Extraordinary prices at auction continue to be paid for the two hottest living Australian female artists, Cressida Campbell and Del Kathryn Barton.
The night after their successful online only auction of the Pat Corrigan photography collection, Deutscher + Hackett produced what they titled “A Solo Auction Event”, the sale of one painting by Del Kathryn Barton Hugo (Lot 1 ) which won the Archibald prize 2013 portraying acclaimed Australian actor Hugo Weaving.
Deutscher + Hackett 's 'A Solo Auction Event', the sale of one painting by Del Kathryn Barton Hugo (Lot 1
) came with a fully illustrated catalogue and scholarly essay in digital flipbook form. The sale attracted 4 telephone bidders and the one internet bidder, with auctioneer Scott Livesey (above) selling to a Sydney telephone bidder after 8 minutes for $220,000 hammer price, ($270,000 incl. bp).
As is the norm for an important painting in a top tier fine art auction, the painting was presented with a fully illustrated catalogue and scholarly essay in digital flipbook form. As is also customary, it could be inspected in both Melbourne and Sydney prior to the sale, albeit by appointment only.
With the painting located in Sydney and auctioneer Scott Livesey live in Melbourne to take internet, absentee and phone bids, the sale of an individual painting was always going to be a short event - 8 minutes in fact.
Estimates however were keen at $120,000-160,000 for this portrait in Barton’s striking style, and bidding was strong from the 4 telephone bidders and the one internet bidder. The painting quickly reached the low estimate, ensuring its sale.
Consistent bidding in $10,000 increments took it to $200,000, before Scott Livesey accepted a half bid of $5,000 to take it to $205,000. Three more $5,000 bids followed before the painting finally sold to Damian Hackett’s phone bid from Sydney for $220,000 hammer price ($270,000 incl. bp).
Principal Chris Deutscher was very pleased with the result and said that they would use this format again for a suitable painting.
Of Pollen, 2013, remains the highest priced painting by Barton sold at auction for $310,000 hp. Hugo is now the fourth highest price achieved for a work by the artist.
About The Author
Brigitte Banziger and David Hulme are the principals of Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants, established since 2003. With their combined experience of over 40 years, they provide private collectors as well as companies and public institutions with independent expert art valuations.
In addition to their appraisals for insurance, family law, deceased estates and market values, they assist clients with transparent advice when buying or selling an individual artwork or an entire collection, for some of Australia’s most significant private collectors.
David Hulme is an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, and both Brigitte and David are members of the Art Consulting Association of Australia, where David served as President from 2015 to 2019.
David Hulme is a regular art market critic and commentator on the Australian art market and has been interviewed by numerous media, including the 'Australian Financial Review', 'The Australian' and 'The Sydney Morning Herald'. He has also been interviewed on Network 10’s 'The Project', on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast show with Hamish MacDonald, the ABC’s 'The Business' program amongst many others.
