The sale is representative of the current climate - a multiple vendor sale with works spanning varied estimate ranges. The sale includes excellent examples of both traditional and contemporary art, suggesting vendors are keen to realise assets, either with a forced hand by an administrator as in the case of the Austcorp Art Collection, or to pare back and reduce exposure.
Sotheby’s general financial stresses internationally, headlined by a worse than expected decline in year-on-year second quarter profits of 87%, mean that the auction house will be working hard to ensure success with what is on offer.
Sotheby’s will be hoping to see the successful sale of the 'lucky 13' top lots, each with a lower estimate in excess of $100,000, as they hold a low end value total of $3,310,000. Put another way these 13 lots represent 5% in number of the total lots to be offered, but account for 47% of the value of the sale.
The lead-out lot is The Painted Factory, Tuscany, 1972 by Jeffrey Smart. The work is one of four being offered by James Fairfax and is estimated at $600,000 - $800,000. It is an exceptional example of Smart’s work and clearly much is expected of it. Its estimate range is higher than any Smart to previously hit the market and has the hallmarks of a record breaker.
The following lot is Burke and Wills, 1962 by Sidney Nolan. Once again, the estimate of $450,000 - $550,000 suggests, not only confidence in the quality of the work, but the strength of the market rebound. It is set at $450,000 - $550,000 compared with the $240,000 achieved by Deutscher and Hackett in 2007 for the last Burke and Wills work from this second series (dated 1964) – a record at the time.
There are many less obvious gems in the auction, including a collection of Australian Colour Field abstracts mostly acquired by a private Melbourne buyer in the past five years through Charles Nodrum Gallery. A rare well resolved work by Godfrey Miller valued at $40,000 -$60,000 is also a delight to see.
Still at the front of the catalogue, Ethel Carrick Fox’s oil on board, Promenade at Manly circa 1913, (Lot 8 ) is unnervingly close, but not identical, to a work sold by Shapiro Auctioneers in 2001 as La Promenade, 1908. In 1908 Carrick made her first trip to Australia with her husband, Australian artist Phillips Emanuel Fox and in October of the same year La Promenade was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne. Labels affixed to the reverse of the work sold in 2001 attest to this history which is also complemented by catalogue and other documentary evidence. A letter from Phillips Fox to H.P. Gill discusses Carrick Fox’s excellent reception in Paris noting that all four works sold at the exhibition.
Monday evening concludes with the sale of a collection of 24 international contemporary art works from the collection of the late Dr Nigel and Mrs Norma Hawkins, Sydney. Dr Hawkins, the eldest son of the artist Harold Weaver Hawkins and his wife lived between London, France, Sydney and Toronto and collected from the leading contemporary galleries in those cities. Excellent provenance and stylistic consistency define this grouping which includes work by Patrick Heron, Ivon Hitchens and Paul Nash
It is fitting that these works are part of a sale that includes the disbursal of the superb Austcorp Art Collection by the voluntary administrators. The collection was developed under the guidance of Ms Barbara Flynn, a Sydney based independent curator and consultant. “I have much admiration for the curatorial expertise of Barbara Flynn.” says Anita Archer, art consultant and auctioneer for Deutscher and Hackett, who worked closely with Ms Flynn when she put together the standalone International Contemporary Art auction at Lawson Menzies in 2001. “She was ahead of her time and brought an international eye to Australian practice. It is a real shame to have such a curated collection disbursed before its time.”
The Austcorp collection includes many excellent examples of contemporary Australian art that were acquired from cutting edge contemporary spaces such as Rosyln Oxley9 Gallery, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Niagara Galleries and Tolarno Galleries. The relationships between the works comprise much of the beauty of the collection and would, in time, have contributed to the value. This auction is a real opportunity for collectors of contemporary art to acquire leading works that are otherwise unavailable.
The offerings at this auction represent a real opportunity for collectors of contemporary art to acquire leading works that are usually unavailable. It will show us how many collectors are active, and ultimately, if the market will complement the increasingly optimistic economic mood.
