It is probably no surprise that Rupert Bunny’s (1864-1947) important circa 1899 religious painting St Veronica (Lot 23 ) scooped the pool at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions Australian & International Art sale on Sunday April 18, 2021. Catalogued with an estimate of $20,000 – 30,000 it sold for $26,840 (including buyer’s premium).
It is a powerful and timeless image that portrays the legend of Veronica witnessing Jesus carrying the cross for his crucifixion and offering her veil as a towel.
The image of his face was then miraculously transferred onto the cloth and Bunny tries to show the event in an act of subtle realism.
The religious painting 'St Veronica' (above) scooped the pool at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions Australian & International Art sale on Sunday April 18 with a price of $26,840 (including buyer’s premium).
Sidney Nolan’s (1917-1992) Gallipoli Soldier circa 1977 (Lot 24 ) was a close second at $25,620, while the Artist’s Studio (Lot 21 ) by an unknown artist brought a credible $14,640.
An interesting auction highlight was Ian Bent’s On the Fence 1967 (Lot 118 ) which sold for $14,030.
This was the second highest price for one of his auction paintings and coincidentally occurred on the third anniversary of his death.
David Boyd (1924-2011) was among the top 10 results with his work Etude for Herself with Her Cello (Lot 125 ) which changed hands for $10,980 and four paintings achieved the same figure of $9760.
These were Hugh Sawrey’s (1919-1999) Yarding the Horses Alexandria Downs NT (Lot 31 ), Eric Thake’s (1904-1982) Back Stage Theatre 1943 (Lot 106 ), Robert Taylor-Ghee’s (1863-1951) Herding the Sheep (Lot 129 )and Ernest Buckmaster’s (1897-1968) Still Life – Silver and Grapes 1934 (Lot 182 ).
Clifton Pugh (1924-1990) round out the top 10 with An Old Fence 1989 (Lot 93 ) which sold for $8540.
About The Author
Richard Brewster has been writing about the antiques and art auction industry for almost 25 years, first in a regular weekly column for Fairfax's The Age newspaper and also in more recent times for his own website Australian Auction Review. With over 50 years experience as a journalist and public relations consultant, in 1990 Richard established his own business Brewster & Associates in Melbourne, handling a wide range of clients in the building, financial, antiques and art auction industries.
