It transpired that a traffic incident had closed the main Eastern arterial route into Parnell, and within half an hour of the start time, the delayed travellers had arrived, and the sale was in full swing.
Holding two or three of these sales a year for works under $10,000, since 2008, International Art Centre has broadened the 'affordable' and 'collectable' art category to include foreign and contemporary works, and with the larger catchment , were able to offer 255 works, the most offered in one night by the firm.
The overall result was a sales total of $210,000 hammer, $240,000 with buyers premium with around 80% of the works sold.
The six consecutively lotted Terry Stringer (1946-.) bronzes from two private collections (lots 29 - 34) all sold, the best price being obtained for Stringer's Standing Female (Lot 29) which made $5,500 against an estimate of $2,500 - 3,500. 'DIVA AVID' estimated at $1,500 - 2,500 sold for $2,800.
Another late entered bronze by Paul Dibble (Lot 22A) made $4,700.
A lithograph by Eileen Mayo estimated at $800 - 1,200 sold for $2,550.
Colin McCahon, is an artist who made headlines this week when a work was sold at Deutscher and Hackett for a record $NZ$1.1 million. A delicate small ink on paper by McCahon titled Bather No. 3 sold for $7,500.
Works by regional New Zealand artists are undergoing a resurgence at auction in recent years. Several years ago, works by Douglas Badcock and A. A. Deans were largely absent from these sales, but nowadays they command much interest.
Arrowsmith Station, Midwinter (Lot 129) by Deans fetched $5,500,and a small Badcock of an NSW scene, Murrah Noh, New South Wales, (Lot 125) made $2,500.
Works from artist's estates tend to attract interest and International Art Centre has engineered a comeback for some artists in this category, who had dropped below the radar in the secondary market, not because they were unpopular artists, but rather because the buyers had lost touch with the artists, and the works were not appearing in sales.
Works from the estates of artists Ida Carey, W. J. Reed, Christine Smith, John Holmwood and Peter Moriarty were all sold. Buyers are prepared to pursue pictures that are fresh to the market, and this was evident in the clearance rates for these artists.
The foreign pictures sold well, many with bids on the telephone from their country of origin.
It was a good sale overall and well attended, but towards the end of the sale things got a little tougher. After two thirds of the lots had been offered, buyers were reluctant to bid as generously as before. Many by this time, were sitting on their hands waiting for bargains in a sale that was clearly overflowing with entries.
The sale demonstrated that overall, there was certainly no sign of a recession in this segment of the New Zealand market.
