2 December 2010 |
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Spring 2010 Art Auction |
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The room was standing room only and the auctioneer’s sheets were brimming with absentee bids and telephone buyers. “It was a strong viewing” said company director Patricia Flanagan, “and it was expected that the room would be full on the night. The early summer heat descended upon Perth over the weekend, but it didn’t deter people from turning out to view” she added.
The sales rate was around 75% by value and volume with the major surprise being the pass in rate of the popular and decorative works. “It wasn’t a good night for sellers of Pro Hart, David Boyd or emerging artists, but it is expected that many of those pieces will be sold in the post auction period. “The sale was perhaps indicative of the 2 speed economy that economists chatter about. “The higher priced and important works were vigorously contested, with the others less so” Ms Flanagan said.
One of the highlights of the evening was a new auction record for Ray Crooke’s large oil painting of Islanders in the Shade selling for $77,000 hammer ($88,550 inc BP) “It was a telephone duel between the trade out of Sydney and a private collector from Brisbane” said auction manager Glen Mileham. “Trade was restricted by having to factor in a margin and the collector was liberated by not having to pay a trade margin. “The result was an entertaining phone duel with Brisbane shining through.”
Some of the other highlights were Arthur Streeton’s “Our Untidy Bush” $74,000 hammer ($85,100 inc BP); Captain Charles Russell’s historical view of the mouth of the Swan River $47,000 ($54,050 inc BP); Guy Grey Smith’s “The Saw Millers” $42,000 hammer ($48,300 inc BP) Albert Henry Fullwood’s Newbold Crossing” $25,000 hammer ($28,750 inc BP) and the two works by John Perceval “Working the Goldmine” and “Storm Over Williamstown” making $31,000 ($35,650 inc BP) and $30,000 ($34,500 inc BP) respectively and Allan Baker’s masterful depiction of a Nor West Stockman achieving $12,000 ($13,800 inc BP) that was another auction record set during the night.
The sale bought 2010 to a satisfactory end despite bureaucratic and political interference. The turnover in the Australian secondary art market has fall from $175 million in 2007 to around $90 million in 2010. “It’s been a steady decline in turnover since 2007” said auctioneer Ian Flanagan. “Western Australia has fared better than most other states, but with the introduction of resale royalties and the Cooper recommendation that impacted on super funds, 2010 could have been better and 2011 probably will be.”
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4 November 2010
Mac Betts
1932 – 2010
 Mac Betts celebrating his 78th Birthday |
Mac Betts died as a result of an accidental drowning on Sunday 24th October. One of Western Australia’s leading painters of landscape, his works will ensure that his time among us will never be forgotten.
“I don’t paint the literal, I paint the memory or the feeling of the places I’ve visited and the things I have witnessed.”
“The memories always remain with me”
Engaging Mac in conversation was never easy, he preferred to respond to a question than to provide an opinion and when in company he was more comfortable in the role of observer than that of participant. He enjoyed the physical act of painting and when the memory of a place was invoked and a work completed, he didn’t bask in the delight of his creation, he just picked up his tools and moved on to the next.
The focus was never to be Mac, he was only for family and friends the spotlight was always to be his work, that was for everyone.
8 June 2010 |
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NEW RECORD FOR ROBERT JUNIPER |
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| The viewing was solid and the prices matched at the Winter 2010 Art Auction.
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21 December 2009 |
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2009 has been an Adventurous Year |
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*** New Auction Record
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Sold for $65,000 (Hammer Price) $75,725 (inc Buyers Premium)
*** Second Highest Price For A Work By This Painter
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Sold for $48,000 (Hammer Price) $55,920 (inc Buyers Premium)
*** Third Highest Price For A Work By This Painter
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Sold for $56,000 (Hammer Price) $65,240 (inc Buyers Premium)
*** Highest Price For A Work By This Painter
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Sold for $9,500 (Hammer Price) $11,067 (inc Buyers Premium)
*** Highest Price For A Work By This Painter
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Sold for $12,500 (Hammer Price) $14,562 (inc Buyers Premium)
*** Highest Price For A Work By This Painter
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Sold for $18,000 (Hammer Price) $20,970 (inc Buyers Premium)
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4 December 2009 |
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Summer 2009 Auction Report |
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Three new auction records; a clearance rate of around 80 percent; 24 pieces selling above the upper estimate heralded a great close to the year for our auction division. The room was full to standing room only and the viewing had been strong. There was absentee and phone bidding on 75% of the items on offer and those that didn’t have a following on the auctioneer’s sheets had a following in the room. New records were set for Hayward Veal, John Mather and Mac Betts. "New records were set..." The top performers on the night were Kenneth Jack’s masterful work Cue that was hammered down at $48,000 against an estimate of $18,000 to $25,000. Guy Grey-Smith’s unique piece Pink Hills that reached $56,000 against the estimate of $35,000 to $45,000 and Robert Juniper’s peaceful work Dawn in the Valley that found a buyer at $45,000 hammer against an estimate of $28,000 to $38,000.
