Dave's Faves from the Deutscher + Hackett Auction on 30 November 2011

Deutscher and Hackett have put together an exceptional end of year sale with 161 lots. No million dollar estimates here, but if a painting deserved to get close, it would be John Brack's portrait of art dealer Tam Purves from 1958.

Portraits can often be just that. This work transcends any notion of just being a portrait.

 It is a truly magnificent painting by the artist at the peak of his creative talent.

Masterful and a masterpiece. This painting deserves to do exceptionally well.



And here is the rundown on some of David's favourite pics:


Lot 8 – John Brack, Portrait of Tam Purves, 1958. Est. $ 400,000-600,000. Art dealt beautifully
Lot 9 – Fred Williams, Pond, Listerfield, 1966. Est. $ 240,000-300,000. Retrospective has us wanting more
Lot 22 – Peter Booth, Painting (Head with Cloth Wra), 2002. Est. $ 35,000-45,000. Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Powerful Paintings
Lot 26 – Tim Maguire, Untitled 20031204, 2003/04. Est. $70,000-90,000. One of his berry best
Lot 29 – William Buelow Gould, Still life with Flowers and Fruit, c. 1851 Est. $45,000-55,000. Far from a still life
Lot 33 – Fred Williams, Australian Landscape, c. 1969-70. Est. $30,000-40,000. Retrospective also has us wanting less
Lot 34 – John Brack, Portrait of Fred Williams, 1979. Est $40,000-50,000. Perfect portrait
Lot 42 – Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, 1975. Est. $35,000-45,000. You can't always get what you want
Lot 54 – Kate O'Connor, Nurse with baby in Luxembourg Gardens, c. 1911. Est. $12,000-18,000. Brushstroke Bliss
Lot 56 – Margaret Olley, Spring Flowers in Blue and Red Vases, 1947. Est. $20,000-25,000. Good Golly, an early Olley.
Lot 62 – Elaine Haxton, Paddlers, 1959. Est. $ 10,000-15,000. Haxton is back
Lot 64 – Donald Friend, Hill End, 1948. Est. $ 8,000-12,000. Inspiration for generations
Lot 73 – Walter Withers, Eltham Road, 1913. Est. $8,000-12,000. A road less travelled
Lot 93 – Max Dupain, Moira in mirror, 1951. Est. $ 4,000-6,000. Max for Nix
Lot 96 – Ben Quilty, Untitled, 2001, 'Paris' series. Est. $ 4,500-6,000. Untypical work, untypical price
Lot 102 – Bern Emmerichs, All Abroad, 2008. Est. $4,000-6,000. Beautiful boat people
Lot 111 – Ricky Swallow, As I come back, 2002. Est. $ 2,000-3,000. Skullicious
Lot 119 – Anne Noble, Ruby's Room #23, 1998-2004. Hair lip?
Lot 123 – Deborah Paauwe, Crimson Autograph, 2002. Est. $2,000-3,000. Sign here please
Lot 149 – John Brack, On the Rings, 1976. Est. $8,000-12,000. Very rare, time to snare

14 November 2011

Dave's Faves from Bonhams and Sotheby's - and other news

Yes, it's true, the auction season is well and truly upon us. Once these sales are over, we will have the usual wait until March for more fine art from our favourite Australian auctioneers.

Here are some other news first:

On Sunday, 20 November, we are appraising artworks to help raise funds for charities supported by the Rotary Club of Ryde.

The appraisals are held in a very special venue: Addington House, which is the oldest complete settler's cottage in Australia. You'll find the details in our Art Events.

We are now members of the Art Consulting Association of Australia, which promotes high professional and ethical standards in art consulting and brings together some of Australia's most respected art consultants. More information on the ACAA website.

For one of the final Dave's Faves of the year,
I am grouping Bonhams and Sotheby's together, hope they don't mind…

Bonhams offer 43 lots in their 21st November Australian fine art sale in Sydney (which is followed by the Paddy Bedford artist estate sale and Aboriginal art auction on the same night).

Sotheby's present 64 lots in their Melbourne auction on November 22nd.

Australian and international travel posters about to take off in New York

12 classic Australian travel posters feature prominently in Swann Auction Galleries sale of rare and important travel posters on 11 November. The 186 lots inspire dreams of travelling in style to exotic places all over the world.

At a time when more and more art is being purchased online, the appeal of the strong graphic image is undeniable. Early posters in all their forms are being helped by the online buying craze, and rock’n’roll and movie poster are finding new audiences through burgeoning online sales. The ongoing strength of our dollar continues to assist the Australian buyer.

Auction prices for travel posters are often around the US$800 - 1,200 mark. However, for the best images, there is a lot of competition, and paying US $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 is not unusual for rare or iconic images in mint condition.

Posters promoting Australia include an Australian National Airlines poster from 1955 by Ronald Clayton Skate, estimated at US$800 - 1,200.

Our most well-known and prolific poster designer Percy Trompf is represented with lot 53,  ‘Western Australia, 1936’, also estimated at US$800 – 1,200.

Four posters by Gert Sellheim, including perhaps the best offering, is lot 56, Australia / Surf Club, circa 1936. Sellheim famously designed the Qantas logo of the Flying Kangaroo.

Five delightful images by one of Australia and New Zealand’s finest printmakers Eileen Mayo are also on offer. The best of these are lots 59 and 60, The Koala, from 1957, at US$2,000 – 3,000, and The Kangaroo, from the same year and with the same estimate.

We also like lot 54, a most evocative image created by an unknown designer for the Australian National Travel Association and produced by McLarens & Co, Melbourne, with an estimate of US$1,500 – 2,000.

In the international offering, the standouts in the sale are lot 21, a beautiful and early French Air Show poster from 1909, Aerodrome de Vichy by Roger Jourdain, estimate US$8,000 – 10,000, and lot 88, Emil Cardinaux’s Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, printed by Wolfsberg, Zurich, 1921, and estimated at US$ 10,000 – 15,000.

One of the most sought after lots will be number 93, the very rare poster advertising sailings for the return trip to Europe from New York for as low as US$ 36.25. Swann Galleries suggest in their description that its scarcity would be due to the fact that White Star Line would have pulled down and destroyed as many of these posters as possible after the disaster that befell their flagship. 

The auction takes place on 11th November, New York City, 1.30 pm local time.

Be prepared for some more of our favourites in the next few weeks, as the summer art auction season is kicking off.

On Wednesday night, we attended the preview of Lawson-Menzies Quarterly Fine Art Auction in Kensington. It is offering some 345 lots including many fine works, so we spent a good couple of hours examining the art on display up close. Please note: there are many unreserved lots in this sale; look out for the red square next to the estimate in the catalogue.

David has selected his top 20 in terms of quality, image and value. Please enjoy, and as usual, if you would like advice on any of the 20 or 345 works, don't hesitate to call or email us.

Lot 2 – Clarice Beckett. Timeless, I like the provenance, if not the frame
Lot 6 – Guy Boyd. Wow! underrated excellence
Lot 9 – Wendy Sharpe. Voluptuous in a Nigella Lawson kind of way
Lot 26 – Donald Friend. Too quirky for words – beautifully drawn
Lot 36 – Guy Boyd. It's about time for a price rise for Boyd's superb sculptures
Lot 37 – Michael Zavros. Speculate to accumulate
Lot 42 – Jeffrey Smart. Plump for this

Lot 43 – Sidney Nolan. Good colour palette – I might even say jaunty.
Lot 55 - Dale Frank. Haven't seen one for a while. This example is spectacular
Lot 69 – David Larwill. Topical
Lot 102 – Will Ashton. His early working harbour and European scenes are his best – here is a combination of both. Perfect
Lot 116 – John Passmore. Look and you will see
Lot 129 – Clement Meadmore. Early works are rare
Lot 140 – John Olsen. Strong work – good price
Lot 155 – Annie Leibovitz: ballsy
Lot 209 – Samantha Everton: Teatime
Lot 237 – Robert Dickerson. Horses for courses
Lot 280 – Adam Cullen. Less is more with Cullen
Lot 300 – Pro Hart: gritty for Pro
Lot 324 – Shaun Gladwell: pre–video

Before we get into presenting the sale of the Estate of Ann Lewis, AO, David wants to recommend THE book for all those who enjoyed the ABC's 'Fake or Fortune': 'The Art Detective' by Philip Mould, published in 2010 by Penguin.

