The latest Art + Object fine art auction saw several of the photographic works on offer selling for well above the expected selling price, an indication that photography is increasingly seen as worthy of being collected.
Art + Object
Important Photographs, Paintings and Contemporary Art
August 15
The latest Art + Object fine art auction saw several of the photographic works on offer selling for well above the expected selling price, an indication that photography is increasingly seen as worthy of being collected.
One of the earliest works on offer was a photograph of the Parnell Baths taken in 1957 by the émigré, Frank Hofmann. The work, one of his previously exhibited works which had an expected selling price of $4000, sold for $5390.
A set of works by Anne Noble from her series “In the presence of Angels”, a photographic essay on a silent order of Benedictine nuns in a London convent, had an expected sale price of $12,000 but sold for $18,760.
Ava Seymour’s “”Valley of the Fruitcakes” from her series of works which addressed issues of the housing dream in New Zealand sold for $9730 ($3500) and her “Enema Nurse” from the same series sold for $5860 ($2500)
Gavin Hipkins’ “The Homely Sydney (Lighthouse)” went for $4925, nearly double its expected price of $2500.
One of Michael Parekowhai’s image of a sparrow on an orange background, Elmer Keith, sold for $18,175 ($12,000)
Among the sculptural works on offer one of the outstanding works was Bill Culvert's “Bulb Box Reflection” which sold for $12,895 (($6000), while a Paul Dibble bronze, “Soft Geometric”, went for $16,415 ($10,000).
One of Karl Maughan's large garden paintings, “Taonui” sold for $22,280 ($15,000), a Gretchen Albrecht colour field painting from 1973, “Black Plain,” sold for $26,965 (($22,000) and one of Stephen Bambury's stacked Chakra works consisting of even aluminum panels with crosses in gold leaf sold for $57,760 ($38,000).
