Charles Frederick Goldie "The Whitening Snows of Veneriable Eld." Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe Te Kamaka, Ngāti Maniapoto15.08.22Works of Art 0647 Auction Catalogue August 2022 Contemporary, Modern and Historical Art
‘To bring together the beauty of the Pacific and the beauty of Pasifika art has been for us a dream and a passion. Join us and indulge.’ John and RoseOwnersDunn, Beachfront Art Villas Titikaveka, Rarotonga Featuring works by Michel Tuffery, Fatu Feu’u, Brent Holley, Sylvia Marsters, Mahiriki Tangaroa, Kay George, Pusi Urale, Ngahiwi Walker, Mike Tavioni, Ian George, Tui Hobson, Ani Dunn And young local talents Darius Allsworth, Taylah Noovao, Tevai @motu_villaswww.motuvillas.comMitchell
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Depicted in Dali’s painting “Femme à Tête de Roses" (1935)” this furniture sculpture was recreated as a three dimensional piece, remaining faithful to every detail in Dalí’s painting. Dalí affirmed: “A chair can be used even to sit on, but only on one condition: That we sit uncomfortably.” We can indeed sit on the Leda, but due to the fact that it only has three high heeled legs and that the chair, being made of solid brass, is heavy, it is more a work of art than a functional piece of furniture. Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí, Barcelona 302 366
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THE CHEF’S LIBRARY A private dining room hosting up to eight guests for sublime meals, with exceptional wines to match. The adjacent kitchen allows easy conversation with chefs as each course is Capacity:served. 8 dining, 8 boardroom, 6 cabaret
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Following the success of recent curated catalogues such as our incredibly popular auction The Group in May, we are seeking consignments for our forthcoming live auction, Southern Light: Early Paintings from Aotearoa
This thematic auction will take place later this year and present a range of works from the early period of New Zealand art history.
The market for New Zealand art has never been stronger than it is now. If you are considering bringing your historical art to market, please contact our specialist team. We would love to hear from you.
A highlight is John Barr Clarke Hoyte’s Lake Pupuke, c1870. This picturesque watercolour shows early signs of Pākehā settlement, such as agricultural fencing and boats on the lake. The historic panoramic image casts the natural lake-side landscape, now enveloped by the bustling beachside suburb of Takapuna.
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Tasha Jenkins Specialist, +64tasha@webbs.co.nzArt225955610 Adrienne (AD) Schierning Head of +64ad@webbs.co.nzArt279295609
Southern Light: Early Paintings fromEntriesAotearoaInvited
John Barr Clarke Hoyte Lake Pupuke watercolourc1870 on paper 245 x 925mm est $45,000 – $65,000
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PublishingColophon Contacts Paul Evans Managing +64paul@webbs.co.nzDirector21866000 Christine Kearney General +64christine@webbs.co.nzManager279295604 Holly Hart Jenkins Advertising +64holly@webbs.co.nzManager275575925 Olivia Woodgate Head of +64design@webbs.co.nzCreative95295604 Harry Goldie Design & Marketing +64marketing@webbs.co.nzAssistant95295604 head advertisingoffice + pr creative direction Publishing Details printer Crucial Colour 24 Fairfax Avenue AucklandPenrose 1061 Edition of 6,000 Offset printed, 168 pages 120gsm Laser Uncoated 150gsm Matt Art Freely distributed to subscribers or available at select public art spaces and hospitality venues. Karen Rigby Business +64karen@webbs.co.nzManager223445610 Art Department Charles Ninow Director of +64charles@webbs.co.nzArt210536504 Adrienne (AD) Schierning Head of +64ad@webbs.co.nzArt279295609 Julian McKinnon Content & +64julian@webbs.co.nzResearch211135001 Lucinda Brown Cataloguer, +64lucinda@webbs.co.nzArt95295609 Olivia Taylor Editor & +64editor@webbs.co.nzCopywriter95295600 Hannah Crichton Registrar, +64registrar@webbs.co.nzArt95295609 Charles Tongue Valuations +64valuations@webbs.co.nzSpecialist224065514 Mark Hutchins-Pond Specialist, +64mark@webbs.co.nzArt45556001 Connie Dwyer Registrar, +64connie@webbs.co.nzArt95295609 Jo Bragg Administrator, +64art@webbs.co.nzArt95295609 Tasha Jenkins Specialist, +64tasha@webbs.co.nzArt225955610 wellingtonauckland Webb's 2022 39
JournalContents 43 Foreword 58 Programme 60 Plates 61 Terms & Conditions 149 Index of Artists 154 Absentee Bid Form 155 Webb's 2022 41
15 Williamson Ave, Ponsonby, goodform.co.nzAuckland Designer Furniture, Lighting and Objects KraljRexChairZeloFeredayTombyDesigned
Valuations
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Collectors, institutions, and insurers trust Webb’s valuations because we are independent and highly experienced. Webb’s has a range of departments, and the specialist experience to value all manner of objects. Webb’s departments include Art, Decorative & Asian Arts, Fine Wines & Whiskies, Fine Jewels, Watches & Luxury Accessories, and Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia. As you may be aware, the past two years have seen significant increases in the value of cultural assets across the board. This boom has swiftly altered the value of artworks. Right now, more than ever, it is important update your valuation. Our goal is to make it easier for you to place an accurate value on your specialist assets in order to accurately manage risk. Tongue Specialist
Established in 1976, Webb’s has a long and rich history of valuing New Zealand’s finest art and luxury collectibles. Valuations have been a core aspect of our business from the beginning, and over the decades Webb’s has successfully completed valuations for countless astute collectors and public institutions.
