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James Cockington
A pleasing trend over the past few years has been the increasing success of Australian contemporary art on the secondary (auction) market. This acts as a stimulus to young or undiscovered artists and has also attracted a new generation of investors who can see that a work of art they pick up from a gallery for a thousand or so has the potential to be worth $30,000 in five or ten years time. This, of course, is an exceptional result but there is evidence that this is happening.
Last year also saw the emergence of a new player at the top end of the art auction world. deutscher and hackett is a new Melbourne-Sydney partnership which took on the might of Sotheby’s and Bonhams in 2007. After three auctions in Melbourne they staged their first Sydney auction on 29 November, clearing over 70% of the 160 lots with a total result on the night of $4.27 million.
While established names like Jeffrey Smart ($600,000), Fred Williams ($360,000), John Brack ($288,000) and Charles Blackman ($264,000) accounted for much of the grand total, the lesser known stars of the contemporary scene also played their part.
Gwynn Hanssen Pigott for example. She’s hardly a household name but the $45,000 achieved for her 2003 work, Shadow, was an Australian record for her work. Other significant results included Michael Zavros’ Spring/Fall ($36,000, another Australian record) and Andrew Browne’s Seek Alternative Route #2 (fetching $31,200). The paintings of Zavros and Browne were also dated 2003, so these are contemporary works indeed.
Damian Hackett, the Sydney-based executive director of deutscher and hackett, says he is especially pleased that modern work is making an impact on the secondary scene, in part because he is himself a supporter and collector of contemporary art. This is what hangs on his own walls.
“If you want to be successful at selling it really helps if you believe in the work,” he says. “When we are consigning work we have to know that we can get a result for the vendor. We’ll only take it on if we think that there is some heat in the market.”
As a sign of his confidence he points out that he likes to open his auctions with examples of modern work.
He’s also pleased to see that three-dimensional work is gaining in popularity for the first time in a while. Some might label Hanssen Piggott a sculptor, others call her a ceramic artist, but in the contemporary world these labels no longer matter. Art photographers and computer artists also fit into this brave new world. Even video work on DVD is selling these days.
“They’re fairly safe investments’ says Hackett of modern art, with the following disclaimer. “For those outside looking in it looks like there’s some easy money to be made. My advice is to get some advice before you buy. It’s not a frivolous purchase. Art is a luxury but it can also be a good safety net. If you choose well you won’t lose money if you have to sell.”
Or, if you were advised to invest in some Gwyn Hanssen Piggott back in 2000, you would would get your money back with considerable interest. Hanssen Piggott was born in 1935 but interest in her work (following an exhibition at London’s Tate Gallery) has boomed only recently. In 2001 her record price at auction was $2,270. From now on her work can be expected to sell for $45,000 if not more. Her output is relatively small so anything she produces is instantly in demand.
John Kelly, the painter of quirky cows, is another young artist to have emerged quickly. Values for his work rose rapidly from $6,000 to around $60,000 a few years back. The question is, has he peaked? Damian Hackett thinks not. He points out that the record price for a John Kelly in 2004 was $188,000. In 2007 a work achieved $288,000. The rise may not be as dramatic but it’s still there and there are still bargains to be found. A bronze sculpture by Kelly fetched $38,4000 at deutscher and hackett’s Sydney auction, a fair profit given the pre-sale estimate of $30,000.
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