Three quarters of the seats were occupied when Martin Gallon began selling the first of seven lots from the Estate of the Late Dr. Jan Altmann. The position of these works at the front of the catalogue ensured the auction opened to a brilliant start. Roy De Maistre’s artistically dull, yet historically important, Portrait of Francis Bacon (Lot 1 ) sold to a telephone bidder above the high estimate at $65,000. Roger McIlroy, bidding on behalf of a collector of international art, resisted competition, whilst battling to silence his alarming mobile ringtone, snapped up de Maistre’s other significant canvas The Footballers (Lot 2 ) at the high estimate of $120,000. Aside from de Maistre’s biblically-themed Jacob Wrestling the Angel (Lot 4 ), which remained unsold on the night, the Altmann collection mostly sold at the high estimate or above.
Hands were in the air early for Margaret Olley’s 1990 Yellow Room, Afternoon (Lot 9 ). In homage to her Fauvist antecedent, Henri Matisse, Olley’s canvas is a celebration of colour and style, charged with joie de vivre; typical of the artist’s finest interiors. The bidding finished with the telephones at $130,000 – setting the third artist record for Olley since her passing in July 2011.
Arthur Streeton’s high keyed, Evening, Venice (Lot 10 ), painted during the artist’s honeymoon in La Serenissima, and reproduced on the cover of the auction catalogue, went to the room at the low estimate of $180,000. Streeton’s small, rare and finely painted 1895 panel Sydney Harbour 1895 (Lot 37 ) was sold to an absentee bidder at the low estimate of $200,000. However, the third of the Streeton oils, Canterbury Bells (Purple and White) (Lot 49 ) did not attract any attention from the punters. Neither did most of the other still-lifes on offer including a woodblock by Margaret Preston and a repatriated work by John Buelow Gould (Lot 48 ). Paintings by artists represented in the National Gallery of Victoria’s recent ‘Australian Impressionists in France’ exhibition including John Peter Russell, Rupert Bunny and Ambrose Patterson all sold on the night.
There was spirited bidding for Lin Onus’ bold, European commissioned, 1995 nude, Robyn (Lot 17 ). When the hammer came down at $340,000 ($414,800 IBP) another artist record was set for the evening.
Contemporary art was not broadly represented in the offering. Discussing the sale with a Melbourne art dealer that evening, the author registered some disappointment at the lack of contemporary works of art on offer. “Conservative paintings for conservative buyers” the dealer quipped adding that, “if one wishes to diversify their clientele, the product needs to change”. With the majority of artists in the catalogue now deceased or over the age of 55, the lamentation is not without reason. Nevertheless, contemporary examples by Dick Watkins, Rosemary Liang, Andrew Browne and Tim Maguire found new walls to hang on, albeit at or around low estimates.
The auctioneer hit a rough patch of works which failed to meet reserve prices: Arthur Boyd’s important Hunter III (Lot 24 ) passed in at below estimate along with Albert Tucker’s large Australian Girl in Paris as well as Sidney Nolan’s re-offered Central Australia (Lot 29 ). Nolan’s seminal St Kilda painting Bather and Sandcastle (Lot 32 ) also failed to sell on its second offering to the market. Denis Savill however bid quietly and successfully on two small and exquisite Nebuchadnezzar oils (lot 56) and (Lot 57 ) at low estimates of $25,000 and $26,000.
Early colonial paintings were only represented by Conrad Marten’s View of the Fort, Sydney sold for $17,000 (Lot 35 ) and the exciting, newly discovered, Aborigines Fishing by Torchlight by Thomas Balcombe (Lot 46 ) selling at $25,000 and thus setting the third artist record at the auction. The suite of four oil paintings After William Light failed to exchange hands but may find a buyer post-sale.
The Aboriginal art contingent of the sale was also very thin. D’lan Davidson’s departure from Sotheby’s appears to have signaled the end of stand-alone Aboriginal art sales for the auction house, leaving Bonham’s, Deutscher & Hackett and Mossgreen the only auction houses that continue to demonstrate sincere commitment to representing the collectors and practitioners of the ‘sector’. Although Paddy Bedford’s Joowarringayin (Lot 39 ) failed to attract any bidding, Kaapa Tjampitjinpa’s 1978 Irrilyilyi (Lot 15 ) sold on the books for mid estimate of $10,000 and Sally Gabori’s vivid Dibirdbi Country (Lot 58 ) was a bargain at $8,000.
Whilst the 65% clearance rate by volume and value (or 80% including buyer’s premium) may not be the shiniest result of the year, it is a sound effort considering the difficult economic climate the Australian art market continues to trade in. The total value of art sold in the three major Sotheby’s auctions totals to just over $15 million hammer which is the lowest overall result for the company since 1997. However, it is clear that the Directors’ focus on quality over quantity will place the brand well in the coming year when they move into their permanent and stylish new premises at 41 Exhibtion Street.