"...this area of Australian art is still under valued" John Campbell’s impressive work of Perth 1909 was hammered down at $42,000 against an estimate of $45,000 to $65,000 and the only disappointment on the evening was the failure of the Serventy daybook from Yolla to sell. Bidding ceased at $15,000 but negotiations have commenced with interested parties.
"the art market may strengthen even further" Abstract pictures from the mid twentieth century were popular as Western Australian collectors are aware that this area of Australian art is still under valued. Frank Hodgkinson’s The Bruise of Summer sold for $14,500 against an estimate of $9,000 to $12,000 and Thomas Gleghorn’s Opal Mine Andamooka reached $13,000 hammer price against an estimate of $7,000 to $9,000. Mac Betts impressive picture of Ledge Point sold for $15,000 against an estimate of $12,000 to $15,000 and Howard Taylor’s charming picture of a Hayshed reached $17,000 against an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. A common claim during the viewing was that a number of people were looking to diversify and add liquid and tangible assets to their investment portfolios, which could mean that the art market may strengthen even further in 2010.*Prices do not include 16.5% buyers premium |
20 November 2009 |
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History to Contemporary |
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John Campbell’s detailed work of Perth in 1909 from the Victoria Park area is one of the key offerings of our summer auction. It is a rare work as very few painted images of Victoria Park in 1909 are known to exist. The picture shows an expansive panorama from the east of the causeway down to Mosman Park, with particular attention to the buildings and dwellings in Victoria Park. It also features the residence of Heindrick Bevilaqua a well known businessman of the time who worked as a mortgage broker and served on the boards of notable Western Australian companies including Peet & Co. Perth 1909 is estimated to sell for $45,000 to $65,000.
Another historical piece, is a ship's portrait of the three masted barque the West Australian of London, which first arrived in Fremantle in 1859. She was a state of the art vessel using iron and cement in her construction and she carried passenger and freight to Western Australia until being de-commissioned in 1912. Images of sailing ships with a direct connection to Western Australia are uncommon.
Dr Domonique Serventy’s day book from the CSIRO research facility Yolla on the Fisher Island in the Bass Strait is another rarity on offer. In addition to over 50 drawings by major Australian and international painters, it contains original and unpublished verse by Russell Drysdale, Alan Moorehead; Mary Gillham; Eric Worrell and many others. It is a fascinating diary with irreplaceable and important material. We are pleased to be entrusted with its sale and it estimated to sell for $20,000 to $30,000. Kenneth Jack is represented with another monumental work painted in Western Australia. This time the gold mining town of Cue featuring the heritage listed Murchison Club Hotel and government buildings constructed using the locally quarried limestone. Jack has again painted this work during his favourite time of early evening, when the light for him had a magic quality. Cue is expected to sell for a price of $15,000 to $18,000 and is a considered depiction of the townsite using a small amount of artistic license to include what Kenneth Jack viewed as the essential ingredients.
We are also pleased to offer a noteworthy piece by John Mather painted in 1894 during the period known as The Golden Age of Australian Landscape Painting. This is another coup for GFL as first-rate oil paintings from this period are difficult to find - the major collecting and exhibiting institutions have absorbed most of them. If this work had not spent the greater part of its life in the United States, it is possible a similar destiny may have awaited it. Mather was a popular and influential figure in his time and served as a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria – he was also a colleague of Streeton, Roberts and McCubbin and lectured at the artist’s camps in the Melbourne area.
Two works being offered as one lot represent Walter Paterson Meston. They are of Mandurah at a time when tourism was becoming the life-blood of the town. The important local employer The Peel Inlet Preserving Works had closed (due to over fishing) almost a decade earlier and the installation of a petrol bowser in the main street during 1920 caused a big influx of tourists from Perth and the goldfields escaping the summer heat. These 2 pieces by Meston have been together since painted and show a Mandurah in it’s infancy with none of the development of recent times. It is often thought that Meston started his career in Perth as a sign writer who drifted into art, but the research involved in cataloguing these works discovered that he actually commenced his career in Perth as an artist who drifted into sign writing.