He has just finished the 250 or so pages in less than three days (which is a record for him), and ever since, he has not been able to contain his excitement at Mould's gripping stories of discovery and delight.

The Estate of Ann Lewis, AO

This is in our view the standout highlight estate sale of the year. Melbourne's Mossgreen Auctions are hosting this prestigious art auction. The company specialises in top end estate sales, marketing them with beautiful catalogues and enticing us to view paintings, furniture and jewellery in equally beautiful surroundings prior to sale, in this case a magnificent home in Rose Bay, Sydney.

Ann Lewis was an outstanding force in the art market, with the founding of Gallery A in 1964 in Sydney and her tireless support of the arts and generous philanthropy.

This background alone will ensure significant interest from contemporary art collectors and dealers alike from Australia and New Zealand.

The auction is to be held at the Art Gallery of NSW on 7 Nov., a major coup for both the auctioneer and the estate. It's bound to bring many buyers who have perhaps never set foot in an auction room before.
Lot 179, Shaun Gladwell

With 592 lots on offer, they will also need serious stamina, although managing director Paul Sumner promises to be swift in his auctioneering … for today, David has managed to stick with his favourite 20.

Lot 5 - Sofia Tekela-Smith, Cross my Heart, 2008, $1,000-1,500 – New Zealand beauty
Lot 49 - Guy Edward Grey Smith, Ann Lewis, 1978, $10,000-15,000 – A fine tribute
Lot 52 - Tom Moore, 3 Car Pile Up, $800-1,200 – What driving in New South Wales is like…
Lot 62 - Sally Gabori, Dibirdibi country, 2009,  $4,000-6,000 – Do you dream in colour?
Lot 71 - Clement Meadmore, Flippant Flurry, 1977, $8,000-12,000 – Flipping fabulous
Lot 73 - Noel McKenna, Captured Bird, 1996, $300- $500 – McKenna at his minimalist best
Lot 83 - Robert Klippel, Metal sculpture No. 182, 1965, $12,000-18,000 – Klippel at his complex best
Lot 84 - Peter Booth, Untitled, 2000, $10,000-15,000 – Not much going on here …. or is there?
Lot 85 - Fred Williams, Hillside I, 1965, $1,000,000-1,500,000 – A Williams Epic Picture
Lot 86 - Fred Williams, Landscape, $2,000-3,000 – A Williams for the 'less of cash'
Lot 125 - Ralph Balson, Non-Objective Painting , 1964, $15,000-$20,000 – A true pioneer and still undervalued
Lot 136 - Ken Whisson, Bird and Beast, $15,000-20,000 – Not normally a fan … but rather like this one
Lot 179 - Shaun Gladwell, Approach to Mundi Mundi, Silverton Road, 2007, $1,000-1,500 – A small photo, but well worth fighting for
Lot 180 - Noel McKenna, Surfer, 1998, $3,000-5,000 – McKenna has finally flipped
Lot 212 - Ricky Swallow, Flying on the ground is wrong, 2005-06, $1,000-2,000 – Swallow wins our heart again
Lot 216 - Marc Newson , Miniature Lockheed lounge chair, Vitra, 2004, $200-400 – Do not sit
Lot 226 - Alexander Seton, Vinyl Fizz, 2009, $300-500 – The Illusionist
Lot 329 - Rick Amor, The Bridge, $300-500 – Dark, darker, darkest
Lot 517 - Marina Abramovic & Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen), Night Sea Crossing, 1981, $200-300 – The genius of performance art
Lot 521 - Fiona Hall, Cross purpose, 2003, $1,500-2,500 – Don't bank on it

Here is the link so you can view online http://www.mossgreen.com.au/auctions/current.asp?idExhibition=1208906&offset=0 .

Viewing is from 4 to 7 November at 8 Bay View Hill Road, Rose Bay, Sydney, and the auction is on 7 November, from 6 pm, at the Art Gallery of NSW.

As usual, we will be attending this important auction through to the end. If you would like us to act as your buyer's agent and would like a pre-purchase report or advice on one or more lots in this sale, contact David for his advice – by email or phone 02 9977 7764.


10 October 2011

Dave's Faves at Leonard Joel this Sunday

With the title 'The Sunday Fine Art Auction', it sounds like the perfect thing to do on a relaxing Sunday afternoon after a read of the Sunday papers and a delightful brekkie in your favourite Melbourne café.

Lot 190, Charles Reddington

There are some generous and exciting offerings in this sale of 247 lots. I have picked out my top 20 of the bunch. Let me know if there is anything that interests you from any of these lots – happy to help.

Lot 1 – Eveline Syme, Moorings, est. $ 6,000 – 8,000. Idyll
Lot 21 – Ernest Buckmaster, Floral arrangement, 1933, est. $ 3,000 – 5,000. His usual perfection
Lot 41 – Ivor Hele, The Circus, est. $ 20,000 - $ 30,000. What once seemed old is new again
Lot 47 – Judy Drew, The orange Kimono, est. 2,500 – 3,500. Rather sublime – this one
Lot 48 – James Cant, The Factory, 1946, est. $ 1,800 – 2,500. Very moody – like this one, early Smart, late Amor?
Lot 52 – Knut Bull, 1857, est. $ 20,000 - $ 30,000. One for history buffs
Lot 76 – David Boyd, est. $ 6,000 - $ 8,000. Nice and early, nice and cheap
Lot 81 – John Olsen, Platypus, est. $ 15,000 – 20,000. Dive in for this one

Lot 101 – Charles Blackman, Blue Cat, est. 1,500 – 2,500.
Don't let this cool cat get away!






Lot 110 – Margaret Olley, est. $ 20,000 – 25,000. Daisies in 3D
Lot 111 – W. B. McInnes, Farm buildings Heidelberg, est. $ 2,500 – 3,500. Yes, it's Heidelberg, not school – but a lovely picture nonetheless and for a Pro Hart price.
Lot 131 – Glen Preece, Café e Cucina, est. $ 2,000 – 3,000. Brassai meets Modigliani
Lot 141 – Joe Furlonger, Christ figure from Kingaroy, est. $ 3,000 – 5,000. For a bit of presence
Lot 190 – Charles Reddington, Shelly's Cove, 111 x 147 cm, est. 600 – 800. That's a lot of good painting for 600 bucks
Lot 200 – Brett Whiteley, Poem for a lover, est, $ 8,000 – 10,000. Very colourful – I could live with this for a long time
Lot 209 – Norbertine von Bresslern Roth, Great Parrots, est. $ 2,000 – 3,000. Yes, I agree, they are great parrots
Lot 213 – After John Heaviside Clark, Field Sport of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales, published 1813, est. $ 3,000 – 5,000. Wonderful strong colourful images
Lot 215 – Florence Broadhurst, Wallpaper designs, est. $ 800 – 1,200. Must haves for interior designers
Lot 217 – Bill Henson, Untitled 1985-86, est. $ 2,000 – 3,000. Australia's greatest photographer
Lot 233 – Fred Williams, Olinda landscape, est. $ 5,000 – 7,000. This work is seriously undervalued

Dave's Faves from the Menzies Fine Art Auction: Don't miss this one ...

At the Menzies viewing at South Kensington, it was very easy to miss this tiny painting by Tom Robert: Cremorne 1895.

Yes, at just 12 x 17 cm, it is small, but full of character and just a beautiful little work.

A lot of these small paintings by Roberts are often unsigned.

This one is clearly hand signed in red – an added bonus.

A rare beauty this one at $ 10,000 - $ 15,000.





I have kept on this theme: my 10 favourites this time around are all relatively small, and are both attractive and attractively priced.

Lot 7 – Ethel Spowers, Tug of War, 1933. As good an image by Spowers as you will find – less is always more.
Lot 9 – John Perceval, Williamstown circa 1990. This work is not unusual, its compact size however makes it most appealing.
Lot 22 – Rick Amor, The Road, 2004. Moody as ever,  just like a Gregory Crewdson photograph, we are desperate to know what's going on.
Lot 23 – Fred Williams, After the bushfire, 1968. Another of those undervalued gouaches.
Lot 58 – Arthur Boyd, Shoalhaven Reflections circa 1980. Perfection mirrored in a few brushstrokes.
Lot 73 – Tom Roberts, Cremorne 1895. - See above
Lot 76 – S. T. Gill, Native Sepulchre. Quirky this one and once owned by Alan Bond.
Lot 93 – John Perceval, Fabian Douglas, 1954. Connoisseurs always snag the bargains.
Lot 107 – Emanuel Phillips Fox, Venice. The gondola looks kind of clumsy, bit I still really like it.
Lot 108 – Donald Friend, Paris, 1971. Friend's more colourful works never fail to entertain and delight.

