Menzies Art Brands will not be pleased that this auction carries the dubious honour of recording the lowest sales percentage of the big guns so far this year and will be asking themselves who/what were the culprits?
Wildly unrealistic estimates were not an issue. However the reappearance of recently traded stock was unlikely to act as a honey trap in sating collectors’ wish for fresh temptations.
Additionally Australia’s own two speed economy is a constant friend, continuing to impact and place limitations on the art market. Was this sale also affected by front page global issues - Greece’s election and continued instability coupled with the fear of precipitous Eurozone countries Italy and Spain? Were collectors unnerved and rocked by Melbourne’s recent seismic activity or on a banal level, maybe they were simply too cold to venture out in the bitter winter weather?
Separately some of these factors may not pack a strong enough punch but combined perhaps they have conspired to create a heady cocktail (Frozen Desire, Sir?) which is most evident in the first tier auction houses. This time Menzies was served their mix in a punch bowl.
Possibly it was unwise to open the auction with John Brack’s Spectators 1956, as this too readily came to encapsulate the non-participatory nature of the sale, with barely a bid from the floor and the invisible telephonic and internet bidders finding that paintings surrendered to them without battle.
Similarly, the $10,500 hammer price against an estimate of $14,000-18,000 unfortunately served as a further omen, capturing the tenor of Menzies Art Brands’ results whereby 49% of lots were sold at or below low estimate. (36% under and 13% at low est).
Most of Brack’s fellow Australian Moderns, once the life blood of auction rooms, experienced mixed fortunes. Ian Fairweather’s results came precariously close to fulfilling the promise of his name; Fascismo 1963 (Lot 36 ) tiptoed over low estimate in the silent room to $320,000 while Composition in Orange and Yellow almost flat-lined but thankfully found a pulse at its lower reaches of $550,000.
Russell Drysdale‘s Red Landscape 1958 (Lot 39 ) narrowly avoided pass-in status when it was unsold under the gavel but then acquired a few lots later for $640,000, just shy of its bottom end. On the other hand, Half-Caste Woman 1961 (Lot 43 ), a less appealing example, quoted at $300-500,000 found no favour.
This roller-coaster pattern continued with Arthur Boyd whose Bride in the Moonlight (Lot 37 ) tracked above low estimate at $330,000 but dipped nearly 30% under estimate for Papagena (Lot 101 ) at $26,000. Not so lucky were William Robinson, ignored by collectors, who also shied away from Garry Shead.
Australia’s pin-up boy for the Moderns, Brett Whiteley, was not immune from the night’s mixed fortunes either. The cover painting, Sloping up to the Olgas (I) (with Crow) (Lot 38 ), surprised when it failed to sell at $740,000 despite the blue chip painting’s twenty-five year hiatus from the public realm. It marks the sale’s major disappointment. On a brighter note, Whiteley’s blue bird beauty, The Sunrise, Japanese Good Morning (Lot 41 ) found favour at the telephone table when a sole bidder bestowed upon it the highest price of the night at $1.1 million.
The hero of the night was Jeffrey Smart. All four of his works sold with $800,000 hammer for Holiday 1971 (Lot 40 ), the 2nd highest price of the auction and Study for the Autobahn (Lot 33 ) realising $150,000 representing a 10% increase on the previous result set in 2010. Interestingly Smart’s results mirrored the auction’s patterns as only one work, the aptly named The Earthquake 1959 (Lot 13 ) sold mid estimate at $42,000 and the remaining work Near Pisa, (Lot 47 ) was released far below its $320,00+ estimate for $280,000.
Jeffrey Smart’s wing man was Sidney Nolan. Almost single-handedly Nolan held up the Modern’s portion of the middle market. When his lots appeared it was one of the few times the floor and phones clamoured for combat. Ten of the artist’s eleven works sold and usually with healthy outcomes. The highlight, Sandstorm (Burke and Wills) 1985 (Lot 35 ), sold mid estimate for $170,000.
Some good news was found amongst the 5% of artworks that met or exceeded their high estimates. Aside from paintings in the under 20k bracket was Norman Lindsay’s Repose (Lot 20 ). It smashed its $35-45k quote, extending to $60,000 hammer.
A few lots later Arthur Streeton’s Roses (Lot 23 ) hit its upper estimate of $40,000 upholding the strength of the Traditionals. Bucking the sales trend for Aboriginal art was Body Design by Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Lot 51 ) which was knocked down at its top quote of $80,000.
Although many previously reliable stalwarts failed to fire, the Contemporary sector seized more auction ground and its overall success seemed to signal a gradual (and inevitable) generational shift in taste.
Dale Frank’s 2 Hebden Liddell 2007 (Lot 2 ) was stalked to it’s upper end of $20,000 and collectors decided that Euan Mcleod’s Up and Down 1999 ( lot 6) was definitely following the first trajectory and so paid $23,000, surpassing catalogue expectations.
Hot, young artist Anthony Lister (Lot 56 ) was represented by In the Valley of Darkness 2006 a modest work, which rose to mid-estimate at $8,000 and Anwen Keeling’s photograph Sunburst 2007 (Lot 89 ) eclipsed its quote at $8,750.
Menzies Art Brands still prides itself on being market leader with a half year result of 19,631,000 but achieving its $40 million annual target may prove challenging. Especially when on auction day Blouin Artinfo published an online article regarding Sotheby’s London Impressionist and Modern sale with “The Market hits a Queasy patch at Sothebys”[1].
They made the realistic point that while the top end always produces the headliner results, media reports mask the fact that the majority of the high end is weak and the crucial middle market is yet to see its fortunes markedly improve. Australian auction houses are facing the exact same circumstances and maybe to avoid another unrelenting and starkly mute sale, Menzies Art Brands might be putting on ice its new strategy to hold three premium sales a year with works above $85,000 and considering ways to quickly develop the Contemporary market, which it recognizes as one of the crucial ways forward.
[1] www.artinfo.com/news/ story/809764
