Saleroom
JANE GREENWOOD
The Wellington auctioneers, DUNBAR SLOANE LTD., held the first of their 1977 art sales on Friday April 29, when they offered a large catalogue, divided into two sessions.
The evening session, which contained all the interesting items in the catalogue, attracted a capacity crowd. There had been a good deal of comment from dealers and collectors during the two days of viewing that this sale would probably decide the tone of the art market for the rest of the year. Naturally, those buyers who had purchased heavily in 1976 must have awaited the start of the sale with feelings of mild trepidation.
The sale began on a puzzling note. The auctioneer announced that he would break the catalogue order at the request of a buyer who seemingly wished to bid for a number of paintings, but wanted his first choice (lot 107) out of the way in order to know if he would have money left for other lots.
It seemed to me to be bad tactics on the part of the would-be buyer so conspicuously to draw attention to the painting he or she wished to purchase-especially as it would have come up in its proper order after only six lots. Whatever the motives, the sale of Frances Hodgkins's Portrait of a Tramp (lot 107), a small watercolour painted in 1895 and clearly showing the influence of her teacher Nerli, set the room buzzing when it rocketed up to its knock-down price of $7,000. This was more than double most estimates. Assuming the sale was genuine (and I don't for a moment suggest that it wasn't) it successfully established a buoyant tone for the rest of the sale.
The National Gallery surprised again with its purchase of a Von Tempsky watercolour for the hefty sum of $11,000. This painting (lot 112, described below), rare and historically important as it is, might less surprisingly have gone to the Alexander Turnbull Library for its value as a document surely outweighs its significance as a work of art. As to the price: well, how often do you see a Von Tempsky on the market? I had estimated that this work could fetch anything between $5,000 and $10,000. The auctioneer announced before offering it that the Customs Department had declared it a prohibited export.
The third picture to attract the limelight was a large Goldie portrait of an old Maori woman whose wrinkled face reflected the orange glow of a fire. It was uncatalogued and replaced the painting by the same artist that had been withdrawn from the sale. It was an attractive study and my reckoning had been that it should fetch at least $15,000. Bidding for it was brisk, and it was knocked down for $16,750. However, the sale was to be subject to the owner's consent as it had apparently had a higher reserve.
The one artist to disappoint his followers and take a long-expected tumble was W.G. Baker. His large, muddy oils suffered a considerable drop on last year's prices. One in particular that was sold in Auckland last year for $8,000 (or so a number of people told me who had been at its Auckland sale and recognized it) failed to attract a higher bid than $2,000.
All things considered, it was a good sale: but I was left feeling that it was going to take another art sale in the capital to accurately determine the true state of the market for New Zealand nineteenth century paintings. High reserves set by vendors unwilling to take less than last year's prices, coupled with an auctioneer's skill at keeping buyers guessing as to the true tone of a sale, may have given a false impression. Only if prices hold through another sale or two can it be said with any confidence that nineteenth century paintings are proving as good an investment as many were led to believe a year or two ago.
The most interesting items are set out below, with the prices they realised, and my pre-sale estimates in brackets.
Lot 106, J.C.Hoyte, Lake Rotomohana, watercolour, signed and dated 1873, 15'1. x 23'/4 inches, $2,900 ($2,500); lot 107, Frances Hodgkins, Portrait of a Tramp, watercolour, signed and dated 26 April 1895, 12 x 10 inches, $7,000 ($2,500); lot 108, Thomas Peerless, Lake Wakatipu. . ., watercolour, signed and inscribed, 20 x 37.5 inches, $2,000 ($2,000); lot 110, J.M. Nairn, Tess at Silverstream, watercolour, signed, dated 1893 and inscribed, 21 x 29 inches, $2,400 ($2,000); lot 111, Walter Wright, Maori Village. . ., oil, signed and dated (19)14, 19.25. x 29.5 inches, $2,900 ($3,500); lot 112, Von Tempsky, Scene of the Battle of Orakau, watercolour 13.5 x 19.5 inches, $11,000 ($5,000 to $10,000); lot115, Charles Blomfield, The White Terraces, oil, signed and dated 1885, 17.25. x 30 inches, $4,800 ($4,000); lot 116, J.C. Hoyte, Hollyford River and Darren Range, watercolour, signed, 11 x 17.5 inches, $2,400 ($2,000); lot 117, George O'Brien, View of Otago Heads and Port Chalmers, watercolour, signed and dated 1867, 7.5 x 14 inches, $2,050 ($1,800); lot 119, John Gibb, Cobb and Co. Stagecoach on the Bealey, oil, signed and dated 1885, 16 x 24 inches, $3,050 ($1,800); lot 124, J.J. Merrett, Portrait of Two Maoris, watercolour, 11.75 x 8 inches, $1,500 ($1,500); C.N. Worsley, Sheep Drive, watercolour, signed, 19.5 x 13.25 inches, $2,000 ($1,800); lot 149, George O'Brien, The Maori Racecourse, Otago Lower Harbour, watercolour, signed, 10 x 8 inches, $2,000 ($1,500); lot 152, John Kinder, Maori Camp, watercolour, signed and dated Dec. 211858, 10 x 14 inches, $1,300 ($1,000); lot 155, H.G. Robley, Tomika Te Mutu, watercolour, signed and inscribed, 9.5 x 7 inches, $600 ($500); lot 157, Frances Hodgkins, Figures by the Sea, gouache, signed, 10.5 x 13 inches, $2,500 ($2,500); lot 158a, Frances Hodgkins, Two Heads, watercolour, signed and dated 1940, 16 x 16 inches, $3,200 ($2,000); lot 173, Robert Johnson, Eastwood Farms, New South Wales, oil, signed, 17.5 x 21.5 inches, $2,800 ($2,000); lot 174, Robert Johnson, The Giant Fig Tree, oil, signed, 17.5 x 21.5 inches, $2,600 ($2,000).
Originally published in Art New Zealand 6 June/July 1977