Don Milne: Tiny painting steals show

By DON MILNE

Does size matter in the art world?

The bigger the work - if it's by a major artist - the better the price, as a general rule.

But good (and expensive) things often come in small packages.

So at Dunbar Sloane's auction last week - his last in the White Heron Hotel before shifting to new premises in Newmarket next month - a small work by the late Tony Fomison was the star of the show.

Just 26cm by 36cm, 21 years of Amnesty International was a very typical work of the artist, painted in his usual sombre palette and showing a prisoner behind bars.

Whether it was that connection, or the fact that good works by Fomison come rarely to auction, it fetched well above its estimate of $15,000 to $25,000, selling for $34,000 (before buyer's premium of 10 per cent, and GST on the premium).

Similarly, at Webb's auction a few weeks back, size did not deter bidders for an important work by Colin McCahon. Titled Can you hear me St Francis?, the painting, based on poems by West Coast writer Peter Hooper, is on three panels, each just under 30cm square. Painted in 1969, the work was expected to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000. In the end, it made $190,000 - close to the lower estimate.

An enamel on board landscape by the same artist, on the same size panel, went for $43,000 - $8000 above its highest estimate.

The same sale was marked by high prices for works on paper by Ralph Hotere, mostly studies for his bigger oils.

Two fetched $26,000 and $23,000 each - approaching McCahon prices for similar works.

And two 1956 photographs by Eric Lee-Johnson of Opo the dolphin went for $1900 and $2600.

The International Art Centre's sale late last month in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, also saw keen interest, with few lots unsold. Works by Sydney Lough Thompson and Margaret Olrog Stoddart, attractive in their post-impressionist style, reaffirmed the artists' growing popularity with buyers, fetching up to $36,000 and $29,000 respectively.

Records were set, according to director Richard Thomson, for W.J. Reed (Boatman, Otago Harbour, $11,250), W.A. Bollard (Gateway to the Pah, Waikato, $8500) and Tom Peerless (Scene from the Maori Wars, Taranaki, $11,250).

Dunbar Sloane also claimed a record last week for a large painting by Philip Trusttum from his Garden series. It was knocked down for $35,000 - the bottom end of the estimate, which went up to $50,000.

That was rather a feature of the Parnell sale, where many works failed to reach the quite high estimates and were either passed in or sold subject to the owner's approval of the reduced price, or agreement on a negotiated price.

A Frances Hodgkins gouache of figures in Hyde Park, estimated to sell at between $55,000 and $75,000, went for $50,000, while a 1905 watercolour by the same artist, Figures fishing in French canal, sold at the lower end of the $45,000 to $65,000 estimate.

Further down the price scale, good interest was shown in a further set of works by Thomas "Darby" Ryan (1864-1927), the pioneer New Zealand rugby representative who married the daughter of a Maori chief and ran a boat service at Taupo for 20 years.

In a textbook indicator of the present market, watercolours on Maori themes sold for from $500 up to $4500.

The sole overseas painting, of Tower Bridge in London, went for $300.

Coming up: Cordy's art and antiques sale is Tuesday, September 11.

Webb's have a big arts sale on the following Tuesday, September 18, with jewellery and decorative arts on the Wednesday and Thursday.

The International Art Centre's next sale is planned for the first week of November, while Dunbar Sloane will open its new premises at 20 St Marks Rd, Newmarket, on November 7 and 8 with a major New Zealand and international art and antiques sale.