Good as Goldie ! Wed, 29 Jul 2009
An enthusiastic crowd, strong competition and quality works on offer resulted in one of the highest selling rates for our Important, Early & Rare catalogues last evening Tuesday 28 July. The 19th & 20th Century New Zealand Art Market shows no signs of economic downturn.
Numerous auction records were achieved - Buck Nin $16,000 and Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard $52,000.
Top price went to Charles F Goldie's 'The Aristocrat' at $252,000 ( $287,431 including premium), confirming the strength and solidity of the Goldie market.
Works from the late Sir James Fletcher's Estate were well received - all but one of the offering were sold under hammer with top price going to Alfred Sharpe's 'Speers Point & Lake Macquarie, Newcastle' at $52,000
Sydney Thompson's 'Almond Blossom, Saint Jeannet, France, 1922' achieved $30,500 against its estimate of $22,000 - 28,000, and another work by the artist sold for $20,500.
Historical works fared extremely well. J C Hoyte 'Pink Terraces, Rotomahana' estimated to fetch $20,000 - 30,000 made $37,000 and another historic watercolour of Auckland went for $27,000. An album New Zealand Views, 1891 containing 86 albumen prints of New Zealand estimated at $2,000 - 3,000 achieved $5,600 and all four Backhouse works on tin and shell exceeded top estimate.A John Gibb oil was sold for $15,000. Two Louis Auguste De Sainson lithographs went for $5,600 against an estimate of $800 - 1,200
Highlights were not confined to just the 19th & 20th Century offering of which this particular catalogue had a strong focus. Gretchen Albrecht's Hemisphere went for $14,000, Mike Petre 'Field Study' made $11,250 (Est $8,000 - 12,000), and a Michael Smither titled 'Doralto Road in Moonlight' went for $33,000. All but one of the six Toss Wollaston were sold, the highest achieving $20,000. A Nigel Brown titled 'Damaged Landscape' went for $10,500 (Est $8,000 - 12,000)
All Garth Tapper paintings were sold, ranging from $3,750 for 'The Young Priest' up to $14,500 for '4am'. A similar result was achieved for John Weeks paintings, all were sold under hammer.
Felix Kelly much discussed 'Steamboat House Mississippi' sold for $21,000. Edward Fristrom 'A Breezy Day at Seatoun, Wellington' went for $8,300
Norman Wilkinson 'Wellington' sold for $12,000 (Est $6,000 - 10,000)
Entries are now invited for the next Important, Early & Rare catalogue currently in preparation and to be held in October. The sale already includes some exciting offerings of similar quality. To include or discuss works that meet the criteria in this major sale contact Richard Thomson richard@artcntr.co.nz Phone +64 9 379-4010 or complete our online appraisal form Mobile phone 0274 751 071 .