If you are interested in a work, let us know – we are happy to advise and provide due diligence.  The auction is on 14 September in Melbourne.

21 July 2011

Dave's Faves: The Quirky, Unusual or the Just Downright Bargain

There is nothing (well, not much) that David enjoys more than going through auction catalogues and swooning over good art – especially on a wet and windy winter's day.

So he had the perfect excuse to spend some quality time this afternoon checking out the works in the Bay East Auctions catalogue.

These secondary tier art sales can slip under the radar for many collectors - but just because the art is not featured in a big glossy catalogue doesn't mean that the art is secondary.  Of course the wonderful thing about these sales is that you can find interesting works by well-known Australian artists for literally just a few hundred dollars.

There may be some condition issues that need attention or that a re-frame is in order. But the art has still gone through the same methodical vetting process as the top-flight art in the first tier sales. And the guarantees are there too with reputable Australian  auctioneers. (image: Bruce Goold, lot 137)

Here are David's 20 picks of the Bay East offering:

Lot 69 – Norman Lindsay - the other Jack Johnson -  $ 1,200 - 1,800
Lot 71 – Frank Medworth - Look's just like you, Sir -  $ 300 – 500
Lot 72 – Frank Medworth – love this - $ 150 – 250
Lot 73 –  John Olsen – untypical triumph -  $6,000 – 10,000
Lot 75 – Alan Sumner – unsung hero at his best -  $ 15,000 – 18,000
Lot 81 – Brett Whiteley – Rare this one, edition of 50 - $ 3,000 – 5,000
Lot 111 – John Coburn – for the connoisseur 1958 - $ 1,800 – 2,500
Lot 121 – Neville Cayley – For our Manly penguin colony – $ 400 – 600
Lot 126 – John Coburn – Is that connoisseur still in the room? - $ 1,200 – 1,800
Lot 127 – John Coburn – for the beginner – $ 500 – 800
Lot 137 – Bruce Goold – one of Australia's great modern printmakers – $ 300 – 500
Lot 138 – Margaret Woodward – When she's good, she's brilliant - $ 1,200 – $ 1,800
Lot 140 – Percy Lindsay - 'I will sell it, make no mistake' -  $ 400 – 600
Lot 143 – Pro Hart – a little pot of gold – $ 400 – 600
Lot 151 – Aida Tomescu – these four prints are just too cheap – $ 600 – 800
Lot 155 – Margaret Olley – pretty as a picture – $ 5,000 - $ 8,000
Lot 176 – Joshua Ebatarinja – Don't leave without at least buying something! - $ 200 – 400
Lot 178 – John Allcot – Where's the Opera House? - $ 5,000 - $ 8,000
Lot 190 – Harriett Scott – Save the Tassie Tiger – $ 300 – 500
Lot 208 – Norman Lindsay – a marvelous print – $ 100 - 200

27 June 2011

80 paintings in six hours result in $ 400 for paintings restoration

A big crowd of curious owners turned the appraisal day at Manly Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday into a roaring success, both by numbers and artworks.

David Hulme, art valuer of Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants said: "It was very interesting that so many paintings brought in were by artists represented in the Manly Art Gallery and Museum's own collection. We saw works by Will Ashton, Julian Ashton, Ethel Carrick Fox, Percy Lindsay, Neville Cayley senior. The highlight would have been the painting by our very own founder member of the Manly Art Gallery, Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo – whose work is actually exhibited right now at the Art Gallery of NSW Focus room."

Brigitte Banziger added: "The appraisal day was supposed to run from 10 am to 2 pm, however it soon became clear we would run out of time. David offered to keep going until 4 pm. In that time, he managed to view and assess 80 paintings and prints in this marathon event, raising $ 400 for the paintings restoration fund of the Manly Art Gallery Society."


10 June 2011

Dave's Faves from the Menzies Fine Art Auction on 23 June

Menzies' next auction of important Australian and International Fine Art offers many treats on 23 June in Sydney. It is worth at least a peruse online at the Menzies website.

Just before the long weekend, David wanted to share his favourite 20 works with you from a total of 140 lots on offer with expectations of an 11 million dollar sale.

And of course he welcomes your comments and enquiries on these or any of the other paintings in the Menzies catalogue.

Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo: a charismatic teacher’s work in focus

I was most surprised to see Dattilo-Rubbo’s social realist painting ‘Poverty makes Strange Bedfellows’, 1905, listed as ‘collection of the AGNSW’. I remembered viewing the work at a Deutscher + Hackett auction in April 2009 with an estimate of $ 55,000 - $ 80,000 and an impressive provenance, including Mr McLeod of the Bulletin, 1906, and the Holmes à Court Collection. Despite this, the painting failed to sell on the night.

D+H art specialist Merryn Schriever confirmed that the AGNSW contacted them after the auction. Subsequently, they purchased the work with the Edward Stinson Bequest Fund in 2009. Schriever mentioned that this had happened before with public galleries: the Queensland Art Gallery purchased George Washington Lambert’s ‘Self portrait with Ambrose Patterson, Amy Lambert and Hugh Ramsey’, 1903, also after auction in August 2009 where it had been offered with an estimate of $ 300,000 to $ 400,000. It was bought in 2009 with funds from Philip Bacon through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation.

However, these occurrences seem to be isolated. Geoffrey Smith, Chairman of Sotheby’s, couldn’t recall a recent instance of a public institution buying after auction. He felt that museums were usually able to raise funds beforehand and bid on the night.

Tim Abdallah, National Head of Art at Menzies, concurred saying that the time before an auction was usually plenty also for institutions to prepare a bid – however, the intention to bid would of course not be made known beforehand.

Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo lived a long life and was a prolific painter. There is great quality in his early portraits and impressionistic landscapes. Anything before 1920 is worth looking out for in the auction room, and small oils can often be secured for $ 1,000 or less. Later works feel less inspired and can come across as rather sentimental.

The exhibition runs until 14 August, focussing on Dattilo-Rubbo’s portraiture, and includes a small display of sketch books and memorabilia – an intimate tribute to a charismatic teacher and artist. See also the AGNSW website and www.antoniodattilorubbo.com.au

Article originally published in the Australian Art Sales Digest

20 May 2011

When fine art auctions and latest technology meet:
Virtual bidding at Sotheby's with Skype and iPad 2  

In the pursuit of a painting by one of Australia's best-known 20th century female artists, buying agent David Hulme of Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants used the latest technology at the Sotheby's auction of important Australian art on Tuesday evening in Melbourne.

"My client is in the UK. Normally we are on the phone to him when bidding. This time, I wanted to take it a step further, using the latest technolgy available - iPad 2 and Skype. This would allow my client to be virtually 'in the room' on the evening of the auction, getting to experience the excitement as directly as I did."

David Hulme used the back camera function of the iPad 2 so his client could see exactly the same as he did: auctioneer Martin Gallon selling 97 high-value lots of exquisite Australian art, and simultaneously taking instructions from his client.

The work David Hulme was bidding on behalf of his UK-based client was a much admired still life painting by Grace Cossington Smith which was heavily contested on the night. David Hulme said: "On an estimate of $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 it sold for $ 26,400 including buyer's premium - unfortunately going to a competing bidder using Australian Dollars and not to our client relying on the weak UK pound. However, I definitely would do this again. My client certainly felt a lot more connected with the process and enjoyed it."

Donations over $ 10 to our fundraiser will go into the draw to win a fabulous archival inkjet limited edition print by Ruth Faerber. 

Send us an email with 'Morning Tea with B and D' in the header to find out details.

Ruth Faerber was born in Sydney, in 1922. Ruth’s interest in the arts was sparked in her youth, during her time at Ravenswood Methodist Ladies College. Encouraged by her teacher Gladys Gibbons to think and work creatively, she left school early to start classes with Peter Dodd’s art school, to train as a commercial artist. Ruth worked for the Market Printery, where she could apply her skills in printmaking.

