Submitted by aarAdmin on Fri, 11/20/2020 - 00:00
The almost 12-month global COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns in Australia does not appear to have dampened buyer enthusiasm for art on the secondary market.
Deutscher and Hackett’s recent mid-November Melbourne sale where 88 per cent of paintings sold and Smith & Singer’s Sydney similar result by value at auction on November 18 augur well for a strong recovery from any potential long-term damage to the Australian art industry caused by the virulent coronavirus.
Likewise, Menzies Thursday, November 19 Sydney sale, which realised $8,557,957 including buyers premiums and where 84 per cent of the paintings sold by volume at 90.5 per cent of value, is an encouraging sign that art collectors are keen to plough on regardless to obtain the works they desire.
All the top 10 paintings were either well above or easily within their catalogue estimates.
Brett Whiteley, whose painting Henri’s Armchair with a $5 million to $7 million catalogue estimate also will feature at Menzies single lot auction in Sydney on November 26, again stole the limelight with The Sunrise – Japanese: ‘Good Morning!’ (lot 33) which changed hands for $1,748,863.
Iconic landscape artist Tom Robert (1856-1931) almost brought the house down with North Shore (Study for an Autumn Morning, Milson’s Point, Sydney) 1888 (lot 28) which sold for $920,454, the third highest price at auction ever for the artist.
Jeffrey Smart also featured with his work The Steps, Palma 1965 (lot 32) – a $576,818 transaction – while Del Kathryn Barton’s At What Cost (lot 42) changed hands for a cool $294,545.
Another top 10 contender was Robert Dickerson’s Early Morning Randwick (lot 54 - $282, 272), an auction record for the artist, with Arthur Streeton’s The Ballarat Dump, St Gratien (lot 27) not far behind on $270,000.
Sidney Nolan and Fred Williams both featured with their respective paintings Kelly I (lot 34 - $245.454) and Gum Trees in Landscape III (lot 29 - $233,181), while Garry Shead’s The Miracle (lot 35) was a triumph at $196,363.
Various works are worthy of mention. Eugene Boudin’s La Meuse devant Dordrecht (The Meuse near Dordrecht) (lot 25) which sold for $135,000 – an Australian auction record for the artist – and Johan-Bartold Jongkind’s Bateaux sur l’Escaut pres d’Anvers (Boats on the Scheldt near Antwerp) (lot 24), the first time he has sold in Australia.
Noel McKenna also stood out for his Big things Australia (lot 66 - $39,272) because it was an artist auction record as it was for David Moore’s Migrants Arriving in Sydney (lot 71 - $42,954).
