August 2015 Auction Highlights
The Cell Block Theatre, National Art School was the handsome new Sydney venue for Deutscher and Hackett’s Important Australian + International Fine Art Auction on the evening of Wednesday 26th August. Auction highlights included the Gene & Brian Sherman 1st Capsule Collection Sale; the success of the fundraiser ‘Artists Supporting The National Art School’; a private collection of watercolours by Albert Namatjira; a strong selection of works by Australia’s leading contemporary artists and another runaway result for Australian modernist painter Herbert Badham.
Deutscher and Hackett were privileged to offer the Gene & Brian Sherman 1st Capsule Collection Sale. The highlight of this sale was John Olsen’s, Water Flowing Into Lake Eyre, 1992, sold for $408,700 against an estimate of $250,000 - $350,000. Envisaged as the first in a series, proceeds from the Capsule Collection Sale will, in part, be redirected toward the ongoing support of early career artists through renewed collecting activity. A portion of sales from this first Sherman ‘Capsule’ will also be donated directly to the National Art School.
‘Artists Supporting The National Art School’ saw works kindly donated by Michael Johnson, John Olsen, Tim Storrier and Wendy Whiteley all selling with spirited bidding. This part of the auction raised over $80,000 in funds that will support the art school as they train a new generation of artists.
Deutscher and Hackett are market leaders in the sale of Australian contemporary art and the August auction was no exception. Fiona Hall’s, Material World, 2001, a series of ten meticulously detailed gouaches on banknotes, sold for $95,160 setting a new auction record for the artist. Currently representing Australia in the Venice Biennale, Hall is widely acclaimed and keenly collected, with Material World being the first significant work to reach the secondary market.
A new auction record was set for contemporary painter Sam Leach, Peacock, 2008, sold for $61,000 against an estimate of $16,000 - $20,000, the finely-detailed realist painting attracting multiple keen bidders. The previous auction record for the artist was also set by Deutscher and Hackett in May 2015 when Footless Peacock, 2007, achieved $22,800.
Impressive paintings by Philip Wolfhagen, Ben Quilty, Del Kathryn Barton, Euan Macleod and Ildiko Kovacs all sold well. Philip Wolfhagen’s, Beyond the Garden, 2008, sold for $53,680 against an estimate of $35,000 - $45,000. Ben Quilty’s impasto works attracted competitive bidding, Skullburger, 2006 with an estimate of $30,000- $40,000 sold for $43,920 while the artist’s smaller One Hit Budgie, 2004, sold for $31,720 nearly doubling its top estimate of $16,000.
Del Kathryn Barton’s, it's not a little love song, 2011, sold for $115,900. Ildiko Kovacs’, Stretching, 2012, exceeded the top estimate of $20,000 selling for $25,620 and Euan Macleod’s, Large Boatman, 2006, with a top estimate of $25,000 sold for $32,940. Contemporary works by Bill Henson, Ricky Swallow, Danie Mellor and Reko Rennie also performed well.
Gracing the auction catalogue cover, Rosalie Gascoigne’s distinctive assemblage, Summer Stack, 1990, sold for $158,600. The next four lots by eminent West Australian artist Howard Taylor saw determined bidding with three of the four selling on or above the high estimate. The minimalist Tree Line with Green Paddock, 1993, sold for $141,520 against an estimate of $80,000 - $100,000.
An important private collection of works by Albert Namatjira all sold, with Haasts Bluff, c.1945, a compelling watercolour on beanwood panel with an estimate of $15,000 - $20,000, selling for $36,600.
Indicating the enormous revival in appreciation for the artist, Herbert Badham’s, Pitt Street, Sydney, 1943, sold for $207,400 eclipsing the estimate of $25,000 - $35,000. This follows on from Deutscher and Hackett’s May 2015 auction success that saw Badham’s, Snack Bar, 1944, sell for $456,000.
International works also performed well. Lucian Freud, Head and Shoulders of a Girl, 1990, sold within estimate for $58,560. Brice Marden’s, After Botticelli:1-5, 1993, sold for $97,600 well exceeding the estimate of $50,000 - $70,000.
*Sold prices above include 22% Buyer’s Premium