Studying with Desiderius Orban from 1944 to 1947 and then periodically until 1961was a “breath of fresh air” for Ruth Faerber. Orban, with his background as a European contemporary artist, emphasised tone, bigness of form and simplicity of statement and encouraged the use of all different materials for creating art. During that time, Ruth was also taught by John Olsen and John Ogburn, who held weekly painting classes at the Orban school. (Photo: Ruth Faerber by Max Dupain, 1947)

In 1967, Faerber won a scholarship to the Pratt Graphics Center in New York. This proved to be pivotal both for Faerber and Australian lithography: she was the first Australian artist to use spray paint in lithography. Ruth brought back not only the latest technical trends in printmaking, but also new imagery and artistic practice. This led to Ruth Faerber being considered one of Australia’s leading lithographers of the 1970s.

From 1970 onwards, Ruth Faerber wrote art reviews for the “Australian Jewish Times”, and from 1973 to 1976, she also studied part-time at the University of Sydney to obtain a broader knowledge of the history of art.

From the 1980s - already in her 60s - Ruth Faerber created her highly distinctive cast bas-relief paperworks. She developed this technique herself, based on her experience in printmaking. These “paperworks”, executed mainly in the form of series works from the early 1980s until the early 2000, explore the human condition in history and present. The technique and the artistic expression are unique in Australian art – wholly Ruth Faerber’s own way of communicating her art and view of the world.

As with many of her artwork, they are inspired by Ruth Faerber’s travels: e.g. The Woman of Pompeii series from 1985, exhibited at Bloomfield Gallery, Sydney, The Jerusalem Series, shown 1989 at Bonython Gallery or the Voice of the Ancestor Series, exhibited 1994 at Blaxland Gallery.

In 2006, the National Gallery of Australia, and in 2007 the Mosman Regional Gallery and Burnie Regional Gallery accepted the donation of numerous works by Ruth Faerber under the Cultural Gifts Program.

Ruth Faerber continues her art practice today by exploring the latest technology to create intriguing digital images.

She is represented by Artarmon Galleries.

Exhibitions

From 1964 onwards, Ruth Faerber has had more than 35 solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, New Zealand and London, and participated in many group shows, including the International Print Biennales in Bradford UK, 1968 and 1982, Australian Paperworks at the International Paper Congress, ’83, Kyoto; First International Paper Biennale, Duren, Germany, 1986. 1991:  Workshop Arts Centre, Willoughby NSW, first survey exhibition of Faerber’s work from 1960-1970s. 2001, Hardware Fine Art, Naremburn: second decade of paperworks 1991-2001.

Awards

1967 Scholarship, Pratt Centre. 1974 Commission, PCA Member Print Edition. 1975 and 1981 Exhibition Grant, VAB Australia Council. 1972 – 1984 23 painting and 20 graphics awards. 1987 Artist-in-Residence Bezalel Art Institute, Jerusalem. 2nd Prize Kulturakedemien Harnosand, Sweden 1989. Japan and Mexico 1990.

Represented

National Art Gallery of Australia, Art Galleries of NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Mosman Regional Gallery, Burnie Regional Gallery, Print Council of Australia, Dept. of Education, Victoria, private collections such as BHP, Transfield, Artbank and Thyssen-Bornemisza. 

Teaching

Printmaking at College of Fine Arts, Sydney; Mixed Media Painting at Willoughby Arts Centre, Papermaking at Primrose Paper Arts, Sydney

On a very rainy Sydney Saturday, the usual suspects turn out to bid at Davidson’s first fine art auction of the year at

Robert Davidson’s reputation for honesty and integrity in a sometimes shadowy auction market is perhaps one thing that keeps his regular clientele coming back for more – even on a particularly bleak and rainy day.

Another might be Davidson’s keen estimates, which regularly see him trouncing the competition with his clearance rates. Davidson’s affable and no-nonsense approach to auctioneering is well appreciated by bidders.

Like many fine art auctioneers in an art downturn, Davidson has stretched out his estimates to both please his sellers’ hopes and meet his buyers’ expectations.

Lot 2, John Gould’s Thylacine from his ‘Mammals of Australia’, 1845-63, raced off to a good start. The rare hand-coloured lithograph of our long-gone Tasmanian tiger sold for the high estimate of $ 11,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium).

There were a number of Lionel Lindsay prints in the sale, but none to match ‘The Black Cat’. The woodcut left the $ 500 - $ 800 estimate far behind and sold for $1,900.

Also racing ahead through spirited bidding was A. Twigg’s ‘Colonial Yacht Race on Sydney Harbour’, c. 1860-1880. This was probably the closest to being the sleeper of the sale. Appraised at $ 600 to $ 800, it sold for more than five times the upper estimate with a very healthy $ 4,500.

Lot 46, “The Pilot Cove”, was highly sought after as well. Three phone bidders and many in the room fought over the small Hugh Sawrey painting, despite some condition problems, perhaps reflecting the sale estimate of $ 800 to $ 1,200. The keenest bidder was finally successful with a hammer price of $ 3,500.

Thea Proctor’s ‘The Swing’, 1925, a delightful coloured woodcut, lot 18, achieved a respectable $ 4,750. This result is in line with others of the same image: in 2010, one sold with Deutscher + Hackett for $ 5,800 in September, and one with Lawson-Menzies for $ 5,000 in November. Two other Proctor prints found buyers as well, lot 45 ‘Reverie’ at the low estimate of $ 1,500, and lot 48 ‘The Tame Bird’, 1916, made the top estimate with $ 2,500.

A total of seven large D’Arcy Doyle paintings from one collection sold at today’s auction, only one of them met the high estimate – lot 197 ‘The Baker’s Cart’, with an estimate of $ 8,000 - $ 12,000, sold for $ 12,000. The other six sold for between $7,000 and $ 8,500.

A large stoneware bowl circa 1978 – 1980 by Aboriginal ceramicist Gloria Fletcher Thancoupie just crept above the reserve to sell for $ 6,500. Her highest price at auction was achieved by Shapiro Auctioneers in December 2002, lot 140, when ‘Pot’, c. 1989, sold for $ 25,277 including buyer’s premium. However in recent years, much like the rest of the Aboriginal art market, her prices have fallen along with demand.

There was humorous and protracted bidding on two phones for lots 235 and 236, two bronze sculptures by Barbara Tribe. The ‘Female Torso”, Thailand 1971, sold above the high estimate of $ 1,200 for $ 1,400, while ‘Torso of a Man’, Thailand 1971, was not so desired and sold for the low estimate at $ 800. The same bronze titled ‘Eve’, 19071, sold with Bonhams and Goodman in March 2009 for $ 1,500.

There were as ever what seemed like a large number of successful internet bids, although most seemed reluctant to go over the $ 1,000 threshold.

All in all, the auctioneer seemed please with his sale as did his bidders. It remains a buyer’s market with many works selling at or below the low estimates.

(Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest, and previous sales results supplied by AASD)

14 February 2011

Join the Hunt - The Search for Australian Art in British Auctions

A strong Aussie dollar means hunting and bidding for Australian art at auction overseas has never been more alluring.

The internet is constantly providing new tools to enable anyone to track down the specific art that they are looking for – not just in domestic art markets, but also overseas.

Most reputable fine art auction houses have quite sophisticated and easy to scroll and view websites to search through the art available for any given sale. You can of course go to the individual websites of auctioneers – if you know who and where they are.

However, a good starting point for the UK is the British the-saleroom.com which features information on over 75 fine art auctioneers and their sale dates. There you can view catalogues and then either bid online live or over the phone. If you don’t want to trawl the site yourself, the-saleroom.com will, for a fee, find the lots you are interested in by searching the catalogues and email you the details.

Not surprisingly, most Australian art that appears at auction overseas does so in Britain, with New Zealand and the US vying for second place.

I went on my own little hunt for Australian works due to come up for sale soon and found two by Sidney Nolan, one by Ray Crooke, two by John Wolseley and two by Percy Spence.

The excellent Ned Kelly silk screens “Landscape” (with Ned and rifle) and “Township” (with Ned on horseback), both from an edition of 75, are listed as lots 110 and 111, with estimates of £ 2,000 to £ 3,000 at Bloomsbury Auctions on 3rd March in London.

