KEY POINTS:
What makes an artist saleable? Petrus van der Velden, who came to New Zealand in 1890, is certainly high on the local list.
Vincent van Gogh championed him in his native Holland, describing him as "a real painter".
His works hang in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and in many New Zealand public and private collections. So it was some surprise when a major painting, After the Funeral, failed to sell at Art+Object's sale last month. Bidding reached only $80,000, against estimates from $100,000 to $150,000.
Some might attribute it to a declining interest in expensive historical works, others to a lack of patrons prepared to pay $100,000 and more for a work of art. But the reason is probably simpler - this was a Dutch, not a New Zealand, subject.
On the day, works by New Zealand artists and showing New Zealand subjects, sold readily. On offer was the collection of Bev and Murray Gow, one-time co-owners of the John Leech Gallery, plus many works from the gallery itself which were in storage.
Such a cross-section of local endeavour, including works from as early as 1845 up to Michael Smither and Ralph Hotere, is rarely seen on the market, and buyers responded with enthusiasm.
Top price of $220,000 ($250,932 with 14.06 per cent buyer's premium and GST) went to Hotere's Towards Aramoana, in a sale negotiated later after bidding stopped at $215,000.
Nothing else topped the $100,000 mark, although an unusual early work by Colin McCahon, painted in 1941 as backdrop to a Dunedin production of T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, sold for $90,000 ($102,654).
As of now, with some sales still being negotiated, the total for the afternoon was a shade over $620,000, excluding buyer's premiums.
Photographs again did well, with H. Goldie's historic carbon print of kauri gum collectors fetching $2100 ($2395), and an early shot of Parnell by the Burton brothers selling for $900 ($1026).
For those collecting at the lower end of the market, there was strong interest in the many prints on offer, with works by Adele Younghusband and George Woods selling at above the top estimates. Prints by Eileen Mayo also sold well in this section, while Rural Pyre by Edward Bullmore was a stand-out in the landscape section, going for $7200 ($8212) against an estimate of $2000 to $4000.
October looks full of action, with some big collections coming forward. Contemporary art features very strongly, with 67 lots at Art+Object tonight and 143 at Webb's on October 16. Both galleries are making a determined effort to establish a secondary market for such works.
Webb's has produced an astonishing catalogue, filled with detail and replete with artists, from the familiar like Bill Hammond and Peter Robinson to a raft of newcomers.
The very recent is an area the auction houses have tended to shun in the past; dealer galleries, and the artists themselves, will be watching this contest closely, and perhaps with some trepidation. In the end, the buyers will decide. November sees the re-entry into Auckland of Dunbar Sloane, now moved into new rooms at 12 Akepiro St, at the city end of Dominion Rd.
Coming up:
* Tonight: Art+Object, contemporary art and objects.
* October 9/10: Webb's, jewellery, antiques and decorative arts.
* October 15: International Art Centre, fine art.
* October 16: Webb's, contemporary art; Cordy's, antiques and art.
* October 17: Webb's, 20th century design.
* November 11-18: Dunbar Sloane's opening sales in new Auckland premises.
* November 22: Art+Object, important New Zealand paintings.
* November 26-27: Cordy's, fine and applied arts.
* November 27: International Art centre, collectable art.
