New Zealand Art Auction Sale Reviews

In the first week of December the team at Webb's launched their final series of auctions in Auckland for 2018 with a large and opulent auction catalogue to cover the summer quartet of sales.

The first anniversary of the "new" Webb's is approaching, and rebuilding the brand is not going to be an easy job, but the directors and the staff are rising to the challenge, meeting it head on with zeal and vigour.

It was all go-go-go when three early Don Binney bird paintings were offered at Art + Object's end of the year sale of Important Paintings & Contemporary Art in Auckland on 29 November. A good crowd was present to witness the sale of the 89 lots, in what turned out to be a memorable night

Breaking with a reasonably short tradition, it wasn't a painting that graced the catalogue cover, but a vintage black & white photograph of the young windswept Don Binney, affectionately known as ''The Birdman of Te Henga'', while the back cover featured a rugged windswept Te Henga landscape photograph from the artist's estate. Was it going to be Don Binney's night? It certainly was!

With a ‘flock’ of Don Binney bird paintings being offered this in this final round of auctions, the International Art Centre were the first cab off the rank this week in Auckland to test the market.  Coincidently, all the auction houses have at least one major Don Binney bird painting, meaning that there are seven on offer this month and a crowded market for vendors who are all relying on buyers with at least $150,000 to spend on these coveted works.

Auctioneers always battle with the same old problem of not having enough stock for a sale until right at the last minute when the catalogue is due to close. However this was not an issue in the October New Collectors sale at Art + Object.  This two-day, duel catalogue sale was characterized by lots of mini sections; the Untitled Art Group collection, the Ted Dutch collection, vintage posters and two further private collections, as well at the John Perry Collector and Decorative Arts and Furniture on the second day.

We have all been waiting for the "New Webb's" to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the ill-fated Mossgreen Webb's venture and on 18th September 2018 in Auckland, after a substantial period of rebranding and relocation to much more accessible new premises in Mt Eden. The new ''lower case'' webb's was launched with a great new "webb-site", fabulous new premises and a bunch of new staff, including a new art auctioneer and a handsome catalogue that presented news and reviews and great reading for the prospective buyers, collectors and/or investors.

To an outsider, they had done everything correctly, right down to umbrella carrying door chaperone, on hand to protect the potential buyers from the rain and wind which dampened the festive atmosphere on their newly branded Significant Art auction of 47 lots.

A carefully curated auction, simply entitled Contemporary that featured 80 lots of Australasian and International Art went under the hammer at Art + Object in Auckland on 23 August 2018, and the top price of the evening went to a superb Robin White drawing in graphite from 1973, entitled Self Portrait with Harbour Cone (lot 47) from her Otago series of works where some of her earliest and most iconic works were produced.

Robin White was a graduate of the Elam Art School in Auckland in the late 1960's and was tutored by Colin McCahon. Her early works fit neatly into the Christopher Perkins, Rita Angus and Don Binney area of the jigsaw puzzle of our art evolution.

With an opening bid of $30,000, the work attracted room, internet and phone bidders, and after more than 30 bids, it was knocked down to a phone bidder for $65,000, a record price for a Robin White drawing.

The 'Important and Rare Art' auction held by International Art Centre in Auckland on 14 August, 2018, comprised 98 carefully chosen works of both historical and contemporary interest from a number of private collections, most notably a collection of nine works (lots 9 -17) from Auckland's Chunn Family Collection.

A good crowd of art buyers, collectors, bibliophiles, and spectators rolled up on a clear crisp winters night to participate in and observe 87 art works in various media and a tail piece of books and publications from Part 2 of the Les and Milly Paris Collection to go under the hammer at Art + Object's Auckland rooms on 28 June 2018.

When Part 1 of this collection went under the hammer in September 2012 a significant number of record prices were set, and this was repeated for a number of key works during last night's offering.

The first auction at the 'brand new Webb's' had a lot to live up to – a rich and important legacy within the New Zealand art scene, a legacy which the new owners are keen to respect and embrace but also stamp their own mark. Webb's has been through a tumultuous 4 years with two different owners since the Webb family sold their remaining share in 2014 to the publicly listed Mowbray Collectables. Mowbray in turn sold to Mossgreen in 2015 when turnover had fallen significantly after a major business restructure, loss of senior staff and change of premises. The voluntary administration of Mossgreen in December 2017 put the Mossgreen-Webb's business into liquidation earlier this year, despite the business in New Zealand slowly but successfully rebuilding.

Connections are the key to the art world – buying and selling artworks often rely on longstanding relationships and fortuitous opportunities. Peter James Smith is a creator of connections and opportunities – a New Zealander living in Melbourne, a mathematician by career as well as an artist and collector. Writing is another important facet of his life and readers will know of him as a regular correspondent for the AASD. He chose to sell part of his collection in a 200 lot auction in New Zealand, at Art + Object, an auction house he has written articles for over a number of years.

Every now and then, when protracted bidding battles take place on the auction room floor I am reminded of that James Ensor painting of Two Skeletons Fighting Over A Pickled Herring from 1891.

The much publicised sale of Treasures from the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Collection with Important and Rare Art at Parnell's International Art Centre on 10 April 2018 generated a crowd of around 200 spectators, art buyers, and media.

All had braved the most destructive out of season weather event in Auckland for many decades to see nine works, including three C.F. Goldie paintings, from the collection of the legendary Maori opera singer  (wahine toa*) and diva go under the hammer.

Wellington the capital city of New Zealand is still reeling from the aftershocks of the sale of the Frank and Lyn Corner collection by the Auckland based Art + Object auction house on 18 March, 2018. The offering was of just over 200 lots of fine and decorative New Zealand art, assembled over a six decade period.

Frank Corner who died in 2014, was a career diplomat for all his working life with postings in Washington, London and Paris, while his wife Lyn, who died in 2016, was chair of the National Art Gallery Council and art advisor responsible for assembling the Rutherford Trust Collection.