Charles
+64 22 406 valuations@webbs.co.nz5514 Webb's Valuations
Helix Coffee Table, designed in New Zealand. cittadesign.com • @citta
The Cellar contains an incredible selection of world–leading fine wines and speciality spirits. Nestled in Webb’s Mount Eden gallery, this in–house retail store presents some of the best Champagne in the world. From our strong relationships with producing houses, distributors, and private consignors, we have sourced a curated selection of the rarest vintages ready for you to take home and enjoy. At The Cellar , our recently appointed Head of Champagne & Retail Rémy Jaboulet is here to help, offering his recommendations and expertise.Rémy brings an extraordinary international pedigree to the Webb’s team. Born in France’s Rhône Valley and raised in the majestic region of Bordeaux, viticulture is in his DNA. Along with his international appointments, Rémy has proudly served as the Champagne & Cognac ambassador for GH Mumm, Perrier–Jouët, and Martell in New Zealand. He was also the face of Mumm Champagne for the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021. At The Cellar, we provide the elite service of sourcing the highest quality Champagnes in the world. We have reliable classics such as Bollinger and Dom Perignon available. Additionally, to satiate your desire for discovery, Rémy recommends our excellent grower’s Champagnes, such as the Maison André Clouet. Their ‘Grande Réserve’ or the ‘V6’ are all Blanc de Noirs from the Grand Cru of Bouzy, with a low dosage and aged respectively for three to six years. In Rémy’s opinion, it is the most authentic expression of its terroir. Alongside these offerings, The Cellar brings you the oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase what we believe to be the last Magnum of 2002 Krug Clos d’Ambonnay for sale in New Zealand. Rémy tells us that scarce quantities of the very best vintage of this century were produced, especially in large format. This Magnum of Krug Clos d’Ambonnay is almost impossible to find globally today. You can be one of the very few owners in the world for $10,000.
Webb's 2022 45
Rémy Jaboulet Head of Champagne & Retail +64remy@webbs.co.nz225397613 Home to the Finest Champagne
The Cellar:
Come by and visit Rémy at 33a Normanby Road. He is available from 9am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, to assist with any sales inquiries. The Cellar is your home of beverage indulgence and experience. With seasonal tasting events and expert assistance, look no further for the most exquisite fine wines and speciality spirits.
The BNZ Art Collection has a long history as one of New Zealand’s most significant corporate art collections. Established in 1982, it was developed under the stewardship of legendary art dealer, Peter McLeavey. It contains works by many of the nation’s most revered artists including Colin McCahon, Rita Angus, and Gordon Walters. One of the standout works from this extraordinary collection is Milan Mrkusich’s Golden Centre with Two Elements. This stunning piece was painted in 1965, and it features many of the key elements of the artist’s practice of this period: rigorous composition, geometric elements, and contrasting restrained and expressive paintwork. Mrkusich is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers of modernist abstract painting in New Zealand. Works from the collection will tour nationally, showing in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland during August and September. The scale of the collection is such that two separate auctions will take place after the touring programme is complete. The dates for the auctions are Sunday 18 September and Tuesday 27 September. It is an honour for Webb’s to work with BNZ in showcasing this remarkable collection to New Zealanders across the country.
The Bank of New Zealand Art Collection 2022
Webb's August 46
Colin McCahon, Kauri, 1953, oil on board, 870 x 1180mm.
Webb’s is partnering with BNZ to tour selected works from the renowned BNZ Art Collection nationally before selling the collection at auction in September. BNZ has announced that proceeds from the sale will be used to fund a philanthropic foundation. The foundation is being designed to help accelerate the work organisations across New Zealand are doing to create a better future for our communities.
