Submitted by aarAdmin on Mon, 12/05/2022 - 00:00
Who would have thought a bunch of sawn wooden soft drink crate pieces could be worth $1 million?
Probably no one, except in the hands of masterly Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) they take on another life – and, once the bidding started at Deutscher and Hackett’s Melbourne December 1 auction, there was no stopping the price escalation.
The work, entitled Beaten Track, 1992 (lot 6), was finally knocked down to a determined phone bidder for $1,043,182 including buyer’s premium.
It was the first time Gascoigne had achieved more than $1 million for one of her works (the same piece sold for $320,000 in 2005) and created a new auction record for the artist.
The auction realised an $8.3 million total from the 98 lots offered – a remarkable clearance rate of 144 per cent by value and 90 per cent by volume.
It brings the auction house’s total sales for the 2022 year to $52.3 million, a record annual high for an Australian art auction house, that included two prestigious corporate collections – one from NAB, one of Australia’s big four banks, and the other from insurance giant CBUS.
Beaten Track had excellent exposure – first in Sydney the year it was completed and then in Germany and New Zealand in 1999 – which has no doubt added to its appeal.
Along with her deep attachment to the environment and interest in modern art, Gascoigne – who was one of Australia’s unique and beloved contemporary artists – had an intuitive understanding of natural materials that complemented her formal Ikebana discipline training.
Howard Arkley’s (1951-1999) High Fenced, 1996 (lot 5) was another standout, bringing $859,091 on a $500,000-$700,000 estimate.
The painting was instrumental in Arkley achieving international recognition and culminated in his representation of Australia at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, a month before he died.
Lin Onus’s (1948-1996) Malwan Pond – Dawn, 1994 (lot 9) joined Charles Blackman’s Ascending Children (lot 3) on $380,455, while his Goonya Ga Girrarng (Fish and Leaves), 1995 (lot 12) brought $319,091.
The daughter of a politically active Scottish origin mother Mary Kelly and Aboriginal Yorta Yorta man Bill Onus, a stalwart of the indigenous civil rights movement, Onus’s paintings were renowned for incorporating satire and humour that challenged cultural hegemonies and later demonstrated his indigenous connection to the Australian country.
Two other indigenous artists also featured in the top 10– Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s (c1910-1996) Untitled (Alalgura/Emu Country), 1998 (lot 48) that sold for $343,636 and Paddy Bedford’s (c1922-2007) Mendoowoorrji – Medicine Pocket, 2005 (lot 49) that brought the same figure as Goonya.
A Blossom Tree, Belle-Ile 1887 (lot 24) – a painting John Peter Russell (1858-1930) did during an 1886 summer break from Paris on the island, situated off the Brittany coast – was another strong performer at $368,182.
Russell holds a unique place in Australian art history because of his association with 1880s Parisian avant-garde circles.
Brett Whiteley (1939-1992), whose paintings Daisies, 1975-76 (lot 7) sold for $319,091 rounded out the top 10 with his bronze sculpture Giraffe No. 1, 1964-65 (lot 4) at $306,818.