Two early works from John Wolseley have provenance from the Mayor Gallery in London and are up for auction at Dreweatts Donnington Priory Salerooms on 23rd February. Lot 62, a gouache and pencil work has an estimate of £ 200 to £ 300, whilst lot 63, an oil on board, is estimated at £ 400 to £ 600. Lot 92 in the same sale is a North Queensland scene by Ray Crooke, titled ‘Dry Landscape’, oil on board, with an estimate of £ 1,500 to £ 2,500.

Taking a trip across the Atlantic to New York, Swann Auction Galleries are offering on 8th February two posters created by Percy Spence. These were both produced for the Great Western Railway in 1928 and advertise “The Cornish Riviera” and “Glorious Devon”, both with estimates of $ 700 to $ 1,000.

Of course, when placing a bid, you also need to remember that the shipping costs will be added – getting a quote beforehand is a good idea. Then there is the buyer’s premium to be taken into account, as well as possible GST implications on the work coming into Australia.

All in all, with the Aussie dollar moving 15 to 20 % higher in value against the British pound in recent times there has never been a better time to join the hunt.


9 February 2011

Unknown painting of Sydney ‘girl’ confirmed to be by seven times Archibald Prize Winner W.B. McInnes, one of Australia’s most famous artists in the 1920s and 30s

It started with an email from an Australian in London to David Hulme of Manly-based Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants. The gentleman explained he owned a portrait of his mother, painted in 1928 in Melbourne when she was just a girl of 16 - but the painting was not signed.

Could David Hulme help in confirming who painted it? Was it perhaps seven-times Archibald Prize Winner William Beckwith McInnes as had long been suspected by her family but never known for sure?

The lady in question, Leonora Rush (née MacKay), a former North Shore PLC girl, is still alive at 98 and living in England. She clearly remembers sitting for the artist when staying with her aunt in Melbourne.
 
Her son, a former St Ives resident, Jonathan Rush said: “My mother always claimed the artist was somebody famous who had won the Archibald Prize but she couldn’t recall his name. She never knew why he wanted to paint her. I’d like to think he was struck by her innocent beauty. ”
 
According to David Hulme: “Our research, comparison and expert advice have now confirmed that the beautiful portrait is indeed by W.B. McInnes. He was one of Australia’s most celebrated portrait painters of the 1920s and 30s, winning the inaugural Archibald Prize in 1921. Incredibly he went on to win the coveted portraiture prize another six times. Luckily, Leonora got to keep her portrait, and we can see now why McInnes asked her to model for him."
 
This is another example that shows paintings without a signature can be proven beyond reasonable doubt by experts to be by a certain artist, and can then be authenticated and valued accordingly.

A slow and painful death for Donald Friend mural?

Donald Friend’s relationship with Bali is well known to most Australians.

Less well known are the five years that Friend spent in Sri Lanka from 1957 to 1962 as house guest of Bevis Bawa at the remote ‘Brief’ estate near Bentota Beach in southwestern Sri Lanka. Bevis Bawa was the brother of Sri Lanka’s famous architect Geoffrey Bawa.

The years that Friend spent at ‘Brief’ led him into some extraordinary experimentation with materials and mediums, resulting in some of his best works.

This lasting legacy although remains in varying degrees of health. Visiting ‘Brief’, we can view some exciting examples of Friend’s work. Dooland de Silva, the current owner and caretaker of  ‘Brief’, showed us the delights of the house and renowned gardens. Today the 5 acres of rainforest gardens are maintained to the highest standards by Mr de Silva and his team of gardeners.

Approaching ‘Brief’, we are greeted by the wonderfully imposing concrete gateposts created by Friend. On entering the home itself, the 250 x 310 cm colourful mural created by Friend in 1957 is breathtaking. And there are many more examples of Friend’s oeuvre in and around the house: an aluminium sculpture, ink drawings, a large concrete relief panel found buried in the garden some years ago by Mr. de Silva.

In the courtyard, we see Friend’s experiments with clay tiles in collaboration with Barbara Sansoni, many of them incised with Sri Lankan animals, fish, musicians and dancers, displayed on three walls, and there is also a humorous self-portrait of Friend built into the wall of an outside shower. At the bottom of the extensive gardens, Friend’s concrete turtle fountain is revealed.

Donald Friend’s art in Sri Lanka is not as one might expect, held in various art museums, but is largely the domain of two large companies and numerous private collectors, and they are as passionate about his work as any Australian or Indonesian collector might be.

First and foremost are the four spectacular murals Friend created during his Sri Lankan years. Two of these are in the Colombo head office of John Keells Holdings which commissioned them in 1960. “City of Galle” and “View of Colombo” were brought to Australia for Donald Friend’s retrospective in 1989 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The AGNSW’s head curator Barry Pearce championed this exhibition when Friend’s work was not en vogue, and he still regards “City of Galle” as Friend’s finest work.

Another commission organised by Danish architect Ulrik Plesner was for A. Baur & Co’s head office also in Colombo. Unlike “City of Galle” which is painted on panels and therefore movable, this stunning 225 x 510 cm mural was painted directly on to the wall, as was the mural at “Brief”.

The Brief mural unfortunately has suffered significantly in the 50 years since it was created, as the hot and humid tropical monsoon climate which is not kind to any surface, much less paintings, has taken its toll.

The Australian High Commission in Colombo has been a great supporter of Friend’s work, most recently with an exhibition in 2004 of his Sri Lankan works and the publication of an accompanying book “The Art of Donald Friend – Ceylon”.  In 1998, they funded an extensive conservation report for the ‘Brief’ Mural. Subsequently, nothing has been done. Now due to the cracking in the floor close to the mural, it is in danger of further decline. The future of the ‘Brief’ mural is highly uncertain. Unless funding can be found to restore it, it will undoubtedly die a slow and painful death.

Many thanks go to Mr Ismeth Raheem and Mr Mike Antonisz for assisting with access to Donald Friend’s Sri Lankan works, and Mr Dooland de Silva.- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

10 September 2010

A Tale of two Rigis

Three small paintings, hardly larger than an A4 sized sheet, are among the most valuable watercolours in the world – and one of them is at home in Australia, on display for the public no less. J.M.W. Turner’s views of Mount Rigi and a recent visit to Switzerland’s Queen of the Mountains inspired me to have a closer look.

My relationship with one of Switzerland’s most well known mountains, the Rigi, goes back to 1996 when I climbed it with my Swiss wife Brigitte. The relationship with J.M.W. Turner’s watercolour painting known as ‘The Red Rigi’ came about sometime later when visiting the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. This mesmerising and beautiful work was donated by the always generous Felton Bequest in 1947 and is surely one of the jewels in the collection.

There are three works of Mount Rigi by Turner, all painted from a number of sketches that the artist produced from his time in Switzerland in late 1841. The other two are referred to as the ‘Dark Rigi’ which is held in a private collection, and the ‘Blue Rigi’ which is now in the collection of the Tate Gallery in London.

This ‘Blue Rigi’ experienced a stormy journey: after many years in private hands in the UK, it was put up for auction in June 2006, selling for the breathtaking price for a watercolour of £ 5.8 million to an international buyer. This caused the then British culture minister David Lammy to intervene to stop the painting from leaving the country – however, a local purchaser had to be found. Tate Gallery director Sir Nicolas Serota pulled out all the stops in a massive effort to raise the funds needed to save the painting ‘for the nation’. Eventually, £ 4.95 million including tax remissions secured the Mountain for the Tate.

Subsequently, the three Rigis were brought together for the first time in an exhibition at the Tate Gallery, together with a number of original sketches in early 2007 (images and details can be viewed at http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/turnerrigi/default.shtm ).

Mount Rigi was one of Switzerland’s first major tourist attractions and remains as popular today as it was in the 19^th century, not least because it is very easily reached from the major centres such as Zurich or Lucerne. Though by no means Switzerland’s highest mountain at a mere 1,800 metres, it occupies a majestic position surrounded by Lake Lucerne and Lake Zug, providing magnificent views from the top.

Turner did not climb the Rigi. He was captivated by the imposing shape and the play of light rather than the view from its top, capturing the image from some distance away across Lake Lucerne.

Turner was not the only artist to have been impressed with the ‘Queen of the Mountains’. Leo Tolstoy climbed it in 1857, and describes the Rigi in his story ‘Lucerne’ as ‘from which is obtained one of the most magnificent views in the world …. The lake, iridescent as melted sulphur, and dotted with boats, which left behind them vanishing trails, spread out before my windows smooth, motionless as it were, between the variegated green shores’.

