Some capital city stuff ends the year for Dunbar Sloane on a high note.

By John Perry in Auckland, on 12-Dec-2017

Dunbar Sloane is the only auction house in the New Zealand capital of Wellington, in sharp contrast to the crowded field in Auckland, so the auctions are fewer and usually better attended than those in the northern city.

The first evening auction of 80 lots in the two day sale of Fine & Applied Art held on 6 and 7 December, got off to a roaring start with three prints from the Barry Lett Gallery Multiples series from ''Corporate Collection, Wellington'' selling for $8,000 to $9,000, breaking previous records for these unsigned multiples.

They were part of a 12 artist set, originally sold for $36.00 (for the complete set) in 1969 when Auckland's leading contemporary art gallery generated a set of serigraphs to make fine art more accessible to the masses. As a consequence, many sets were produced, and sets were sold to schools and as well as to private collectors and public collections.

The first evening auction of 80 lots in the two-day sale of Fine & Applied Art held on 6 and 7 December by Dunbar Sloane raised $638,000 (IBP) with pleasing clearance stats of 88% sold by number and 92% value. Works by Wellington based artist Peter McIntyre included a suite of 16 illustrations based around a small rural Maori community on the remote east coast, with the top price for the illustrations of $7,000 for a drawing of 6 Maori children.

Artist Peter McIntyre, based in Wellington for most of his life, was represented by a very focused suite of 16 illustrations based around a small rural Maori community on the remote east coast, a watercolour and an oil painting. The black and white illustrations look just a little sugar sweet with the benefit of hindsight, however the top price of $7,000 for a drawing of 6 Maori children (Lot 17 ) was $3,000 above the top end of the estimate. His oil painting, Round Up (Lot 62 ) featuring cowboys and cattle sold for $24,000 well above the estimate range of $14,000- $18,000.

Also based in Wellington, Juliet Peter's lyrical oil on board Hill of Houses - Factual (Lot 29 ), was keenly bid by the home crowd, selling for $8,000, twice the pre-sale estimate. John Drawbridge, another Wellington artist, painting Into the Garden (Lot 32 ) from 1985 sold for $10,000, exceeding the high estimate of $8,000.

Charles F. Goldie's painting of an Arawa Kuia Pirira te Kahukura and entitled The Widow (Lot 37 ) from a Rotorua private collection was let go for $200,000 which was $20,000 below the low estimate.

There were 51 lots interspersed through the catalogue, whose provenance was noted as "Corporate Collection, Wellington", named in the press as Transpower, formerly the New Zealand Electricity Department who were moving to new offices that were unsuitable for displaying art. Transpower had not made any additions to the collection for over 20 years. As with most corporate collections not every work found a new owner on the night, including Robert Ellis's large oil on canvas entitled Nga Taonga (Lot 44 ), estimated at $17,500 - $25,000.

Robin Whites classic screenprint from 1977 entitled Hokianga Sandhills (Lot 72 ) from a private collection in Wellington sold just over the top estimate of $7,000 for $7,500. The works of Robin White are in constant demand and another print based on the classic willow pattern design titled Braveheart (lot 214) sold for $2,300 just above the lower estimate of $1,800.

The major works sold on the first night raised $638,000 (IBP) with pleasing clearance stats of 88% by sold number and 92% by value.

 

All prices are hammer in $NZ unless otherwise stated.

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About The Author

John Perry is known locally as a collector / consultant / curator/ educator and artist and is a former director of the Rotorua Museum of Art and History. For the last 20 years has worked as an antique dealer specializing in ''man made and natural curiosities'' from an old art deco cinema on the outskirts of Auckland. Over the last 16 years he has developed a multi million dollar collection of 19th and 20th century artworks for the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust. He recently donated 120 artworks from his collection in various media to the East Southland Art Gallery in Gore. A committed ''art o holic'' he continues to develop collections of New Zealand and International fine art / folk art / ceramics and photography for future usage in a private/public ARTMUSEEUM of NEWSEELAND, not to be confused with Te Papa Museum of New Zealand.

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