Webb's 2022 47 auckland Charles Ninow Director of +64charles@webbs.co.nzArt210536504 Adrienne (AD) Schierning Head of +64ad@webbs.co.nzArt279295609 wellington Mark Hutchins-Pond Specialist, +64mark@webbs.co.nzArt45556001 Karen Rigby Business +64karen@webbs.co.nzManager223445610 christchurch preview Wednesday 17 August 6pm – 8pm christchurch viewing Thursday 18 – Friday 19 August 10am – 5pm Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 August 10am – 4pm wellington preview Thursday 25 August 6pm – 8pm wellington viewing Friday 26 August 10am – 5pm Saturday 27 – Sunday 28 August 10am – 4pm Monday 29 August – Friday 2 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 3 September 10am – 4pm auckland preview Wednesday 7 September 6pm – 8pm auckland viewing Thursday 8 – Friday 9 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 10 – Sunday 11 September 10am – 4pm Monday 12 – Friday 16 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 17 September 10am – 4pm auckland viewing on request Sunday 18 September 10am – 1pm auction Sunday 18 September 2pm Part I Part II wellington preview Thursday 8 September 6pm – 8pm wellington viewing Friday 9 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 10 – Sunday 11 September 10am – 4pm Monday 12 – Friday 16 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 17 September 10am – 4pm auckland preview Wednesday 21 September 6pm – 8pm auckland viewing Thursday 22 – Friday 23 September 10am – 5pm Saturday 24 – Sunday 25 September 10am – 4pm Monday 26 September 10am – 5pm auckland viewing on request Tuesday 27 September 10am – 5pm auction Tuesday 27 September 6.30pm August
wheels were chromed, and the two–tone paintwork was changed to a classic black. Presently, this car is a virtually new 1957 Aston Martin DB2/4 saloon. The car has been refinished with remarkable attention to detail, allowing it to live on to the next generation, ready for a collector who is ready to get behind the wheel. Worldwide the Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark lls are now blue–chip collectibles and an ultra-rare sight on the New Zealand market. This car will go under the hammer on Sunday 14 August at 2pm during our Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia live auction, which will be held at the Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau. The DB2/4 Mark II is a charming embodiment of Aston Martin’s elegant design and engineering prowess that will no doubt garner muchdeserved attention come auction day. It is our pleasure to bring a car of such merit to market.
Webb's August 48
Aston Martin: Luxury, Beauty and Power
Aston Martin’s founding principles of beauty, luxury and driving dynamics have resulted in exceptional grand touring cars; the brand itself has become a British cultural icon in its own right. The cars exude engineering brilliance, design refinement and power, all of which are exemplified in Aston’s iconic DB era. A history of innovative leadership has forged the brand. This was especially the case when English industrialist David Brown purchased Aston Martin and Lagonda in 1947. Under his influence, the cars adorned his initials and the DB branding. During his time, he revolutionised the company by consolidating both manufacturers and streamlining processes. The 1950 DB2 Le Mans prototype was born from this production pairing, which became the blueprint for many of Aston’s design cues today. After some additions and changes over the next five years, Aston Martin unveiled their Mark II upgrade of the DB2/4 at the London Motor Show in 1955. The most observable changes were the raised roofline with a chrome strip and the addition of tailfins. The DB2/4 Mark II initially featured the same 2.9 litre engine as its predecessor, with a 4–speed manual transmission delivering 140 brake horse power. The hand–built DB2/4 Mark II was the pinnacle of mid–century luxury motoring with a touch of practicality – so much so that David Brown used it as his daily car. The production run for the DB2/4 Mark II spanned two years, with only 199 cars built. Of these 199, only 145 were saloons. Such rarity commands exceptional market prices and garners strong interest from collectors. The Webb’s Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia team is fortunate to have the opportunity to bring an exquisite DB2/4 Mark II to market during the August live auction. Our vendor purchased this vehicle in November 2012 while based in Auckland. He then appointed Atkinson Restoration Services to undertake the meticulous two–year restoration of the car. Work undertaken involved a complete engine bay restoration, gearbox and clutch overhauls, along with a differential rebuild, and a suspension, brakes and shock absorber restoration. New paintwork from bare metal was completed alongside reconditioning of the wheel arches, new chrome work, doors rebuilt, and new glass – apart from the windscreen, which was perfect. Further restoration included the addition of electric ignition, dashboard and instrumentation. The original painted Caolán McAleer Head of Collectors’ +64caolan@webbs.co.nzCars279295603 Ian Nott Consultant, Collectors’ Cars +64ian@webbs.co.nz21610911
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Webb's Wellington: Making Waves in the Capital Centred in the thriving artistic and cultural environment of Wellington’s central city, Webb’s Wellington gallery is open six days a week. Located at 23 Marion Street, the premises features a 450 square metre state-of-the-art gallery space, private meeting and viewing rooms, and secure storage facilities. This magnificent space has been designed by award–winning interior designer Rufus Knight. The Wellington gallery offers an extension of Webb’s services as well as a collaborative space for the company to engage with the capital's arts and culture community.
Earlier in the year, Webb’s worked with art writer and curator Robert Leonard to present his curated project, John Lethbridge: Divination Performance Photographs 1978-82. The space is an excellent exhibition platform allowing Webb’s to showcase the latest auction catalogues to its nationwide client base. In June, Webb’s launched Goods and Services: Modern and Contemporary Art from a Private Collection to celebrate the sites grand opening. With this event, the space came into its own as a premier Wellington venue for showcasing modern and contemporary art. Goods and Services presented a single-vendor collection of notable artworks from some of New Zealand’s most distinguished artists.
Left: Goods and Services: Modern and Contemporary Art from a Private Collection, installation view in Wellington.
