Art Market Report: Art + Object - Important Paintings & Contemporary Art - August 2025
Auction houses schedule their sales in a fairly predictable pattern; the winter season of auctions usually fall between late July to mid-August. Scheduling is a balancing act involving counting weeks between other sales and ensuring there is enough time for consigning, catalogue production and viewing as well as not clashing with competitors or other major art world events.
Art + Object’s Important Paintings & Contemporary Art sale fell much later than usual this year. These extra few weeks allowed time for A+O to compile a bumper catalogue with a generous 97 lots, well over their average lot number usually offered and early release marketing promised the inclusion of three desirable works by Don Binney, Colin McCahon and Richard Killeen to be sold to benefit the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation (AAG) Endowment Fund.
Art + Object’s Important Paintings & Contemporary Art sale was held much later than usual this year. These extra few weeks allowed time for A+O to compile a bumper catalogue with a generous 97 lots, well over their average lot number usually offered. An early highlight was Llew Summers’ monumental sculpture Sprung Man (Lot 7 ) which achieved an auction record for the artist. A low estimate of $35,000 was quickly surpassed with multiple parties competing up to a final hammer price of $58,000.
A crowd well over 70 were in attendance as the auction started, a very strong turnout for one of Auckland’s coldest nights of winter, with lots of trade and other notable collectors and art patrons standing at the back giving a buzzy feeling to the room.
Three dimensional objects fared well at the start of the sale with two pieces by popular sculptor Joe Sheehan selling easily. Sheehan’s exquisitely finished sculptures of everyday objects always find a ready audience on the secondary market. Volume 3 sold on low estimate of $10,000, its smooth and tactile surface of Argillite stone engaging the bidders.
An early highlight was Llew Summers’ monumental sculpture Sprung Man (pictured ) which achieved an auction record for the artist. Summers’ public sculptures are highly recognizable in prominent spots across New Zealand, but Sprung Manwould be well suited to a domestic garden setting. Outdoor sculpture is a sought-after commodity on the secondary market. The cost of bronze fabrication has increased significantly in recent years making it more expensive to buy a work new from the gallery. A low estimate of $35,000 was quickly surpassed with multiple parties competing up to a final hammer price of $58,000.
Artists with trans-Tasman connections fared well, with Sydney based expat New Zealander, Jude Rae achieving a very strong price for her still life painting SL366 . This was a particularly successful work by the artist, a beautifully offset yet balanced composition was extremely pleasing to the eye. A generous absentee bid of $30,000 (well above low estimate of $18,000) had the upper hand against the room and the phone until the last minute when the work sold for $35,000.
Heading into the top tier section of the sale, three paintings by Tony Fomison, all excellent examples dating from the early 1970s sold under the hammer. The intriguing painting Nightman showing Fomison’s mastery of the chiaroscuro technique was offered with an estimate of $300,000-$400,000 and bidders in the room were eventually successful against the phone at $330,000. Without much further-ado, the next lot Someone’s Visit was promptly dispatched for $130,000 right on low estimate and the divine rondel Portrait of the English Painter Richard Dadd sold at $24,000 a touch over reserve.
Works donated to benefit the AAG Foundation were placed in the premium section of the catalogue and alongside the three original consigned works from John and Marylyn Mayo, Art + Object had secured more donations from other well- known art world identities, all of whom were happy to have their names associated with their offerings.
First on offer was Don Binney’s Summer Fernbird III , coincidently its companion work is also held in the collection of the AAG. It’s a visually striking painting from a desirable period of the artist’s practice. Unfortunately, this work suffered from surface cracking which although stable (and not uncommon to see in works of this period) probably put the hand break on the final price achieved of $365,000 against a low estimate of $400,000.
The second painting from the Mayo collection was Colin McCahon’s Waterfall 1965.. Sitting just outside the series of Waterfall paintings McCahon created in 1963-1964 which measured 30 x 30cm, this upscaled painting retained the elegant simplicity of the best of the waterfall paintings but in a larger size of 60 x 60cm. A $200,000 bid got the lot started, and the bidding travelled in $5K rises to get to $220,000 before it was announced as sold. The final work from the original bequest, a rare work by Richard Killeen titled Man, Land and Sky 1969 and owned since it was first exhibited was passed without a bid. If it remains unsold, it seems like a great contender to enter the permanent collection of the gallery.
The major highlight from this section was Colin McCahon’s Black Diamond, White Square (No.8 The First Gate Series) 1961, and was donated for sale by art collector and philanthropist Dame Jenny Gibbs who has been vital supporter of the Auckland Art Gallery for decades. Painted at a time when McMcCahon’s work was exploring ideas of geometric abstraction influenced by artists such as Mondrian, this image was a good example from the series and had serious competition from multiple parties on the phone, internet and in the room, before it was finally secured by gallery owner Charles Ninow for $315,000. With Art + Object also donating a portion of their buyer’s premium to AAG, the amount raised on the night for the endowment fund was $1,003,890.
The top end of the Hotere market was reset this week with a new record price at auction achieved by I can hear you making small holes in the silence. The loose hanging canvas utilized by the artist for this work is a substrate common to some of his most sought-after paintings and off a low base of $140,000 (the estimate was $200,000 - $300,000) the bidding climbed slowly but surely between the internet, floor and phone before finally landing at $330,000 to a determined room bidder. This price exceeds the top prices paid back in the early 2000s when the market for Hotere peaked then crashed so this price will be a welcome sight for owners of the ‘best of the best’ Hotere paintings.
Highest price in the sale was set by Rita Angus’s late painting Before the Demolition. Originally hailing from the collection of Tim and Sherrah Francis whose collection had been sold by A+O in 2016 this particular work had been retained by a family member. Three other oil paintings by the artist had been offered in that sale and sold well at the time but Angus’s prices have jumped considerably since then, especially for oil paintings like Before the Demolition. Interest in the lot was between the room and an online bidder who purchased the work subject at $510,000 against a $550,000 low estimate. The painting was transacted the next day at a smidgen over the previous night’s hammer price.
The day after the sale, Art + Object posted a sale total of $4 237 516 (including buyer’s premium), well in excess of other results from the New Zealand market and a very healthy clearance rate of 72%. While the economy here in NZ continues to struggle along, the secondary market seems in good shape, helped along by quality consignments and dedicated collectors.
Briar Williams | August 2025 - Article originally published on www.aasd.com.au