Saleroom: DB collection draws record crowd

By DON MILNE

It's a commentary on the local art scene that the 1991 first edition of Michael Dunn's splendid history of New Zealand painting made no mention of Peter McIntyre. But then, neither did it include today's darling, Bill Hammond.

Hammond (born in 1947) was no spring chicken at the time but was regarded as "an emerging artist", while McIntyre was then "out of fashion", Dunn said last week.

He still is in some circles, but not among the record crowd which flocked to Webb's last week for the sale of some 100 works from the DB Breweries collection.

Those of a certain vintage have vivid memories of the DB pubs of those days - the carpets, the Maori carvings, the representational landscapes. Their appeal has certainly not faded.

The auction was unusual, if not unique, in that every single work sold - 98 per cent on the night.

Two typical country scenes by McIntyre sold for $23,500 and $24,000 (hammer price), well above the top estimate of $20,000.

A deliciously nostalgic country town by Colin Wheeler (incorporating archetypal stores, church, school and homesteads) went for $9000, against a top estimate of $6000, and a five-panel mural by John Holmwood showing Captain Cook went for a staggering $15,000, against a top estimate of $2000.

Maori-style carvings by Bryan McCurrach also sold well above the estimates, with the highest price reaching $6000. Unfashionable? Not to these enthusiastic buyers.

Old rugby photographs are also unfashionable in art circles but there has been a plethora of them coming forward since Cordy's set a record price of $41,000 for a signed photograph of the 1905 Originals. That price will take some matching - it seems to have been a case of two rich and determined collectors competing for ownership.

Still, Cordy's last week got $3750 for a signed photograph of the 1924-25 Invincibles, and $3750 for a similarly signed photo of the 1907-08 All Golds, the first New Zealand league team to tour England.

Dunbar Sloane topped that, with bids of $5100 for the 1905 team to Australia, $4000 for the 1888 Native team to Britain, and $4500 and $6000 for the 1893 team to Australia. The owner, however, hopes for more.

A word of warning - many such photographs carried printed signatures. To really make the money, they must be individually signed, in ink.

Sloane's sale also saw a near-record bid of $380,000 for a 1930s painting by Frances Hodgkins. The sale is under negotiation. An appealing early Canterbury landscape by Louise Henderson sold for $21,000, and a portrait by the British artist Samuel John Peploe, better known for his flower studies, went for a breathtaking $190,000. That goes back to Glasgow.

The International Art Centre's sale at the end of July also attracted a good crowd. Works by Raymond Ching sold well, with a familiar image of a girl knee-deep in the sea going for $54,000. A 1901 Hodgkins watercolour of strollers in Hyde Park sold for $85,000, and a French scene by Lucien Pissaro for $80,000. A painting by Colin McCahon from the French Bay series sold for $180,000 - well below the upper estimate of $225,000.

* Coming up: Dunbar Sloane has an art sale in Wellington today and tomorrow, with an Auckland antiques sale on September 3. The first part of a big collection of Clarice Cliff ceramics will be sold in November.

Cordy's next tribal art sale is on September 15, with art and antiques on September 16.

Webb's next main art sale on September 23 includes a fine work by Bill Hammond. Jewellery is on September 24 and decorative arts on September 25. The next affordable art sale is on November 4.

The International Art Centre's next sale is in November.