Karen Rigby Business
Above: à la poursuite de la beauté: The Jack C. Richards Collection of Lalique Glass , installation view in Wellington. wellington Mark Hutchins-Pond Specialist, +64mark@webbs.co.nzArt45556001
+64karen@webbs.co.nzManager223445610InJuly,thecompany
continued its trend of championing single-vendor collections by previewing and exhibiting highlights from à la poursuite de la beauté: The Jack C. Richards Collection of Lalique Glass. The catalogue presented a range of the finest glassware by leading Art Nouveau designer, René Lalique. The remarkable 20th century glassware on display featured varied design motifs; many inspired by antiquity and Japonisme, and adorned with intricate impressions of flora and fauna. Over many decades, this exquisite selection was collected by world–renowned educator and linguist Dr. Jack C. Richards. By selecting pieces from around the world, Richards assembled one of the finest Lalique collections in the world. Looking forward, the Wellington gallery is primed and ready to exhibit show-stopping pieces from upcoming auctions, including those from this catalogue and the Bank of New Zealand Art Collection catalogue. Come by and visit to see the latest exhibitions. Webb’s offer obligation-free appraisal services in Wellington across all aspects of the business. Our Wellington team would love to hear from you.
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Gemology: Shining a Light on Precious Stones
What coloured gemstones is the New Zealand market currently looking for? Interestingly, New Zealanders tend to go for cool colours, which differs from the South American market, which favours bolder, warmer colours. Sapphire, Aquamarine, Amethyst, Peridot, Rubies and Emeralds tend to be the most desired gemstones in New Zealand.
Marcela Jimenez–Ramirez’s extensive travels worldwide and international career working with gems make her an expert in coloured stones and Diamonds. She graduated as a gemologist of the GIA in 1995 and has spent time in America as a retail entrepreneur in coloured stones and jewellery. She also worked in a laboratory in her home country of Colombia where she specialised in the certification of Emeralds. Marcela shared what gemstones are popular at Webb’s and her take on what is popular in the New Zealand market.
+64christinep@webbs.co.nzAccessories279295607 Marcela Jimenez Ramirez Jewellery & Watches marcela@webbs.co.nzSpecialist+64224270233 Webb's 2022 53
What is your top recommendation for clients looking to buy coloured stones? Always look at the colour first, then concentrate on the cut. Focus more on the evenness of saturation in colour. When stones are cut from rough, a cutter will want to optimally achieve continued saturation as opposed to a perfectly shaped stone and will also look to obtain optimum weight. When light enters a gemstone from the top, most of it should bounce off the bottom of the stone and then reflect out again through the top. This is called light return. What qualities do you recommend looking for in Sapphires? Webb’s is fortunate to be consigning some high–quality Sapphires. Their appeal is durability; they generally hold their appearance regardless of age and in what jewellery style they are fashioned in. Sri Lankan sapphires are hugely appealing –though they are more commonly known as Ceylon Sapphires. Rich in hue, the most highly valued sapphires are velvety, violetblue. They are a consistent seller, irrespective of outside trends. The saturation should be vivid without darkening the tone too much. Sapphires with these qualities command the highest prices per carat. What should buyers look for in a Ruby? Rubies are classic. They display a tonal range from a medium to dark orange–red to a purplish red. Rubies more than a carat in weight are generally cut into mixed–cut ovals or mixed–cut antique cushion shapes. The reason for this is that this style of cutting typically retains a maximum weight from the rough. Like Sapphires, colour is the most significant factor affecting the value of Rubies. The finest Ruby has a pure, vibrant red to slightly purple-red hue and the highest–quality Rubies have vivid saturation. The finest quality Rubies originate from Myanmar. Why are Aquamarines so appealing? Aquamarines are part of the Beryl family, popular due to their durability and are usually considered ‘clean stones’ with fewer inclusions. Due to this, you can often find they have a perfect finish. Buyers tend to covet them in cocktail rings or occasional pieces that add an element of glam. These are timeless and retain value, garnering strong resale value. The best come from Brazil, Pakistan, the United States and Zambia. Due to its hexagonal crystal structure, many are fashioned in Emerald and oval cuts. Finding good quality Aquamarine is becoming difficult, so appeal also comes from their rarity. What other stones do you get requests for? Probably the other most popular gemstone is Amethyst. They are a part of the Quartz family, making the gems accessible and appealing to a wider market. A stable stone, they are vibrant in colour. They make for a great gift and Webb’s often consign lovely pieces in earrings, rings and pendants. The Amethyst has regal connotations, revered by Kings and Queens as a colour of nobility seen to protect and provide power and strength. Do you have any last recommendations for Webb’s clients? I encourage clients to establish a good collection of gemstones, enabling them to wear different tones and cuts according to season, mood and fashion. A fantastic advantage of purchasing significant gemstones is that they can be repurposed, remodelled or potentially recut. Choosing the right gemstone offers versatility that enables you to adapt them to be anything you desire.
