New Zealand Art Auction Sale Reviews

Two security guards posted outside the front of the International Art Centre on the night of their final Important and Rare auction for 2022 provided a stark reminder of the reality of being a retail business in Auckland currently. This year has seen a huge increase in crime in Auckland, especially ramraids and burglaries fuelled by a cost of living crisis and social inequality exacerbated by two years of Covid. International Art Centre was previously targeted in 2017 when two Maori portraits by painter Gottfried Lindauer were stolen after a utility vehicle was driven into their street front windows. The portraits with combined pre-auction estimates of about $700,000 have never been recovered. This sale contained two works by C.F Goldie totalling well over a million dollars which received good presale publicity in the national media prior to the sale so the presence of security guards in the current climate was a wise move.

An article by John Albrecht, Chairman of Leonard Joel in Melbourne in their house magazine, recounts the experience of his recent trip to London where he met with fellow auctioneers and attended auction room viewings and sales. He noted with relief and also sadness the lack of buyers in attendance during an auction, which mirrored his own experience at Leonard Joel. Although the viewings were busy, the auctions themselves were quiet with mainly the auctioneer, auction house staff and a few buyers in attendance. Everyone else participated online, with absolutely no detriment to the sale total.

September is shaping up to be an action-packed month for auction goers in New Zealand.  Additional sales have been slotted into the calendar for all the auction houses and while the BNZ sale coming up at Webb’s is garnering the lions share of the attention and publicity, the sale of the Spark Collection at International Art Centre last week still made a handy contribution to their sale total for the year.

It felt like it a long time between sales at Art + Object this winter season. Since the team moved their often monumentally large New Collectors sales online this year, there has only been a single in-room art auction this year held back in April and I felt it was nice to be back – there was even French champagne and nice wine on offer!

In my initial review of the International Art Centre's August Important & Rare Art auction catalogue, I was impressed by the quality and breadth of the offering. There was something for everyone: all the usual auction room favourites who have been mentioned numerous times in these articles of late such as C. F Goldie, Fiona Pardington and Karl Maughan as well as some rare examples of works by some of New Zealand’s most senior artists such as Rita Angus and Colin McCahon. The estimates on the 131 lots seemed extremely reasonable, with some on the low side compared to recent sales.

It felt good to be back in the rooms this week for Art + Object’s April  Important Paintings and Contemporary Art sale and with about 60 people in attendance at the start and wine on offer, things felt pretty much back to normal. 

Auctioneer Ben Plumbly knows how to manage an auction room and all its competing elements with a deft touch so for a catalogue of 76 lots, a two hour auction looked very achievable which was a welcome relief after the widespread uptake of internet bidding which has slowed the auction process considerably across the board.

New Zealand is slowly moving out of its recent Omicron outbreak and life in the super city (Auckland) has felt a bit more normal of late. Webb’s and Art + Object are back to in-room auctions, but International Art Centre held their Important and Rare sale live online this week, and one could ask- why not? This method of sale was hugely successful for them in 2021, engaging a large number of buyers and transacting sales at prices equal to or more than their in room results.