Just as well represented is the contemporary side of the market with another rare work being Guy Grey-Smith’s lime tempera Pink Hills, estimated to sell for between $35,000 to $45,000, it was exhibited in Sydney 1960 and is only one of two works in this medium known to exist. It is a pivotal piece and may have been instrumental in Grey-Smith switching to his well known oil and beeswax emulsion. Mac Betts early work Ledge Point is also a find – painted in the 70’s not long after his arrival from England, Betts was seeing the Western Australian light for the first time and was taken by its strength and clarity – he has merged sky and water into one, with the hint of a headland separating the two. Some of the other contemporary painters whose work is being auction include major works by Robert Juniper; Marie Hobbs; Doug Chambers; Miriam Stannage; Frank Hodgkinson; Thomas Gleghorn; Howard Taylor; Sidney Nolan; Tim Maguire; Tim Storrier and Brian Mckay. There are nearly 150 lots included in this auction with a section devoted to Australian pottery.
The auction commences at |
29 June 2009 |
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Winter 2009 Art Auction Report |
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Though the weather was wet, windy and cold, the room was full and the bidding was brisk as bidders competed spiritedly for the items on offer. The top hammer price on the evening was $65,000* for Kenneth Jack’s portrait of Perth completed in 1979 at the time of the state’s sesquicentenary. This price represents a new auction record for Jack and was acquired for a Perth private collection against competition from the Eastern states and a local municipality.
Robert Juniper’s Road to Great Fingal was bought with one bid of $40,000* as those waiting to participate in the bidding were flattened by the determination of the phone bidder who advanced the opening bid from $28,000 to $40,000 with one call. “I was watching the room and the phones” said auctioneer Ian Flanagan “as I expected some fire works when this picture came up as it had been tremendously popular during the viewing. “We had 3 phones and at least 3 buyers in the room that I knew of, but the king hit of $40,000* stunned the others and despite giving them extra time to consider their position they were unable to regain their composure – it was a very clever bidding tactic on behalf of the new owner” Flanagan added. Clearance rate on the night was 85% by volume and 85% by value and those painters making their auction debut fared well considering the lack of auction precedence. “The contemporary Western Australian painters are very popular within their region” said Glen Mileham warehouse and special events manager. “I was really pleased to see the audience responding to these new auction room painters - accordingly, there was a lot of new faces on the auction floor on Tuesday night” he added. “You are never sure how the clients will respond to the works and the prices were healthy considering that many were auction debut works.”
As well as being a standing room only in the rooms, the level of absentee and phone bidding was higher than normal. “I noticed the increase in internet activity as the day progressed” commented Tom Robbins IT manager. “On the day of the auction, the level of off site bidding was lower than usual which was a bit of a surprise as the viewing was strong, but as the day got longer and the rain kept coming the absentee bids and phone requests started in earnest” he added. Patricia Flanagan company director commented “The move back to Nedlands to auction was very popular with our clients. “Our expanded facility allowed us to auction out of our rooms again and with the free car parking and ease of access to the rooms the bidder turn out was strong regardless of the weather conditions.” |
27 May 2009 |
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Kenneth Jack’ Portrait of Perth to be offered at our Winter Auction. |
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One of the finest works by Kenneth Jack will go under the hammer in our rooms on Tuesday 23rd June – it has been estimated to sell for between $70,000 and $90,000. “It’s such an important painting showing Perth at an interesting time, just before a lot of modern changes were made and during the year of the sesquicentenary (150th year of the states foundation) – Perth’s population has doubled since then” said auction director Patricia Flanagan – “you can never be certain what price a painting of this quality may fetch” she added.
Kenneth Jack chose a position in Kings Park that allowed him to use his artistic license to include many of the highlights that Perth is well know for – he has been able to foreshorten the area and bring the viewer into immediate contact with the city from the proximity of the old Swan Brewery while not losing any of the volume of the locale he is portraying. The time of the year appears to be late Winter or early Spring as there appears to be the hint of new growth on some of the trees. Late afternoon is recorded as being Jack’s preferred time of day to depict as he considered the light to have a magic quality.
In addition to the masterful work by Kenneth Jack, Robert Juniper’s 1976 painting “Road to Great Fingal” will also be offered. This is another great work by Robert Juniper and one of the most important pieces by the artist to have been offered at auction in some time. “The Road to Great Fingal could also attract bids in excess of the $45,000 to $55,000 estimate” Ms Flanagan said “there will be 6 pieces by Robert Juniper offered in this auction including a delightful 1958 portrait of a young girl and a very early abstract painting.”
