The Art Auction Market Continues to Perform Strongly in 2021
The continuing interest in the art market in New Zealand seems to have carried on from 2020 into 2021, with an extremely buoyant round of auctions in the first quarter of the year.
Art + Object was the first auction house to offer their selection of Important and Contemporary Art in late March and had a very good catalogue with works of high quality at reasonable price points. The highest price in that sale was achieved by Gordon Walters’ classic black and white koru painting Mokoia 1965-1975. Last sold at auction in 2012 for $354,000, the market has seen an increase in his prices after a recent nationwide touring exhibition, and less than ten years on since that last public sale, a private buyer paid $540,000 via the Art + Object bidding app to secure the work.
Webb’s did well with the work of Bill Hammond, one of New Zealand’s most senior and well-respected artists who died in January this year. Hammond’s loosely termed ‘Bird Paintings’ which date from the early 2000s and onwards are some of his most sought after works but are tightly held by collectors. A small painting from 2016 titled Manganese featuring anthromorphic bird figures realised $38,000 against a low estimate of $25,000-$35,000, a great result considering it had gone unsold in 2019 at the same estimate.
International Art Centre had a hugely successful sale which featured a number of works by British street artist Banksy, whose prices have seen a massive rise in market in the last year both internationally and in New Zealand. An original stencil on canvas by the artist titled Keep it Real 2003 achieved the highest price in this round of sales when it sold for $1,455,000 to a New Zealand phone bidder on the night. Another strong result was achieved for Peter Siddell, for an early work of an old villa in Avondale, which foreshadows his later very popular extensive suburban views. This painting, complete with original stickers and artist labels on the back realised $42,000 against a low estimate of $15,000.
Other general collecting trends appearing in 2020-2021 are a focus on modern and contemporary Maori artists whose work appears as part of the Toi Tu Toi Ora: Contemporary Maori Art exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. There has been a jump in prices and interest in the work of Robyn Kahukiwa and Paratene Matchitt amongst others. Mid and late career women artists are also having a moment in the sun, with record prices being achieved for Gretchen Albrecht and Seraphine Pick of late.
With strong prices across the board, it is highly likely that more good quality artwork will appear on the market, enticed out by the higher prices and competitive atmosphere in the auction rooms. It will be interesting to see what area of the market booms next!
All prices quoted are hammer only and do not include a buyer’s premium of approximately 20.75%