreamlike landscapes inhabited by quirky carnival and theatre folk has always found a ready market at auction although at sums much lower than was paid for Welcoming In All Sorts of Happiness (Lot 83 ). The painting which was designed for a project at the Fisher Gallery in 1991 as a tablecloth prototype sold for $29,000, well above the $18,000 low estimate to set a new record for the artist.
Overall the sale did very well with a total of $2,664,550 and a clearance rate of 76% taking the total sales for the year at Art + Object to about $23,000,000 which is close to the annual turnover in New Zealand over the last few years. With the Auckland finally borders due to open next week, and their 2021 auctions behind them, the team at Art + Object will be looking forward to a restful summer break.
All prices are quoted are hammer in $NZ and do not include the buyer’s premium of 18%.