We will be holding a live auction of Jewellery, Watches and Luxury Accessories on 28 August. The catalogue includes a stunning range of loose gemstones, and also exquisite gemstones set in rings, brooches & earrings. Get in touch with our team of specialists for further information, we would love to hear from you. Christine Power AJP (GIA) Head of Fine Jewels, Watches & Luxury
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Goods and Services: A Single-vendor Sensation
Goods and Services and Melting Moments realised a combined sale title of $5.9 million, one of the strongest ever auction results in New Zealand history for a single–vendor collection. Many of the works in the pair of auctions were standout examples from important periods in the artists’ careers. They had shown in public galleries and featured in key publications. The extraordinary results achieved for this collection amply demonstrate the value of disciplined and purposeful acquisition of modern and contemporary art. Market appetite remains strong for exceptional art. If you are considering bringing your collection to market, get in touch with Webb’s team of specialists for an obligation–free
In early July, Webb’s held the sensational single–vendor auction Goods and Services: Modern and Contemporary Art from a Private Collection. This stunning collection of artworks by many of the nation’s finest artists produced a remarkable set of results.Two works by the incomparable Bill Hammond were the stars of the show. Wishbone Cave, an exquisite work from 2010, achieved the highest price of the auction, finding a buyer at $446,850. It was closely followed by the titular Goods and Services, a 2013 work that reached a price of $418,250. These two distinctive works by the late master painter highlighted his brilliance, and the enduring appeal of his artwork. Hammond is one of the nation’s all-time greats, and his artistic legacy will continue to inform and influence art in this country for decades to come. Other highlights from the auction include: Liz Maw’s Lady Kathryn and I, which was subject to intense bidding before the hammer came down at $110,500; Robin White’s Michael at Julie’s Place, which sold for $113,525; and Gordon Walters’ stunning ink on paper, Koru, which sold for $101,575 –remarkably, this work was started in 1959 and finished in 1973. The sale total for the auction was $2,000,000 – a result indicative of an enduring market appetite for exceptional works of art by New Zealand’s finest artists. Recent years have seen insatiable demand for such works, with collectors and investors seeing significant value in acquiring quality cultural assets. Many have cottoned on to the fact that, as well as being a strong investment class, art has the added value of aesthetic enjoyment. Goods and Services was the second iteration of two auctions from the same vendor. Late last year, Webb’s represented the same collection with Melting Moments: A Private Collection of Contemporary Art. The strength of the two auctions showcased the singular vision and thirst for excellence of the collector, who had set about compiling one of the finest and most distinctive collections of modern and contemporary art in the country.
Above:appraisal.
Goods and Services, install view in Auckland. Right: Liz Maw, Lady Kathryn and I, 2011, oil on board, 1515 x 1115mm. price realised $110,500.
Charles Ninow Director of +64charles@webbs.co.nzArt210536504 Adrienne (AD) Schierning Head of +64ad@webbs.co.nzArt279295609
Webb's
Ticket to Ride: Beatlemania and the Enduring Appeal of Pop Culture prices realised The Beatles: A Rare and Important Collection of Financial Documents price realised incl. bp $7,170 est $8,000 – $12,000 A Signed Photo of the Beatles (pictured above) price realised incl. bp $6,453 est $3,000 – $6,000 John Lennon In His Own Write – Signed by the Beatles price realised incl. bp $7,528.50 est $5,000 – $10,000 A Rare Beatles Old England Watch price realised incl. bp $1,314.50 est $400 – $800 A Signed Fan Photo of the Beatles price realised incl. bp $6,453 est $3,000 – $6,000 2022 56
Ben Erren Director of Decorative Arts +64ben@webbs.co.nz211919660 Leah Morris Specialist, Decorative Arts +64leah@webbs.co.nz225745699
Beatlemania remains alive and well more than 60 years since the band formed. The strength of The Beatles' ongoing following was demonstrated in our recent Decorative Arts June Live sale, which saw feverish interest in band memorabilia. Five significant lots went under the hammer, selling for a combined total of over $30,000. Among the fascinating mementos were signed photographs, an Old England watch, and individual expense claims for each member of The Beatles during their time on tour. The financial documents achieved the price of $7,170, while the signed photographs soared above their estimates, achieving $6,453 each. The vendor of these unique collectibles initially got in touch requesting an appraisal for some household items, and only mentioned a collection of Beatles–related material as an afterthought. This piqued the interest of our specialist team, who requested further details. On closer inspection, this humble collection carried more value than mere sentimentality. Having worked as the secretary to the financial controller of The Beatles company, Apple Corps., the vendor had exclusive insight into the day–to–day of the 'Fab Four'. When she returned to live in New Zealand, she brought these keepsakes with her. Director of Decorative Arts, Ben Erren, says it was an exciting moment breaking the news to her. “I was able to ring her up and tell her that these things she assumed nobody would be interested in were actually worth tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. After the success of the Beatles' financial documents and signed photographs in our Decorative Arts June Live sale, we are seeing increased demand for pop culture memorabilia. Signed items with fantastic provenance, such as these are exactly what the market is after, and we have seen a swell of appraisal requests coming through. Consignments are open for our upcoming live auction, POP! Culture & Design. Celebrating all things nostalgic, we are seeking quality pieces that reflect the expansive nature of this unique sale category. Early consignments for this sale include a mounted and framed guitar signed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as early LPs signed by all four members of The Beatles. Consignments for POP! Culture & Design close on 12 August. If you have pieces relating to music, film, sport, toys, art, or other collectibles that you are interested in bringing to market, please contact our specialist team for a complimentary appraisal.
