Submitted by aarAdmin on Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00
One of Australia’s most valued artists and an old stager by contemporary standards, Tom Roberts (1856-1931), fetched the highest price at Menzies Melbourne auction on Wednesday June 30 for his work titled Portrait of C.S. Paterson 1888 (lot 34) – a credible $233,181.82 including buyer’s premium.
The painting is historically significant because it depicts Melbourne’s leading art director of the 1870s and 80s, Charles Stewart Paterson (1834-1917), whose firm worked on the city’s finest buildings including Government House and The Melbourne Town Hall.
The portrait had been in the Paterson family since it was painted and appeared on the auction market for the first time.
Despite COVID-19 interruptions that saw the auction, originally scheduled for Melbourne, move to Sydney then back to Melbourne as lockdowns swept the country, 92 per cent of the works sold with a hammer price of $3,816,800 or $4,684,254 including buyers’ premiums.
The result was certainly encouraging – particularly as the highest estimate lot 28, Sidney Nolan’s (1917-1992) Kelly 1964, catalogued at $500,000-$700,000 failed to sell.
There is a particular fascination with former Archibald Prize winner Ben Quilty at the moment and his 2006 painting Skull 3 (lot 22) that appeared on Menzies catalogue cover did not disappoint – changing hands for $171,818.18.
Another of his works George Byrne Study (lot 9) was even more rewarding when compared to its catalogue estimate of $14,000-$18,000, bringing $49,090.91.
A stalwart of the Australian art community no longer with us Arthur Boyd (1920-1999) filled second place in the results stakes with his 1983 work titled Flame Trees, Horses Skull, Black River (lot 16) that sold for $208,636.36 – while Aboriginal artist Lin Onus’ (1948-1996) painting Moonlight (from the Twenty Four Hours at Numerili suite) 1993 (lot 26) brought the same result as Skull 3.
American Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is always popular and his 1985 work Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean) – lot 25 – proved no exception with the buyer willing to pay $159,545.45 for ownership privileges.
Jeffrey Smart is another faithful and his 1970 work Study for the Outside Ministry (lot 20) was a $135,000 pleasing result.
Other strong results included Tim Storrier’s Detritus (with Red Belly) 1970 (lot 27 - $122,727.27) and Ray Crooke’s The Concert, Waya (lot 29) for the same figure.
Iconic still life artists Margaret Preston, Constance Stokes and Margaret Olley got the auction off to a positive start with the first three lots Flowers in a Jug, Marguerites and Cornflowers and Branch of Lemons bringing respectively $27,000 (on a $9000-$12,000 estimate) $39.272.73 ($15,000-$20,000) and $49,090.91 ($25,000-$35,000).
Preston’s other auction work, the 1955 painting Banksia (lot 32), was among the top 10 results changing hands for the same price as the Storrier and Crooke works.
Well-known street artist Banksy was another popular performer with both his 2009 and 2008 works, Donuts (Chocolate) (lot 23) and Very Little Helps (lot 24) selling respectively for $119,045.45 and $110,454.55 – the hammer prices just below or on lower estimate.
