The ability of auction houses to rise above the Covid challenges were highlighted with the Menzies fine art sale held on the evening of Wednesday on June 30th in Melbourne. Originally planned for Melbourne, due to the lockdown, it was moved to Sydney. Then with parts of Sydney plunged also into lockdown and Melbourne emerging from it, new head of art Brett Ballard and his team decided to move the sale back to Melbourne. It seems like a wise decision given the results from the sale.
Menzies were able to enlist the services of Cameron Menzies who runs his own gallery Five Fifty Art Advisory in Melbourne to conduct the auction, as their head auctioneer Martin Farrah was unable to travel. Sydney-based Brett Ballard, also unable to attend in person, was instead active executing his phone bids via Zoom.
So a whole raft of technology had to be employed in this instance, although there were technical challenges, as no sound was available on Invaluable.com, but this could be accessed through Youtube.com.
One might imagine a future in which the auction room experience will be completely virtual, but today with in-room bidding, phone bidding, book bidding and even bidding via Zoom all adding to the mix, it’s a case of the more the merrier.
We counted a peak of 587 viewers following the sale online, and it was evident from the start that there were good numbers of online bidders active and competing.
A conservatively estimated hand coloured wood cut by Margaret Preston Flowers in Jug, c1929 (Lot 1 ), est. $9,000-12,000 bloomed quickly, far surpassing expectations and selling for $22,000 to an online bidder. Her Banksias, 1955 (Lot 32 ), the back cover lot, sold equally well above estimates for $100,000 (est. $60,000-80,000).
Not to be outdone and with collectors now rushing to acquire significant 20th century female artist’s works, Constance Stokes’ Marguerites and Cornflowers, 1930 (Lot 2 ), eclipsed its hopes of $15,000-20,000 to sell for $32,000, and also to an online buyer.
Margaret Olley’s still life Branch of Lemons, 1981-82, (Lot 3 ) was happily sold for $40,000, $5,000 above its estimates of $25,000-35,000.
This turned out to be a consistent theme for the evening: Garry Shead’s Sacrament at Mount Pleasant, 2015 (Lot 6 ), sold for a pleasing $40,000 (est. $22,000-28,000), and Jason Benjamin’s The Promised Land, 2004 (Lot 7 ) on hopes of $16,000-24,000 selling for much more than promised at $40,000.
On the Invaluable online auction platform, we can see bids already registered prior to the sale, and we noted five bids on Ben Quilty’s George Byrne Study, 2005 (Lot 9 ), reaching $15,000, ensuring a sale on its $14,000-18,000 expectations. No surprise to most then when it hammered for $40,000.
There is strong demand in the auction room for Quilty’s earlier paintings, especially after a new benchmark was set in the previous Menzies sale in March. Beast 2, 2005, was estimated at $35,000-45,000 and sold for a staggering $270,000 incl. buyer’s premium, creating a new auction record for the artist by a country mile.
Two significant, though modest scale bronze sculptures by two of Australia’s best, Clement Meadmore and Inge King, did well. Meadmore’s Cross Current, 1977 (Lot 11 ), sold for $18,000 (est. $8,000-12,000), whilst Inge King’s Dancer, 1992 (Lot 12 ) moved many, selling for $22,000 (est. $9,000-14,000).
Two unmistakable Tim Storrier burning logs looked like they should stay together: Summer Evening, 2009 (Lot 14 ) and Autumn Night Fire, 2009 (Lot 15 ) were both estimated at $30,000-40,000. Solid competition took lot 14 to $46,000. However for lot 15, the competition heated up even more, as the same buyer was determined to secure Autumn as well, and was finally successful at $60,000.
A graphically very strong work by Arthur Boyd from 1983 was very strongly bid: Flame Frees, Horse’s Skull, Black River, 1983 (Lot 16 ) carried expectations of $90,000-120,000 and sold $50,000 above for $170,000.
To See the Queen, (Lot 19 ), another modestly sized Garry Shead from his well regarded Royal series of painting, sold exceptionally well for $80,000 (est. $45,000-65,000).
The cover lot, Ben Quilty’s Skull 3, 2006 (Lot 22 ), sold mid-range for $140,000, whilst his Braidwood Truck, 2012 (Lot 44 ) sold for $38,000 (est. $20,000-30,000), and a very large bronze sculpture of Captain Cook’s head titled Cook after Baghdad, 2012 (Lot 49 ) made its own voyage to $50,000, also above estimates of $25,000-35,000.
Showing the dynamism of not just Australian art, but also international works in the sale room, limited edition prints did well. Banksy’s Donuts (Chocolate), 2009, (Lot 23 ) sold for $97,000, just below the low estimates of $100,000, and Very Little Helps, 2008, (Lot 24 ) sold at $90,000 (est. $90,000-120,000).
Andy Warhol’s Rebel Without a Cause, 1985 (Lot 25 ), sold for $130,000 on hopes of $100,000-150,000, Damien Hirst’s Norleucine, 2010 (Lot 122 ), achieved for $7,500 (est. $7,000-10,000), French artist Invader’s Home Neptune, 2010 (Lot 123 ) made $16,000 (est. $15,000-20,000). Meanwhile Francis Bacon’s large enigmatic lithograph Oedipus and the Sphinx after Ingres, 1984 (Lot 124 ) was hammered to an online bidder for $20,000, above its high estimate of $15,000.
A good portrait, whatever its period, continues to engage the art collector, and this was evident in the three very distinctive examples at Menzies dating from 1888, 1940 and 2016 respectively. Tom Roberts’ Portrait of C.S. Paterson, 1888 (Lot 34 ), carried estimates of $120,000-180,000, and sold above for $190,000. Norman Lindsay’s portrait of Rita Lee, one of his favourite models (Lot 35 ), sold mid-range for $50,000, while contemporary Paul Ryan’s striking image of Elizabeth II, titled Blue Betty (Lot 48 ), surpassed the estimates of $8,000-12,000 to sell for $16,000.
In a salute to dreamlike or perhaps escapist paintings offered in the Menzies sale, Lin Onus Moonlight, 1993 (Lot 26 ), had hopes of $150,000-250,000 and sold just below for $140,000. Meanwhile, Ray Crooke’s The Concert, Waya (Lot 29 ), measuring a massive 182.5 x 243 cm and announced by auctioneer Cameron Menzies as perhaps the artist’s magnum opus, sold for $100,000 above its low estimate of $90,000.
Fiona Lowry’s Limitless are Leaves, Stiff or Drooping in the Field, 2008 (Lot 47 ), provided an opportunity for limitless bidding as thoughts of securing this painting for $10,000-15,000 rapidly evaporated, finally selling for $36,000.
After the sale, Menzies head of art Brett Ballard commented: “We approached the sale with a lot of optimism, and the night lived up to our hopes. Not only were there 70 people in the room, we also experienced unprecedented online bidding, together with strong phone bidding.”
The Menzies auction turned over $3.816 million hammer price ($4.684 million including buyer’s premium), with 92% sold by lot and 108% sold by value.
All prices shown are hammer prices unless otherwise noted.
