Saleroom: The past lines up against the present at art auction

By DON MILNE

One of the interesting things about attending auctions is the chance to compare early efforts by an artist with their mature works.

Webb's, at its art sale on June 25 (described by them as one of the strongest offerings they have put forward), will present that opportunity for more than one artist.

The perennially popular Ralph Hotere, for instance, will be represented by a number of works dating back to 1969, including one of the lacquer Black Paintings done after he shifted to Dunedin as Frances Hodgkins Fellow.

A 1982 work is from the Aramoana series (set in a sash window frame) with Polaris (1984), a later piece on burnished corrugated steel.

All are classical Hotere works and should fetch high prices, as should an early bird painting by Don Binney, from 1964.

The much-underrated Milan Mrkusich is also represented by a fine early work from 1964. There are several works by Colin McCahon, too, with the prime offering Comet F13, from a 1974 exhibition in the Barry Lett Galleries. If McCahon holds his attraction - and there is no sign of it waning - that could climb over $300,000.

Two of the most interesting works to compare, however, are by an artist of an earlier generation.

The Quiet Hour was painted by Evelyn Page around 1935, just before she left for London where she saw the works of the great post-impressionists. It is an attractive, highly proficient work.

Nude with Magnolias was done some 50 years later, in her 86th year, and is a wonderful painting.

Inscribed Homage to Matisse, it took the increasingly arthritic artist more than a year to complete. She regarded it as her most successful figurative work. On her death it passed to her son, Sebastian Page, and it has never been on the market before.

Webb's estimate it will sell for between $170,000 and $190,000 but it would be no surprise if it went for more.

For those whose tastes go back rather further, Webb's also have a strong collection of colonial works. One that takes the eye is by Captain Richard Oliver, captain of HMS Fly, which made the first hydrographic survey of New Zealand.

His watercolour, painted in 1851, is titled Group outside a tent, Pomare's Pah, Bay of Islands.

The inscription on the back is rather more revealing, if scarcely politically correct to modern eyes. The little group are described as "Half-castes ... perhaps the finest mixed race in the world ... " Jane, on the left, was, says Oliver, "famous for her personal attractions". In his depiction, she would not look out of place in Victoria's London - costume aside.

Another attractive (and rare) watercolour is by Alfred Sharpe, Twilight on the Swamps of the Awaroa, in flood. Painted in 1887, it was exhibited that year at the Auckland Society of Arts with a price tag of £15. In 2002, Webb's expect it to go for between $120,000 and $150,000.

Coming up:

Cordy's have an art and antiques sale tomorrow evening.

Webb's art sale is June 25 (with jewellery and decorative arts on June 26 and 27).

Webb's modern design sale is July 24.

Modern and contemporary furniture and other items of contemporary design should prove a magnet for Auckland trendies looking to refurnish.

The International Art Centre's next auction, in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, will be on July 25. Highlights will include two fine works by Peter Siddell, a wonderfully bucolic watercolour of Wellington in 1888 by Christopher Aubrey, and several works by Petrus van der Velden.

Dunbar Sloane's next Auckland sale is planned for August 21-22.