Nick Hargrave Director of +64nick@webbs.co.nzBeverage220945161
Finally, Kumeu River Chardonnay is truly world–class. Their single–vineyard Chardonnays often out–shining Premier and Grand Cru White Burgundies for those lucky enough to have tasted both. Their Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay has averaged $135 in the past year against Corton and Montrachets average of $343 realised per bottle. This is a wine to watch at 38% of the value of the great white Burgundies.Ongoing auction results evidence that, whether buying or selling, the market is buzzing and that New Zealand wine still offers excellent value. Marcus argues that there is a certain je ne sais quoi about the best French wines that cannot be beaten. He recommends keeping a sharp eye on what is coming to market, especially from Bordeaux. In saying this, New Zealand wines continue to have a seat at the table due to their exceptional quality and attainable auction prices. If you are considering bringing your bottles to market, please contact our specialist team for an obligation-free appraisal.
International critics have often rated some of New Zealand's best wines on par with those from the Loire, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone. The prices achieved at auction for these wines show that there is still great buying to be had from Aotearoa. In 2009 a tasting was held in London, which showcased Hawke’s Bay wines against the best of 2005 Bordeaux. Two wines from the tiny Gimblett Gravels area out-performed Bordeaux wines that were ten times the Theprice.benchmark New Zealand wine at auction continues to be Te Mata Coleraine, with top vintages such as the 2007 scoring 95/100 from Robert Parker, the 'Wine Advocate' and the world's most trusted authority in wine for over 30 years. In the past year, Webb’s has averaged a $233 price realised per bottle of Coleraine. When we compare this to similarly rated Bordeaux wines averaging a hammer of $621 per bottle, the value of the local superstar is worth it. However, if removing the First Growths, Petrus, Cheval Blanc and Angelus from the equation, the average price is $378 per 95/100 Bordeaux bottle. This levelling of price in comparison to the New Zealand bottlings is encouraging some local vendors to sell their New Zealand collections. Vendors are selling their New Zealand bottlings for prices near those of their French competitors. With this rotation, vendors can opt to drink French wines for a fraction of the price when factoring in the sales of their New Zealand collections. For Burgundy, the disparity is greater between New Zealand wines. For example, the benchmark at auction, Felton Road Block 5, averaged $282 per bottle realised, versus popular Burgundies that averaged $994. Again, removing the Grand Cru wines brings the average price closer to $691 per bottle, at only 40% of the compared price. This reinforces local Pinot as an excellent value proposition.
Marcus Atkinson DipWSET Head of Fine Wines & +64marcus@webbs.co.nzWhiskies279295601
Hawkes takes on The Value of New
Bordeaux:
Bay
Marshell Wan Fine & Rare Wines +64marshell@webbs.co.nzSpecialist220615612
Webb’s Head of Fine Wines & Whiskies, Marcus Atkinson DipWSET, started working as a sommelier at the London fine-dining institution, Le Pont de la Tour back in 2003. The role came naturally to him from his education, French background and experience. So too his recommendation of the best vintages of Bordeaux wines to diners. However, when price was the consideration, Marcus would recommend the Te Mata stable-mates, Coleraine and Awatea, from New Zealand. These wines provided an accessible and delightful alternative, punching above their weight on the global market.
Zealand Wine Webb's 2022 57
The Auckland art department at Webb's, left to right: Jo Bragg, Charles Ninow, Tasha Jenkins, Adrienne (AD) Schierning, Julian McKinnon and Charles Tongue.
Foreword
Charles Ninow Director of +64charles@webbs.co.nzArt210536504
Welcome to Webb’s August 2022 Works of Art catalogue. This auction comes in the midst of an incredible time at Webb’s. Last month, we brought the sensational single-vendor auction Goods and Services: Modern and Contemporary Art from a Private Collection to market. Next month, we will host the incomparable Bank of New Zealand Art Collection auctions. Not to be outshone, Works of Art includes some of the finest artworks I have seen in the entirety of my career. Producing this publication has been an absolute pleasure; it is rich with sensational artworks. It is an honour to present "The Whitening Snows of Venerable Eld. " Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe –Te Kamaka, Ngāti Maniapoto. This work by Charles Frederick Goldie is beyond superlatives. It depicts Te Kamaka, a venerable chief of Ngāti Maniapoto, who was one of Goldie’s favourite sitters. In all, the artist painted Te Kamaka five times from 1916 – 1921, and described him as an ‘aristocrat and diplomatist’. This painting is the earliest of the five, painted in 1916. Notably, Te Kamaka was a pivotal collaborator with other chiefs in relation to Treaty of Waitangi issues. Ngāti Maniapoto were Treaty signatories but became disillusioned with Crown shortcomings; Te Kamaka advocated for resolution with tact, determination, and diplomatic finesse. Fittingly, given its distinguished subject, the painting is a masterpiece. Another highlight is Oriental by Gordon Walters. Walters is, unquestionably, one of New Zealand’s most important artists. It’s no coincidence that our leading contemporary art prize is named after him. Discovering this remarkable painting, Oriental, has been incredibly satisfying. The work featured in Walters’ landmark exhibition New Paintings and Drawings at New Vision Gallery in 1968. This exhibition, and its 1966 counterpart at the same venue, firmly established Walters as the nation’s foremost practitioner of abstract painting and an artist of enduring national significance. Oriental has been the crown jewel of a private collection for decades, and this is its first time on the secondary market. This consequential item of New Zealand art history presents a rare opportunity for serious collectors – private and public alike. Unpicking the historical record on New Paintings and Drawings was illuminating. It presented a unique challenge of tracing history through photographic records and exhibition ephemera, finding minor details in annotations and observations. A photograph of the work on the gallery wall in ’68 was definitive, as was the exhibition catalogue. This process of discovery and subsequently telling the story of an artwork is something I find endlessly fascinating.
