Market starts the year on vigorous note

Next week, Dunbar Sloane's sales include a superb Anton Seuffert cabinet. Photo / Supplied

The art market, which held up remarkably well in last year's recession, has started on a very strong note.

Art+Object's March sale saw the highest total in the company's history, with final negotiations taking it to $1.4 million - the house's third million-dollar sale in the past 12 months.

The International Art Centre followed with a good sale, if not quite up to the peaks of last year.

And right at the end of the month, Webb's hit the mark with a small but outstanding offering, in which works by two leading contemporary artists, Bill Hammond and Shane Cotton, topped the $200,000 mark.

By this week, sales had reached around $1.8 million. Along the way, auction records were set for a number of artists, with Cotton going at Webb's to a spectacular $228,120 (buyer's premium and GST included).

Another clue to the resilience of the market was the good attendance and spirited bidding at all three auctions, plus the many phone and absentee bids registered.

While there may still be some resistance in the middle of the price range, interest at the top and bottom ends appears strong.

At Art+Object, all but two of the 23 controversial This Land works by Ralph Hotere sold on the night, at an average price of $13,656. Three works exceeded $100,000, either under the hammer or immediately post-auction. A Gordon Walters koru from 1972 sold for $273,744, Rosalie Gascoigne's Dandelion of 1990 went for $191,250, and Pat Hanly's Figures in Light No 12 sold for $130,000.

At the International Art Centre, Charles Goldie's tiny portrait of Ahinata Te Rangituatini failed to reach the lower estimate of $180,000 but still sold well at $168,000 ($191,620 with premium and GST). The subject, also known as Kapi Kapi, was a survivor of the Tarawera eruption and was painted many times by Goldie.

Frances Hodgkins' water-colour Market Scene, Dordrecht, from around 1906 went for $2000 more than the top estimate, reaching $70,717.

At Webb's, Bill Hammond's A Lullaby of Birdland achieved $251,000 on the night, while his Ancestral E was negotiated at $154,000. Tony Fomison's spooky Hill Top Watcher sold for $137,000. A surprise of the night was Dick Frizzell's Ocean Beach, which went for $59,300 against an estimate of $30,000-$40,000.

Next week, Dunbar Sloane's sales include two magnificent objects - a superb Anton Seuffert cabinet, and a golden age Straight 8 Lanchester drophead coupe - worth viewing, even if not many could afford the $200,000-plus they are expected to fetch.

COMING UP

April 19-21: Dunbar Sloane, Auckland, antiques and collectables
April 20: Webb's, affordable art
April 21-22: Dunbar Sloane, Wellington, fine, applied and affordable arts
April 27: Cordy's, antiques and art
April 28: International Art Centre, contemporary, foreign and collectable art
May 13: Art+Object, important photography
May 25: Webb's, A2 art; Cordy's, antiques and art
May 26: Webb's, jewellery and watches
May 27: Webb's, antiques and decorative arts
June 15: Webb's, oceanic and African arts
June 22: Cordy's, antiques and art
June 23: Art+Object, new collectors art
June 24: Art+Object, oceanic and African artefacts