Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 04/02/2019 - 00:00
The family collection of well-known Australian colonial identity and professional artist Thomas Balcombe (1810-1861) was a hit with auction goers at Menzies March 28 Sydney sale – with the only known self-portrait selling for $28,000, more than three times the upper catalogue estimate $9000.
The collection comprised more than 100 sketches, drawings and watercolours passed down through four generations of the family since their original production in the 1850s.
Lot 57, Gundaroo Natives, 1853, sold for $24,000 – twice the low estimate – and 87 drawings from the 1850-57 sketchbook for $70,000.
Until the Menzies auction, Balcombe works were scarce with most known examples held or snapped up by national bodies such as the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales.
Plenty of other high end works by significant Australian artists proved popular with buyers with a tiny Arthur Streeton Kent Harvest at $60,000 more than tripling its low $18,000 estimate and two of his other works also selling within the catalogue estimate range.
Bidders battled diligently for Charles Blackman’s Hill Farmer (lot 23) before the successful buyer forked out $200,000 for ownership privilege – well above the $120,000-$160,000 catalogue listing.
Another work to catch the eye was Lin Onus’s Fish and Storm Clouds, 1994 (lot 38), featured on the catalogue’s front cover, which on its return to Australia after spending time in private collections in Madrid and London, sold for $420,000 well above its $300,000-$380,000 estimate – while Jeffrey Smart’s Second Study for Ostia, 1969-70 (lot 31) went for $95,000, $5000 above its high estimate.
There also were plenty of other works that sold within their estimate range such as Joel Elenberg’s Head III, 1978 (lot 34 - $100,000), Garry Shead’s Crowning Glory, 1988 (lot 35 - $120,000) and Smart’s Level Crossing, 1997 (lot 39 - $450,000).
