Vincent 1968 (lot 20) is a large (221 cm by 167 cm) oil, ink, mirror and razor on board, by Brett Whiteley inscribed "The departure of Gauguin from Arles, December 1888" which is estimated at $750,000 to $850,000.
A barely forgettable image, Vincent 68 is back on the market after an unusually short period of time (2007) and may also be remembered from a sale not long before that (1997) and even earlier (1994).
Memorability is a worry if a work is unsold. The kiss of death becomes so much more painful.
That it does not seem to have settled into a permanent collection either private or public may be due to its confronting image. With its prominently placed 'cut-throat' razor, linked to the artist's ear by a blood red sweep of paint, it evokes the break between van Gogh and Gauguin, and van Gogh's violent reaction.
But as the catalogue implies, it is also an autobiographical work in that Whiteley shared with van Gogh the romantic notion of the "artist as hero" or "wunderkind." The estimates suggest a willingness of the vendor to part with it as they compare with $850,000 hammer ($1.02 million IBP) in its most recent previous saleroom incarnation.
The prices of $90,500 and $96,000 previously show how far Whiteley prices have moved in recent times. His death by suicide in 1992 contributed to the rise which took place, however, only after a decent time interval as the shock scenario of it sank in.
The state of the Whiteley market will influence the sale more broadly in that six other works by the artist are also on offer. There could be some good countercyclical buying to be had, as the bravura of his brush stroke, line and conception is not part of the present leitmotif.
Unlike the sale's key work based on self harm, one of the sale's other expensive Whiteley, an ultramarine harbourscapes, may help the proceedings flow more easily.
Nobby's Head and the Entrance to Newcastle 1991, (lot 24) however, may not excite as much as a more in demand Sydney Harbour view might. The medium sized oil, charcoal, pencil with collage on canvas is also estimated to make $450,000 to $550,000 against the $324,500 it made at Deutscher~Menzies in 2002.
Whiteley's work has been identified as having some of its appeal because it is "cartoonist art" if only in the broad sweep of the line. However, humour also beams through the small oil and collage on board The Lebanese Grin - Bondi 1986 (lot 7).
This may appeal to one certain ethnic market - or disdained by another - but mention of it as being in the same spirit as Charles Conder's masterpiece Mentone in the catalogue may bring a smile to a few old timers' faces with a different concept of art.
Bonhams is looking for this to contribute $220,000 to $300,000 towards the sale total from this work. It is, at least, relatively fresh to the market and is fun and in keeping with Bonhams Australia's chairman Mark Fraser's published anxiety to re-introduce a bit of fun to the market.
Because of the values involved, the Whiteleys will be a special pointer as to how markets react to the fact that for many works, the sale will be the last artists royalty-free offering.
When they are resold they will attract the royalty. The royalty may be only 5 per cent but it does create a lot of nuisance paper work.
The Lebanese Grin is one of two works from a recent Sydney dealer's catalogue. The other, a Jeffrey Smart, Richmond Park II 1997-99 (lot 17) is estimated at $360,000 to $420,000 and gives the catalogue a hint of the Menzies brand.
Bonhams, which was expected to make a big value splash whatever the cost, to show who was king of the market, does not appear to have been overly ambitious in its latest offering. This may be in keeping with the more difficult times when private treaty sales appear a better up market option.
It has nothing over $1 million whereas both Sotheby's Australia, with an Arthur Boyd, and Mossgreen, with a Fred Williams have both entered consignments in this difficult stratosphere.
Sotheby's Australia and Bonhams Australia, however, have a slightly different read of the market in that Sotheby's has only 67 lots versus Bonhams 94 making it the more "heavyweight" of the two sales.
A run of more easy-to-live with, but serious works by women artists provide a pleasant contrast to the bloody Whiteley Van Gogh.
A Frances Hodgkins is followed by an Elaine Haxton and a Kathleen O'Connor. Given that no-one appears to be parting with their Margaret Olley's yet the O'Connor is a fine tribute to an artist's busy table.
In the absence of any uncluttered painting Margaret Olley did of her cluttered tables, O'Connor's very busy Still Life with Lamp c.1921-1928, (lot 13) a large tempera on heavy card, (estimates $80,000 to $100.000) must suffice in this genre. It is the most serious of these works, blending cubism and naturalism Its history includes ownership by WA establishment identities Sir Ernest & Lady Lee-Steere, Perth.
Catalogue contributor David Thomas has some very fine words to say about Ian Fairweather's synthetic polymer paint and gouache on cardboard on hardboard Fascismo 1963 (32) and it is expected to make $340,000 to $400,000.
The mid 1960s were a very fine and fortunate period for Fairweather - the year he represented Australia in the then very much more important Sao Paolo Biennale.
Judgment on this work is best reserved for actual inspection, especially as Fairweather's works can be a conservation nightmare.
The colonials are represented in three exceptional manifestations each at $20,000 to $30,000.
George French Angas's descriptive The Starting of a Survey and Land-Exploring Expedition from the City across the Continent towards the Northern Territory watercolour and bodycolour came via descent from the family of the artist in the UK as did the same artist's The Flower Show.
It came out from the artist's family's collection in the UK suggesting the usefulness of Bonhams international connections.
George was the eldest son of George Fife Angas (1789-1879), who played an important part in the formation of South Australia.
Nicholas Chevalier's Arcadia, South Sea Islands, (lot 32) showing a moustached Tahitian rowing a dog and a bag of fruit across an ocean bay is an amusing medium sized work which may well be wanted institutionally. The figure, dog, still life of fruit and the setting of Opunohu Bay, Tahiti are identical to a work in the Art Gallery of NSW Race to the Market, Tahiti.
There is a spread of works at approachable price levels by contemporaries notably Andrew Browne, eX de Medici, Peter Atkins, Del Kathryn Barton as well as the moderns John Olsen, Robert Dickerson, Ray Crooke and Charles Blackman. But the two Norman Lindsays would be a poor substitute for inspirational "traditionals" in any seriously curated survey of Australian art.
A horseshoe symbol on 13 lots shows that there is some material coming in from Bonhams connections overseas, as it indicates GST is payable on imported items at the prevailing rate of exchange.
The actual sale, or otherwise, of many of the lots may be a little more difficult to detect than previously. Unlike Sotheby's and Christie's, Bonhams internationally has not followed the rigorous practice imposed on it by New York law, of requiring their auctioneers to state from the rostrum when a work is not sold.
This may be a factor in distinguishing it from Sotheby's in Australia which may feel itself bound by that company's practice of calling lots as unsold when there is no sale.
