A lot of the artworks sell for more than their low estimate, which shows real competition in the room. The International Art Centre has a tried and true formula and it seems to work.
Paintings that are fresh to the market certainly help the cause and for their sale in Auckland on 10 April, 2014, IAC had sourced two paintings by the very rarely offered artist Raymond McIntyre.
An expatriate London based artist with a short lived career, not critically acclaimed in New Zealand until the 1980s, and sourced from the artist’s family, these paintings had all the ingredients to cause excitement in the room.
The stunning untitled portrait of actor Phyllis Cavendish (Lot 31 ), had never been offered for sale, and the few comparable portraits in existence are in public collections.
This work did have condition issues, which would need the hand of an experienced restorer to get right, but it was hotly contested from $25,000 to finish up at $47,000 against a low estimate of $30,000. Some in the room were surprised it didn’t get a little more; such is the rarity of this work.
Other notable results included a beautiful pair of Charles Blomfield oils depicting the Pink and White Terraces 1885, (Lot 40 ), accompanied by a charming diary depicting the original owner’s travels around New Zealand and the eventual purchase of the paintings.
This pair doubled their estimate to sell for $90,000 against a low estimate of $45,000. The Colin McCahon, (Lot 20 ), A Landscape 1959, did very well to achieve $285,000 against a low estimate of $200,000 and one of the three Goldies included in the sale (Lot 34 ) made $301,000 against a low estimate of $260,000.
However it was the less important lots that shone including, Garth Tapper The Corner Bar (Lot 16 ) that had four registered phone bidders, the most of any lot in the sale, and it sold for $17,500 against a low estimate of $8,000.
With the other Auckland auction houses almost entirely removing themselves from selling traditional pictures in major sales, it appears that IAC has captured this end of the market.
Therefore they are able to price competitively and set lower reserves, allowing multiple bidders to compete on the night rather than negotiating the following day, giving the audience a traditional auction experience. At the end of the sale on Thursday night, the auctioneer had sold $1,374,480 under the hammer (ibp) and 72% by lot.
