A packed room at Deutscher Hackett’s Melbourne premises saw a capacity crowd of several hundred keenly for the items on offer. Without a doubt the rousing bagpipers at the entrance together with the sheer emotion and sentiment felt by the audience of many Naval and Military Club members, family and friends, saw an electric start to the auction, with Lot 1 being bid up to a $47,000 sale price against a pre-auction estimate of $10-$15,000.
This trend was to continue for all 23 lots by Sir Arthur Streeton. The watercolours fared exceptionally well as auctioneer, Anita Archer, patiently coaxed the crowd to figures greatly surpassing the upper estimates.
The bidding for the oils was even more spirited with bidders on the phone and in the room duelling paddles and taking Troops Bathing, Glisy, 1918, to $165,000 against an upper estimate of $120,000; German Naval Gun, Chuignolles, 1918 to $175,000 against $120,000 and last week’s preview story illustration, The Ballarat Dump, St Gratien, 1918 to $130,000 against a $80,000–120,000 estimate.
Even the comparatively unremarkable Field Hospital, Abbeville, 1918 , opening at $16,000 was bid to $55,000 against a $25,000-35,000 estimate.
Other highlights of the major artworks on offer for the opening night were Sir William Dargie’s Portraits of Major General Sir John Monash and Field Marshall Sir Thomas Blamey selling well above estimates for $65,000 and $36,000 respectively and Septimus Powers First Australian Division Artillery Going Into The Third Battle Of Ypres selling for $75,000 against an upper figure of $35,000. Harrington Mann’s Portrait Of King George V was not so keenly contested achieving $17,000 – mid range of the pre auction estimate.
The second part of the auction, with many of the lots unreserved, continues today, July 22nd from 7pm onwards at Deutscher Hackett in Melbourne, under the Artemis Auctions banner.
Full results of the sale will be published on the AASD site as soon as they become available.
