Paper limits Binney's price

By DON MILNE

Among the huge variety of art produced in this country, there are some works and some artists that say, loud and clear, "New Zealand".

One such is painter Don Binney, on show at the Auckland Art Gallery earlier this month. The exhibition opens in Hamilton at the weekend, and in Palmerston North in August.

Binney is not just a master of technique. His works - and those on show are big paintings, in acrylic, with none of the prints or drawings at which he also excels - bring land, sea, sky and birds together in compositions that reflect the unique quality of this country.

Such large works rarely come on the market and they command commensurately large prices. But even smaller works are attractive to buyers, especially if they capture that special New Zealand quality.

Dunbar Sloane had one in his April auction, showing the head of King George V (from a coin) before a landscape with bird above.

A very attractive, medium-sized work (110cm by 92cm), it was expected to fetch from $35,000 to $45,000, but went for $30,000.

Why? Perhaps because it was a work on paper, and buyers prefer paintings on board or canvas.

Similarly, a work's condition can play a big part in the price it fetches.

Sloane's had a remarkably fine (and big 120cm by 180cm) oil of Mana railway station by another iconic artist, Robin White.

This work might have commanded the $90,000 to $140,000 Sloane's hoped for, but it sold for $70,000, probably a record for the artist, but not as well as it might have done.

Again, why?

This time the condition was not good, with the surface crumbling. So it is not only rarity that counts, but also how good a shape the work is in. Mind you, conservators can work wonders of restoration these days; will this painting reappear in pristine condition?

At the other end of the scale, prints by Robin White continue to rise in price, most going for between $2500 and $3000. Two pencil drawings by the same artist, familiar from the corresponding screenprints, sold at the International Art Centre auction for $9000 and $9500.

Other living artists whose works are steadily appreciating include Dick Frizzell and Michael Smither.

A Smither lithograph of Mt Taranaki went for $2600 at Sloane's, while an oil from Frizzell's Phantom series fetched $42,000 (all prices are before buyer's premium and GST).

Both seem very much flavour of the year, with strong demand for their works.

The International Art Centre's offering of works from the collection of Dr Imric Porsolt, for many years art critic for the Auckland Star, and the late Mrs Esther Porsolt drew a mixed response.

One of McCahon's waterfall series from 1964, said to be a personal favourite of the artist's, sold for $60,000 - the lower end of the estimate.

But Small Emblem by Milan Mrkusich went for $24,000, just below the top estimate, and three silkscreen prints by Frederick Hundertwasser doubled the top estimate of $5000.

* Coming up: Cordy's next catalogue sale is on June 1.

Dunbar Sloane is selling antique furniture and other items from the family collection on June 2. The sale includes a collection of folk-art works by Norsewood pioneer Jane Brenkley, with wood carvings, poker-work and watercolour albums. The next fine-art sale is planned for late August.

Webb's big art sale is on June 29, followed by jewellery on June 30 and decorative arts on July 1. The next affordable art sale is on August 10.

The International Art Centre's next sale is on July 29, with a collectable art auction on Sunday, August 8.