Visiting Rigi in 1880, Mark Twain observed in ‘A Tramp Abroad’ rather tongue-in-cheek ‘We climbed and climbed, and we kept on climbing, we reached about forty summits, but there was always another one just ahead. … It was twelve o’clock and a breezy, cloudless day; the ascent was gradual, and the glimpses, from under the curtaining boughs, of blue water, and tiny sailboats, and beetling cliffs, were as charming as glimpses of dreamland.’

When I return to Switzerland and look from my father-in-law’s balcony, Mount Rigi is again perfectly framed, always defiant, resilient, dependable, self-assured, serene and beautiful, and perhaps like Uluru, it is timeless and will remain long after we are gone. - Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

29 August 2010

If Rembrandt had taken photographs...

A new contemporary art gallery has opened in Zurich end of August focusing on international contemporary photography. Australian photographer Bill Henson is strongly represented in this new push by gallerist Christophe Guye. Guye’s previous venture was Scalo-Guye Gallery in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, which closed in 2008.

The opening night was buzzy with the usual well-dressed art crowd that you would find at any new gallery opening. Celebrity gossip writer Hildegard Schwaninger attended, as did Art Basel co-director Marc Spiegler.

Guye is clearly serious about his new business and his intentions – ‘I am not really interested in celebrity gossip’, he comments, however Art Basel is certainly in his sights, although he is no rush. ‘It would be good to see myself there in a few years.’

David Hulme: Reading of more art gallery closures than openings, isn't this a particularly tough time to be opening a gallery?

Christophe Guye: Opening a gallery is an exciting new venture, I don’t feel that many galleries have closed in Switzerland; it is a different market here, more stable. I have been operating as a private dealer here in Switzerland for the past year and this gave me the confidence to open a new gallery space. I also felt that it was important for me now to have a physical location.

I also felt that there was a real need for a gallery specialising in contemporary photography in Switzerland, especially as there is no other with an international focus.

DH: This is a great location, right next to Zurich opera house and the lake. It is not exactly a well known gallery location, although you do have one of the world's best known gallerists a few steps away, Bruno Bischofberger. What affected your decision to move here and does location for a gallery really matter in Zurich?

CG: Yes, that’s right. Of course Bischofberger is just around the corner, but another gallery, Karma Gallery, has also just opened close by. We also have a number of other galleries close by at Bellevue. I feel comfortable here. This area, the Seefeld, is a real up and coming district in Zurich. There are a lot of people both living and working here that completely fill the demographic for what I am offering.

Also the space here is wonderful, it has a very open design. I didn’t want people to feel intimidated as so often art galleries do. I wanted to make them feel welcome and this space, I think, offers this. This is also a busy street, so lots of foot traffic. Purchasing photography as an art form is often easier for new collectors so an area with high pedestrian exposure is also useful.

DH: You seem to have quite a mix of contemporary photography here from the extremely well known like Richard Avedon to relative unknowns. What drives your mix of artists, what are you looking for?

CG: Something has to happen when I view the art. There has to be an impact on me, a strong reaction to the visual. I am interested in artists who have their own distinct style of expression.

DH: How long have you been an admirer of the works of Bill Henson?

CG: 2004 was the first time I saw the work of Bill Henson. When I look at Henson’s work, I am reminded of what Chuck Close said about photography: ‘Photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent but it’s the hardest medium in which to have a personal vision.’ ‘Unmistakeably identifiable’ is how I would describe the work of Bill Henson. If Rembrandt had taken photographs, I think they would look something like Henson’s work.

DH: From an Australian perspective, we do not have many contemporary artists who have an established world market and international standing. Interestingly perhaps our two most successful are both photographers, Bill Henson and Tracey Moffatt. Do you see Switzerland as an important location to promote Henson's work?

CG: Switzerland and particularly the Canton of Zurich do a great deal towards the promotion of contemporary photography. For instance we have two of the finest contemporary photography museums in Winterthur (Canton of Zurich), the Fotomuseum (http://www.fotomuseum.ch) and the Swiss Foundation of Photography (http://www.fotostiftung.ch)

There are also two schools focusing on photography in Zurich). There are a number of prestigious awards for photography, and last but not least, there is now a Chair at the University of Zurich for the Study of the History and Theory of Photography.
DH: I spoke with Simon de Pury of Phillips the Pury and Co. in New York recently. He told me that he liked Henson's work and was keen to continue promoting it. Do you see the auction room as a help or hindrance to your business?

CG: In a normal situation, I see the fine art auction room as a great support for photographic artists. Although sometimes prices can become distorted with big prices paid for works making it difficult for primary dealers to price works.

DH: You have two of Henson's large images dominating the front window in your opening exhibition. What kind of interest in these works have you had from collectors?

CG: I have had great initial interest in both of these large works by Bill Henson from private and institutional collectors.

Bill Henson is represented in Sydney by Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery, in Melbourne by Tolarno Galleries and in New York by The Rob Miller Gallery.

Christophe Guye’s gallery can also be visited at http:///www.christopheguye.com - - Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

16 June 2010 

First Official Day at Art Basel 41: More Australian Connections
 
Some of the big names for sale at Art Basel are the German masters of the early 20th century, such as Egon Schiele, Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner and Gustav Klimt - and they are famously presented by London-based Australian art dealer Richard Nagy. He has been able to exhibit in Basel since 2005, although he says: 'It is fairly brutal, and there are no guarantees that you can exhibit in the future.'
 
Even though away for more than 25 years, Nagy still considers himself Australian: 'I have only got one passport, and that is Australian. But you can't make a a living dealing in art at this level in Australia. 99% of the Australian market consists of Australian artists, just like any other art market.' As he sees it, another obstacle for international art in Australia is that there is not the depth of wealth accumulated over many generations unlike in Europe or the USA, where there are also much larger populations. So price levels of international art are still an issue for Australian buyers. His assessment of his current Art Basel is positive: 'It is already better than 2009, plus we have a number of reserves that I hope to see converted. This year, we have seen a lot more Americans, who skipped 2009, and of course their dollar is stronger.'
 
But Australians do not only sell, they buy, too. London-based consultant Olivier Varene bought a very large charcoal painting by Alain Huck reputedly on behalf of Tasmanian art collector David Walsh. Henri-Pierre Jaccaud who exclusively represents the Swiss artist, considers it a masterpiece and works by Huck are hard to come by, selling very quickly. 'The Banquet' was bought for Euro 50,000 and is likely to go to Walsh's Museum of the Old and New opening in 2011.
 
Australian land is also on sale at Basel, well, at least a model it: 'Wrapped Coast, Project for Australia' from 1969 by Christo. The Botany Bay coastline is available at Italian gallery Tega for Euro 500,000 - and probably good value for Sydney real estate. The two accompanying mixed media works sell for Euro 170,000 each, and a bulk buy would surely get you a better deal.
 
The first official day was packed, and the general mood was buyoant, with many exhibitors and collectors emphasising the quality of works on show. Certainly the 56 big scale works in the 'Art Unlimited' section brought the smiles and playfulness out in every visitor.
- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest
 
15 June 2010
 
Art Basel 41: Two Antipodean Premieres
 
The galleries holding up the Anzac flag are only two, and both of them are first-timers among the 303 international galleries represented and this year's Art Basel, chosen from over 1,100 applications. Yet both Art Basel rookies - Anna Schwartz Gallery of Melbourne and Sydney, and Michael Lett from Auckland - are already very happy with this most important of Art Basel rituals, the day for invited guests only, aptly named 'First Choice'.
 
The day seems to be true to its name: Michael Lett sold two of an edition of 3 by young New Zealand video artist Sriwhana Spong (born 1979). Her work 'Lethe-wards' was snapped up and at Euro 8,000 and a relative bargain. Michael Lett commented: 'People come to Basel to buy, not just to look. For them, it is nice to know that we hail from New Zealand, but really, location is irrelevant to the visitors to Basel. Buying at Basel might add prestige to a purchase, just as buying at an evening auction rather than a day sale can.'
 
