Don Milne: It's game on for young Hodgkins' 'Marbles'

Recession? What recession? While house prices are down, the art auction market seems to hang in there - at least for good quality works near the top end, and at the lower end of the scale, where demand is still strong.

Good works by good artists will still attract strong prices, and even lesser works by reputable artists can surprise. Witness the International Art Centre's last sale, where an early, very pleasant but relatively minor work by Frances Hodgkins exceeded all expectations.

Titled A Game of Marbles, and first exhibited at the Otago Art Society in 1891, when Hodgkins was just 22 and still to establish a reputation, it was estimated to sell at from $18,000 to $26,000.

Instead, spirited bidding saw it go to $46,000 (just under $53,000 with buyer's premium and GST). Most other works sold well, with few being passed in or "subject" through failing to hit the vendor's reserve.

Art+Object's major sale also illustrated a strong market, finishing up the most successful in the company's history. Highlights were Bill Hammond's Flag ($255,595, including premium) and Colin McCahon's Waterfall, which also topped the $200,000 mark at $239,525. Tony Fomison's typically macabre Study for Dancing Skeleton sold for $133,450 - a good price for this artist.

Interest in objects, especially New Zealand pottery, is also very strong, with several good sales recently. Art+Object's sale of most of the contents of Jim Drummond's helter-skelter antique shop at the bottom of Anzac Ave saw many treasures unearthed and drawing good prices. A pair of Wharetana Maori head bookends, for instance, fetched $5460; two Jane Brenkley vases $4140; a classical Keith Murray vase $2875; and an Anton Seuffert table $21,925. John Perry is due to sell a fraction of his Helensville hoard in August.

International Art Centre's sale next month has several highlights, including Goldie's The Aristocrat, on the market for the first time in 40 years, a pair of Lindauer Maori portraits, several works from the estate of Sir James Fletcher including three watercolours by Nicholas Chevalier, and early views of Auckland and Northland including rare watercolours by Patrick Hogan and Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard.

The sale also includes important historical documents including the Maori Declaration of Independence, printed in Pahia in 1837 by William Colenso on the Church Missionary Society Press.

At Dunbar Sloane, two aircraft - a very rare, 1929 Simmonds Spartan three-seater ($250,000 to $350,000) and a 1944 Tiger Moth (($160,000 to $180,000), both in flying order - failed to meet vendor expectations.

Coming up

Jun 21: Bethunes@Webb's, rare books.
Jun 25: Webb's, collectors sale.
Jul 21: Cordy's, antiques; Webb's, important art, photography.
Jul 22: Webb's, jewellery and watches.
Jul 23: Webb's, decorative arts and antiques.
Jul 28: International Art Centre, New Zealand heritage art.
Jul 30: Art+Object, important paintings and sculpture.
Aug 11: Art+Object, the John Perry collection.
Aug 18: Cordy's, antiques.
Aug 20: Art+Object, 20th century design.
Aug 27: International Art Centre, contemporary, foreign and collectable art.