BONHAMS & GOODMANS MOST SUCCESSFUL ART AUCTION EVER
Published August 8th, 2007
On Tuesday 7 August, many new auction records were set and several artists made their auction debut at what has been Bonhams & Goodman’s most successful art auction ever. The auction of Australian, International and Aboriginal Fine Art saw a total result of $4,519,020.00 – an increase of 30% on the celebrated April auction earlier in the year.
The auction started strongly with the sale of Lot 1, the Burke & Wills Exploration works on paper by William Hodgkinson, contained within a beautiful scrapbook which once belonged to Eliza Younghusband. The works sold for $288,000.00, a new auction record for the artist. The leather bound scrapbook was acquired by the National Library of Australia.
Immediately afterwards, Lot 2, a beautiful Louis Buvelot watercolour titled Konongwootong, 1867sold for $60,000, a new auction record for a work on paper by the artist.
Bidding remained strong throughout the auction with several new world auction records established including:
Lot 25 William Bustard (1894-1973), Castle Hill, Townsville, from the North Shore
Sold for $6,000, a new world auction record for the artist
Lot 33 Albert Tucker (1914-1999), Woman 1950
Sold for $96,000, a new world auction record for work on paper by the artist
Lot 35 Danila Vassilieff (1897-1958), Conventional Madonna 1951
Sold for $96,000, a new auction record for the artist
Lot 42 Sidney Nolan (1917-1992), Leda and Swan 1960
Sold for $144,000, a new world auction record for a Leda & Swan work by the artist
Lot 109 James Gleeson (born 1915), Portrait of the Artist as an Evolving Landscape 1993.
Sold for $288,000, a new world auction record for the artist
Lot 111 Brook Andrew (born 1970), Sexy and Dangerous 1996
Sold for $84,000, a new world auction record for the artist
Lot 117 Akio Makigawa (1948-1999), Untitled 1999
Sold for $72,000, a new world auction record for the artist
Lot 126 Andrew Browne (born 1960), Magenta Nocturne with Billboard 2001
Sold for $31,200, a new world auction record for the artist
Lot 158 Margaret Preston (1875-1963), Wheel Flower, 1929
Sold for $49,200, a new world auction record for a work on paper by the artist
“This is a brilliant result and shows that the market for quality works is still very much alive,” said Geoffrey Smith, National Head of Art at Bonhams & Goodman. “Last night’s result also saw the debut of new artists on the secondary market, which is encouraging”, added Smith.
Artists who established action results for the first time include Vera Moller and Stephen Rosendale.
Click here for a full list of results
The next Bonhams & Goodman Australian, International and Aboriginal art auction will take place in November in Melbourne.