A first within Art Basel is the section Art Feature, which gives 20 galleries the opportunity to curate a project of their choosing. Anna Schwartz features during her first exhibition the work of Shaun Gladwell, and this choice has also paid off already. Director Simeon Kronenberg said: 'Visitors recognise Gladwell's work from the Venice Biennale. We have sold 'Double Field / Viewfinder (Tarin Kowt)' this morning, and a Swiss institution has shown great interest in it as well.' The price of Euro 45,000 reflects the artist's growing international reputation - which has also seen an Australian auction record for a video work in August 2007, when AU$ 84,000 including buyer's premium was paid for 'Storm Sequence'. Kronenberg added: 'Exhibiting at Art Basel allows us to position Australian artists - and our gallery - on an international playing field. However, we have already seen quite a few Australian collectors today who continue to support Australian artists.'
 
Obviously, Art Basel has not lost any of its pulling power, neither on galleries nor on artists - and certainly not on visitors. Hundreds of collectors and celebrities were waiting patiently in front of closed doors until the fair opened with Swiss precision exactly at 11 o'clock.
 
Among them we spotted Roman Abramovich, not only owner of the Chelsea football club, but also of major paintings by Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon (reputedly purchased in 2008 for £ 61.4 million) and worth US $ 23.5 billion according to Forbes magazine, so plenty of money to spend in Basel.
 
Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury Fine Art Auctioneers and legendary Australian gallery owner and former exhibitor Roslyn Oxley were also waiting in the grey drizzling morning to get their first taste of Art Basel 41 as soon as the doors opened.

 
Once inside, actor Val Kilmer of 'Batman Forever' fame was seen chatting at high-profile Swiss Gallery Bischofberger, sitting most comfortably amidst works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
 
Until the end of the fair, 60,000 visitors are expected to attend the fair, and in doing so, demonstrate the strength of modern and contemporary art - and by extension its market.

 




- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

13 May 2010
 
Australian world record price at Phillips de Pury's New York evening art auction: Mark Newson's Lockheed Lounge sells for US $ 2.098 million
 
The third of the big art nights in New York was also a big night for Australian art: Mark Newson's Prototype Lockheed Lounge from 1988, with an estimate of US $ 1 million to US $ 1.5 million, sold for US $ 2.098 million, beating the previous record from April 2009 by US $ 485,000. The work sold after vigorous bidding in the room and on the phones to an unknown phone bidder.
 
Phillips de Pury offered in their contemporary evening art session 22 works from the Halsey Minor collection and 52 works from various vendors, and achieved US $ 37.9 million in total.

 
The Halsey Minor collection comprised a total of four works by Mark Newson. Chairman and auctioneer Simon de Pury commented: 'Halsey Minor is a great admirer of Mark Newson, and he handpicked the best that he could find. This collection of Newson's work is unique to come on to the market; Newson's designs are sought after globally. We believe greatly in him and have championed his work for some time.' On the subject of Australian art, de Pury continued: 'We are always interested in the best art, and have supported the photographic works of Tracey Moffat and Bill Henson. We would be happy to introduce more top Australian artists into our sales.'
 
One other Australian artist's work appears in the Phillips de Pury day sale on 14 May: Stephen Bush's 'Tallow-wood', 2005. The work is very large at 183 x 183 cm, and conservatively estimated at US $ 8,000 to US $ 12,000.
 
The sale cover lot, Richard Prince's haunting 'Nurse in Hollywood' from 2004, was highly contested and sold for US $ 6.466 million, on estimates of US $ 5 million to US $ 7 million. Overall, the evening concluded with an impressive 87 % sold by value and 78 % sold by lot. Four more auction records were achieved: Urs Fischer's sculpture 'Grass Munchers' sold for US $ 902,000, on a previous record high of US $ 144,000, and new records were also set for Mark Bradford, Mark Grotjahn and Walton Ford.
 
Simon de Pury commented on the sale: 'We are very, very pleased. Our sale here in Chelsea was very well attended. There is a lot of desire and competition in the market.'
- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

 
 
12 May 2010
 
Sothebys New York Contemporary Evening Auction: High Flying Continues with Iconic Warhol Self Portrait doubling its high estimate, selling for US $ 32.562 million
 
The first such large Andy Warhol self portrait to come on to the market in ten years was consigned by fashion designer Tom Ford. It promptly doubled the high estimate with intensive competition from six bidders, finally selling for US $ 32.562 million. The bounce back of the contemporary art market continued throughout the evening: several bidders also competed for a large iconic Mark Rothko painting from 1961 which sold for US $ 31.442 million.
 
Bidding in the room and on the phones was consistently solid, resulting in no less than five new artists' auction records for Richard Tuttle, Richard Serra, Brice Marden, Maurizio Cattelan and Juan Munoz, not only for flat art, but also for sculpture.
 
Not to be outdone by auctioneer Christopher Burge at Christies the previous night, Tobias Meyer achieved a spectacular US $ 189.969 million, on high estimates of US $ 162 million, selling 50 of 53 lots offered, resulting in 94.3 % sold by lot and 97.6 % sold by value.
 
A move back to more conservative estimates has clearly helped. Tobias Meyer commented after the sale: 'This has been our best contemporary sales since spring 2008.' He said: 'There is a global hunger for great icons. The buyers are looking for trophy paintings and when they find them, they go full throttle. For great works, collectors are willing to break boundaries: This is the first time that such a high price has been paid for a Warhol not from the early 1960s, but a self portrait created in 1986, just a year before his death.'
Meyer continued: ' It is an intelligent market that can look into the future and not just the now.'
 
Asked about the potential of Australian Aboriginal art in New York contemporary auctions, Tobias Meyer said: 'We are not in the business of building markets or making artists' reputations here. For that, you need a game changer. Let's think big here and let's say a big player like art dealer Larry Gagosian was to represent Aboriginal artists. That would of course change everything.'
- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

 
 
11 May 2010
 
American Flag Flies High at Christies - Jasper Johns' 'Flag' sells for record US $ 28.642 million
 
The contemporary art sales in New York started with a loud vote of confidence in the market. 31 of the 79 lots came from the collection of the late Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park fame.

The most spectacular result of the evening was his favourite piece, Jasper Johns' 'Flag', purchased directly from the artist over 30 years ago. It sold for US $ 28.642 million on estimates of 10 to 15 million US dollars. Four bidders vied for the privilege to wave the most expensive flag ever - victorious in just two minutes was a New York art dealer Michael Altman.
 

Bidding throughout the evening was fast paced and even frenetic, with only 5 works failing to sell on the night. Three more artists' auction records were set for Mark Tansey, Christopher Wool and Lee Bontecou. Auctioneer Christopher Burge was in top form, and the results he achieved should be encouraging to fellow auctioneers Tobias Meyer of Sothebys and Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury with their evening sales on Wednesday and Thursday.
 
The strength of the bidding was clearly demonstrated by Andy Warhol's 'Mao' with an estimate of US $ 700,000 to US $ 900,000. Bidding started at US $ 480,000, quickly reaching US $ 750,000, when an obviously determined collector placed a US $ 1.5 million bid. The contest continued with the work fetching US $ 2.378 million.
 
After the sale, Roger McIlroy, formerly of Christies Australia and now of Nevill Keating McIlroy Ltd, commented: 'What a spectacular sale, who would have thought that we had a stock market crisis just a year ago.'
 
The 31 Crichton lots achieved US $ 93.323 million and sold a 100 % by lot and also by value. The 48 lots of various vendors sold for US $ 138.583 million, totalling US $ 231.907 million.
- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest

28 April 2010
 
Meeting Damien Hirst in Mexico City
 
Why is Damien Hirst opening a major show in Mexico City of all places? Well, buena suerte - good luck - is big in this country, and a chance meeting between one-time gallery owner Hilario Galguera and the world-famous artist at a social event led first to friendship and then  to collaboration.


David Hulme, Damien Hirst and
Brigitte Banziger

Hirst is a confessed Mexico aficionado, and Hilario  introduced him to the real Mexico of Lucha Libre and much more. In  turn, Hirst went on to encourage Hilario Galguera to open a gallery again and finally, on offering him a Hirst show, Galguera relented.
 
This resulted in their first show in February 2006 with 26 works from Hirst´s ¨Tank Series¨. Gallery Hilario Galguera has since gone on to exhibit a host of international and Mexican artists in Mexico City and in their gallery in Leipzig, Germany.
 
The current show ¨Dark Trees¨ featuring over 30 works has been in the planning for over a year. It´s a very personal exhibition for Hirst and is also a tribute to his friend, the artist Angus Fairhurst, who committed suicide in 2008 at the age of only 41.
 