There are many other sensational paintings including a major work by Marie Tuck – she was cleaning Rupert Bunny’s studio at the time she painted this picture. But while Bunny was painting lovely young ladies posing and relaxing in the finest of silks, Marie Tuck couldn’t afford to pay for models and was in the markets of Paris and Etaples painting and recording the women at toil in anything but silk. Historically, Tuck painted the more interesting image and was one of the early social realist painters. She was also the first Australian woman to receive an honourable mention at the Paris Salon.
The piece we have in the Autumn auction is a social realist piece. Marie Tuck spent the early years of her career in Perth teaching and was a committee member of the WA Society of Arts from 1900 to 1904.
In addition there are some exciting works by many of the contemporary painters some of them making their auction debut through our rooms they include – Galliano Fardin; Doug Chambers; Cynthia Ellis; John Paul and Theo Koning. The expansion of our gallery space means that we will be able to conduct the auction from our rooms for the first time since Autumn 2007. |
10 February 2009 |
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Spring 2008 Art Auction |
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With a solid viewing and a clearance rate of 75% by volume and 72% by value the Spring 2008 auction was successful and saw GFL create another Australian record for a watercolour. This time it was for a work by Ernest D Stocks and was an 1898 picture of Fremantle. It was competitively bid to $19,000* and has found a new home in a local private collection. The picture was a contemporary eye-witness account of the activity surrounding the Fremantle Harbour during the early years of the gold rush.
This is the second early work of Fremantle GFL have offered in recent sales with the 1860’s Panorama of Fremantle from the South selling for the hammer price of $30,000* in the Autumn 2008 auction. At that time the painter was unknown, however it is now believed it could be the work of William Wright a convict whom arrived in Fremantle in 1851 on the Pyrenees. Further investigation surrounding Wright is being undertaken before a formal attribution can be given. Top price of the evening was $48,000* for Clifton Pugh’s important work Sea Front Broome, painted in 1964 before Broome became a popular tourist destination. Other works to sell well on the evening included William Boissevain’s “Ballerina” for $6,200* – George Haynes pivotal work “Aloha” for $16,000* and Robert Juniper’s two pieces “To the Waterhole” and “The Big Men Fly” for $22,000* and $19,000* respectively. The colonial work of St Leonards homestead was bid to $18,000* on the night, which was not quite to reserve and negotiations are continuing with the highest bidder. Details of prices paid and bids received including after sales are now available on the web site.
The auction basically went as we expected, with the demand for the new collector items softening in price, and for the first time in a number of years, works by David Boyd, Pro Hart, Ray Crooke and Max Mannix were passed in. “When the market softens, this is generally the area to be hit first” said Glen Mileham auction coordinator “the interstate dealers that operate in this area were not very active this time. “They will be drawing on their existing stocks and probably wont return to the market to replenish until mid 2009. “It was strange not to see a forest of hands bidding on these works as has happened in previous sales” he said. "new collector items softening in price" Auctioneer Ian Flanagan said “the crowd was different and many of our clients that we haven’t seen for a while, made a welcome return. “ They obviously had and eye to a bargain. “These people are sophisticated collectors and took advantage of reduced reserves and estimates applicable to many of the works. “Howard Arkley’s Arrows and Elwyn Lynn’s Nike are just a couple of the important pieces that found new homes at prices less than the estimate. “As with all the good works to sell for less than expected there was a lot of non-buyers remorse the following day as the phone rang hot with inquiries about different lots.”
"...had and eye to a bargain" There was solid bidding on, and above estimate prices were paid for pieces by Mac Betts; Miriam Stannage; Elise Bluuman and Nigel Hewitt. Outside of institutions works by these painters are not well known in other Australian states, which all confirms that with the exception of a few painters, the modern and contemporary Australian art market is regional. William Boissevain’s early work of Poppies was popular and was bid to $13,500*, a price that would be improbable in any other area in Australia.
*Prices do not include 16.5% buyers premium |
Lot 42 Ernest Decimus Stocks "Fremantle WA From Flagstaff Hill" sold for $19,000* 
Lot 46 Clifton Ernest Pugh "Sea Front Broome 1964" sold for $48,000* 
Lot 38 George Haynes "Aloha" sold for $16,000* 
Lot 51 Robert Juniper "The Big Men Fly" sold for $19,000*