Another Works of Art standout is Gretchen Albrecht’s sensational Blue Passage. This 1974 painting demonstrates why Albrecht has become such a celebrated figure in New Zealand art. In its beautiful, flowing contours of paint, one can read notes of sea, sky and horizon. Though this is interpretive –the work is abstract, made by one of the greats of New Zealand non-representational painting. As the strength of this catalogue demonstrates, Webb’s is continuing to grow and reach new heights. Telling stories about great artworks by New Zealand artists is always a pleasure, and each work in this catalogue has its own compelling narrative. The success of our most recent auction, Goods and Services, shows that market conditions remain stronger than ever. Collecting art has proven to be an excellent investment, and perhaps a more than useful tool in hedging against inflation. I am sure you will enjoy perusing these pages, and I look forward to assisting you in developing your collection.
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Water Carriers by Louise Henderson presented an equally compelling journey through history. The work demonstrates Henderson’s remarkable artistic vision, showing the influences of cubism and her travels in the Middle East in the 1950s. As art historian Victoria Munn states in her catalogue essay, “Water Carriers embodies many of the qualities for which Louise Henderson is celebrated in New Zealand art history.” It is a remarkable work, and one that enhances the strength of this catalogue.
Webb's 2022 59 Selected Highlights from This Year Robin White Michael at Julie's Place watercolour on paper 650 x 500mm price realised $116,304 Bill Hammond And the Seven Seas acrylic on canvas 910 x 1510mm price realised $485,100 Michael Smither Rockpools oil on board 890 x 675mm price realised $145,530 Rita Angus Lake Wanaka watercolour on paper 230 x 290mm price realised $116,304 Colin McCahon Small Landscape oil on board 535 x 410mm price realised $159,153 Gretchen Albrecht Threefold acrylic on canvas 1820 x 1210mm price realised $127,339 Philip Clarimont Country Carnival Carnivore oil on jute 1445 x 915mm price realised $224,359 Frances Hodgkins Pansies in a Vase watercolour on paper 229 x 279mm price realised $72,765
Programme Wellington Viewing Wednesday 27 – Friday 29 July 10am – 5pm Saturday 30 July 11am – 3pm Monday 1 – Friday 5 August 10am – 5pm Saturday 6 August 11am – 3pm Wellington Preview Evening Wednesday 3 August 6pm – 8pm Auckland Preview Evening Tuesday 9 August 6pm – 8pm Auckland Viewing Wednesday 10 – Friday 12 August 10am – 5pm Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 August 10am – 4pm Auckland Viewing on Request Monday 15 August 10am – 5pm Auckland Auction Monday 15 August 6.30pm auckland 33a Normanby Rd Mount AucklandEden1024 wellington 23 Marion Street Te WellingtonAro 6011 Webb's August 60
Webb's 2022 61 P lates
Webb's September 62 1 Richard Killeen Two Worlds 1980 oil on signedpaperKilleen, dated 1980 and inscribed Two Worlds in graphite lower edge 550 × 380mm est $6,000 — $9,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired privately, c1992. 2 Gordon Walters untitled screenprint1995on paper, 18/25 signed G.Walters and dated 18.10.95 in graphite lower edge 545 × 410mm est $6,000 — $9,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Fromnote the Globe Editions Portfolio No. 1 series.
Webb's 2022 63 3 Peter Stichbury untitled 2000 graphite on paper signed ps and dated 00 in graphite lower left 420 × 295mm est $7,000 — $10,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland.
Webb's August 64 4 Ian Scott Small Lattice No. 207 acrylic on canvas signed Ian Scott and inscribed SMALL LATTICE NO. 207 in ink verso 508 × 508mm est $15,000 — $20,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Passed by bequest c2012; Private collection, Auckland. Acquired from Ferner Galleries, c1990.
