Witnessing a packed auction room and enthusiastic participation from collectors across all bidding platforms, Deutscher and Hackett’s recent Important Australian and International Art Auction on 29 April demonstrated the continued strength of the Australian art market – realising an impressive total turnover of $8M and elevated clearance rates of 96% by value and 84% by volume.

With ‘standing room only’ in the packed auction room and enthusiastic participation from determined bidders across all bidding platforms, Deutscher and Hackett’s major Important Australian + International Fine Art auction, held in Melbourne on Wednesday 26 August, demonstrated the continued strength of the Australian art market – achieving an impressive total turnover of $11.7 million (inc. BP + GST) and elevated clearance rates of 93% by value and 89% by volume.

Amid a crowded auction season, D+H presented, with measurable success, a thoughtfully selected 85-lot offering of museum-quality works bearing impeccable provenance and exhibition histories and spanning the breadth of Australian art from nineteenth-century landscape painting through to modernism and the post-war period. With 30% of the lots on offer selling at or above their upper estimate and an average selling price of over $150,000, indeed the stellar results achieved attest to the increasing demand among collectors for works of exceptional quality, rarity and art historical significance.

Highlights included Eugene von Guérard’s magnificent The Mitre Rock and lake from Mt Arapiles, 1874, which sold for $1,500,000 (inc. BP + GST); Fred Williams’ acclaimed Upwey masterpiece Two green clouds, 1967, which realised $1,250,000 (inc. BP + GST); George Clausen’s important British Naturalist painting Labourers after dinner, 1884 and Russell Drysdale’s striking outback image Stockman, 1965, each of which achieved $687,500 (inc. BP + GST), and Knud Bull’s resplendent The city of Hobart Town with Mount Wellington beyond, 1855, selling for $625,000 (inc. BP + GST). Particularly spirited bidding was also seen for Jeffrey Smart’s works, with his classic image of modernity Municipal car park, 1983 selling for $593,750 (inc. BP + GST) and his exquisite Aegean-inspired gem, Bar, Skyros, 1964 achieving $275,000 (inc. BP + GST) – each substantially exceeding their upper estimates.

A major focus of the auction was the remarkable group of works from the estate of pioneering Australian modernist Dorrit Black which offered collectors the unique opportunity to acquire works retained within the artist’s family for more than seven decades. The group attracted competitive bidding from private and institutional buyers alike, with Black’s exquisite oil portrait Dutch peasant, c.1931–32 and important wartime masterpiece, Depot workers, c.1940–42 each selling above estimate for $165,750 (inc. BP + GST), while her iconic Music, 1927–28 achieved $131,250 (inc. BP + GST) to set a new auction record for her linocuts, and The eruption, 1929–30 realised $118,750 (inc. BP + GST), also the highest price at auction for this particular print.

Deutscher and Hackett is now inviting consignments to its forthcoming Important Australian + International Fine Art auction. For further information or to request a confidential market appraisal, please do not hesitate to contact our either our Sydney or Melbourne galleries.