Not all of the wiorks are for sale. Some are from Hirst´s own collection and others in the series have been loaned from private collections. Works displayed range from 650,000 pounds to 7.5 million pounds for a triptych.
 
David Hulme:  Is it important that you are also promoting Mexican art by holding exhibitions here in Mexico City?
Damien Hirst: No, for me it´s about the people, friends and relationships are important to me. I´ve been coming to Mexico for a long time. I´ve got a place at the beach. I might come here for three months at a time.
 
David Hulme: Are there buyers in Mexico for your works?
Damien Hirst: Yes, now there are, and let´s face it we only need to sell one painting and it´s paid for everything including a good party, isn´t that right Hilario.
 
David Hulme: You can´t get many people through the gallery here in comparison to London, It´s all pretty low key here isn´t it?
Damien Hirst: No, that´s not true we hold the exhibition here for a longer period, three months, so it evens out with numbers over time.
Hilario:  Yes, at Damien´s last show here in Mexico City we had 70´000 people through the door.
 
David Hulme: With your previous and most well known works with Australian sharks have you ever considered putting an Australian Crocodile in formaldhyde.
Damien Hirst: No, although I did have a collector ask me one time, but no, I´m a bit over that now. We do actually have a lot of crocodiles down at the beach here in Mexico, you see them at night. It´s also excellent surf. My wife´s a mad keen surfer, I call myself a surf widow.
 
David Hulme:  Have you tried it?
Damien Hirst: No, it´s all too much like hard work for me.
 
David Hulme: You should come to our home town, Manly Beach in Sydney. We have some great waves there too. Maybe stick to painting surfboards then.
Damien Hirst: Yeah, I´ve done a few of those too.
 
David: What about Mexico City?
Damien:  Yeah, it´s a great town. Look, I met Mexico´s president last night. You can´t do things like that back home in England. Imagine like going to meet with the Queen.
 
Dark Trees - The works
 
As for the images themselves, arresting images of death dominate. We observe the familiar Hirst motifs including skulls, sharks and well used dots in many of these paintings. Clear influences of Mexico and the Mexican´s attitude to death resonate here.
 
In some of his images Hirst creates a web from which there seems no escape from inevitable death. In others he has produced an x-ray like effect as if this will somehow reveal the answers about death Hirst is seeking. In another work we see a priest, his head a skull - the death of religion or its demise perhaps. Hirst appears to answer his own questions with these images of death, as to where he is ultimately headed. Through these dark images and subjects there is a light of optimism, some feeling of a light at the end of the tunnel. Death is a reality but nothing to be fearful of. It comes to us all - a truly Mexican vision.

Criticism of Damien Hirst´s paintings has been quite frequent lately. Aware of all the criticism I walked into Gallery Galguera with I hope as open a mind as possible. An uninspiring building on the outside, the space is  beautifully modern internally and cmpliments Hirst´s work well.
 
But are these paintings good? Clearly the expectations on all works that Hirst produces are now like his prices, in the stratosphere. I prefer to ignore the price tags as I see them as completely separate from looking at his art.

I enjoyed the works for what they were. I didn´t feel thatnew ground was being broken here but if you have ever been to Mexico you will see where Hirst is coming from and that here he is dealing with his own mortality. Let´s face it, the artist is still only 44 years old.

I think we should look forward to what he does next with some enthusiasm. Hirst is after all always likely to confound and suprise us that´s what makes him interesting. Hirst is undoubtedly one of the most successful artists of all time. At his age he still has a lot to give us, so a little patience wouldn´t go amiss.

Down Mexico Way: Beyond Rivera, Kahlo and Co.

It is the biggest and most important contemporary art fair in its sphere of influence with over 90 international galleries, 900 represented artists and 30,000 visitors (and as such very comparable to the Melbourne Art Fair) – but you may never have heard of it.

Zona Mexico Arte Contemporaneo (Zona Maco) in its 7^th year showcased the thriving contemporary art and gallery scene not only in Mexico, but also Colombia, Peru and Brazil, with some excellent Spanish and US American art galleries thrown in. David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger spoke with long-established as well as new art galleries during the fair from 14 to 18 April.

No works of the legendary Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in sight here, yet their influence is still widely acknowledged. Galeria de Arte Mexicana (GAM), founded in 1935 and Mexico´s longest-running art gallery, started out with their work and have made the successful transition into modern contemporary art under the leadership of Mariana Perez Amor and Alejandra Yturbe, the doyennes of the Mexican art world and highly regarded especially by their peers. Today, they represent one of Mexico’s greatest living artists, Francisco Toledo, and many other younger successful artists, concentrating on flat art rather than the conceptual art found at many other stands.

Would the buzz of the opening night with the Mexico City elite out to play translate into sales? Alejandra Yturbe is optimistic, as the local collectors tend to come and look first, purchasing only at the end of the fair. Yturbe comments: ‘We are finding that it is not only the wealthy that are buying art in Mexico. We are seeing that today there is a larger audience.’ As Alejandra points out, the arrival of Fine Art Auction House Louis Morton in Mexico City in 1988 helped foster a collector culture, creating the opportunity of buying and selling on the secondary market.

Did the financial crisis have a noticeable impact on business? Rafael Yturbe, son of Alejandra and also involved in the running of the gallery, says: ‘It has not had that big an impact. Of course, the Damien Hirst art auction at Sothebys in London coinciding with the start of the financial problems was seen as some kind of pivotal moment and end of the art market. In reality, the art market continues unabated.´

Mauricio Galguera of Galeria Hilario Galguera, who represent Damien Hirst, supports the view that the horizon of the art buyers in Mexico has expanded in the last ten years, not only focusing on modernists such as Rivera, Kahlo and Rufino Tamayo. He added: ‘There has been a massive shift in attitude, the Mexican art collector is a relatively new species. This would not have been possible without the growing quality and innovation in the art presented – and therefore we also see more international buyers.’

OMR gallery director Patricia Ortiz Monasterio is a regular at Art Basel and another legend amongst the Mexican art gallerists and has good memories of Roslyn Oxley and remembers Ray Hughes well. Ortiz Monasterio is also confident of good sales, pointing out: ‘Often, people don’t know how to look at things, so we have to educate them. Some buyers buy to decorate, others you see at every art show – the collectors. In this regard, Maco is no different from any other art fair.’

Kurimanzutto are one of the most important galleries in Mexico, representing Mexico’s most widely acclaimed artist, Gabriel Orozco, whose work was shown in a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York just this year. Georgina Arozarena of Kurimanzutto shares the optimism: ‘We see better art than last year, and the fair has been much better organized especially for international collectors with a package program offering studio and museum visits.’ As for purchases, Arozarena thinks that the buyers are more careful and thoughtful, and are making wiser choices.

‘Also, the buyers see a greater mix of art, as in the last 6 months a lot of galleries have been opening in Mexico City’, added Arozarena. One of them is Antena Estudio, a gallery run by artists Laura Ortiz Vega and Andres Basurto who sold a work for 70,000 Pesos (AU$ 6,300) by Ortiz Vega on the opening night. Interestingly, all the newer galleries display prices, while the established ones don’t. Basurto explains: ‘We want clients to feel that our art is accessible for all. We are finding our buyers are perhaps from a different set, as there is a stronger middle class in Mexico. They are taking risks and buying art that they previously would not have. Plus there are buyers from the USA, and also from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and some Europeans.’ 

Speaking of prices and economic realities, Myto gallery is in an enviable position. Founded in 2002 by an avid collector, it is not commercially oriented, but operates as an art factory, as director Belen Moro explains. She says: ‘2009 was a very difficult year for art here, as Maco was also hit very hard by the outbreak of swine flu. But since the start of 2010 things have been looking up with collectors wanting to buy again. Perhaps the prices were also getting too high, and there has now been a revision both in price and quality all around. Mexican art is in a good place right now.´

Alejandra Funtanet is a newcomer with Caja Blanca Gallery, founded in 2009. She underlines: ‘2010 is much better, with better quality and curation in the artworks. Our collectors are looking for young artists yet to make their mark.’ 

With prices starting from US $ 500 to US $ 500,000, Mexican contemporary art is certainly accessible to a wide audience, with a lot of quality art available. Nor is language a barrier, as English is spoken by all gallerists, and the overall atmosphere is upbeat. Perhaps there is also potential for cross-pollination with Australia’s artists and galleries…

- Article originally published in Australian Art Sales Digest