Webb's 2022 65 5 Robin White Florence and Harbour Cone screenprint1975on paper, 28/40 signed R. WHITE, dated 12/1975 and inscribed 28/40 FLORENCE AND HARBOUR CONE in graphite upper left 635 × 430mm est $10,000 — $15,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland, 1976. AlisterliteratureTaylor, Robin White: New Zealand Painter, (Martinborough: Alister Taylor, 1981), 91; Sarah Farrar, Jill Trevelyan and Nina Tonga (ed.), Robin White: Something is Happening Here, (Wellington: Te Papa Press, 2022), 67.
Webb's August 66 6 Saskia Leek Deaf & Dumb 2006 acrylic on board signed S. Leek, dated 2006 and inscribed Deaf & Dumb in graphite verso 200 × 290mm est $3,000 — $6,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland.
Webb's 2022 67 7 Paul Hartigan The Eternal Shoe 1973–1978 enamel on metal signed HARTIGAN and dated 73–78 in brushpoint lower left; inscribed The Eternal Shoe in brushpoint upper right 420 × 380mm est $10,000 — $15,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wanaka. Acquired from A2 Art, Webb's, Auckland, 25 May 2010, lot 35.
Webb's August 68 8 Michael Parekōwhai and et al. A Lazy Boy (Cup) 2013 110bronze×86 × 86mm (widest points) est $3,000 — $5,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Michael Lett, Auckland, 2013. exhibitions Michael Parekōwhai et al. Michael Lett, Auckland, 18 April — 25 May 2013. 9 Michael Parekōwhai and et al. A Lazy Boy (Cigarette Pack) 2013 100bronze×32 × 55mm (widest points) est $5,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Michael Lett, Auckland, 2013. exhibitions Michael Parekōwhai et al. Michael Lett, Auckland, 18 April – 25 May 2013. 10 Michael Parekōwhai and et al. A Lazy Boy (Lighter) 2013 80bronze×25 × 13mm (widest points) est $2,000 — $4,500 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Michael Lett, Auckland, 2013. exhibitions Michael Parekōwhai et al. Michael Lett, Auckland, 18 April – 25 May 2013. 8 9 10
Webb's 2022 69 11 Bill Hammond untitled screenprint2020on paper, 38/50 signed W. D. Hammond in ink center 295 × 210mm est $3,000 — $5,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. 12 Bill Hammond untitled screenprint2006on paper, edition of 100 signed W. D. Hammond and dated 2006 in graphite lower right 580 × 430mm est $8,000 — $12,000 Privateprovenancecollection.
Webb's August 70 13 Para Matchitt Bull 1964 oil on signedboardPARA MATCHITT and dated 1964 in brushpoint lower right 370 × 500mm est $15,000 — $25,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Para Matchitt is a true Māori modern artist. Integrating indigenous themes and motifs in works with a modernist stylistic execution, Matchitt recognises his Whakatōhea, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, and Ngāti Porou lineage. While influenced in his practice by Pablo Picasso and the cubist movement, Matchitt conveys a distinctly Māori view of the world. Matchitt’s works thematically embody a decolonisation of art practice in Aotearoa. Fittingly, the artist literally disrupted the Pākeka-dominated 20th century New Zealand art world as one of the first Māori artists to exhibit works at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Matchitt’sTāmaki.oeuvre offers an expert amalgamation of European modernist methodologies and indigenous concepts and designs. The artist accepts cross-cultural encounter and transformation in his artistic practice, recognising that “the modern Māori is not identical with his ancestors.”
Having received training in traditional carving from master Ngāti Porou carver Pineāmine Taiapa, whakairo styles and practices are readily discernible in Matchitt’s works. 2 Matchitt’s immersion in an indigenous context extended beyond traditional methods to a fascination, developing in the 1960s, with Māori prophetic movements – particularly Ringatū and the prophet Te Kooti.3 This interest in early colonial Māori spirituality has seeped into Matchitt’s sculptural and painted designs, further emphasising his broader thematic focus on Māori perspectives in a post-colonial Aotearoa. While Matchitt is himself a creator of art, artistic creation is also a central and recurring theme in his work. In Bull, a 1964 oil painting, Matchitt has riffed off one of Picasso’s most recurrent themes – the bull. The nods to Picasso’s cubism are clearly evident in this painting, with its stylised, flat plane depiction of the creature, though his own distinctive touches place this work squarely in the field of Māori modernism. The repeated spiral motif on the animals body legs and horns is a reference to centuries-old whakairo. Matchitt has identified this carver’s hand motif as “the father” of all his paintings, this thematic root underlining the key influence of Māori carving techniques on his works. 4
The application of paint is thick and textural, adding to the inference of carving. There is little distinction in space between foreground and background, lending this work a ‘flat-plane’ modernist visual appearance. Originally an art advisor at the Department of Education in the period following World War II, Matchitt’s incorporation of Māori tradition in his exploration of modernist styles was encouraged by colleague and fellow artist Gordon Tovey. Matchitt, along with other artists, including Ralph Hotere, Fred Graham, Arnold Wilson, Marilynn Webb and Sandy Adsett, comprise ‘the Tovey Generation’ as a result of Gordon Tovey’s thematic influence on their artistic production. Matchitt has played a fundamental role in the development of contemporary Māori art, both in his own artistic production, and in his involvement in arts education as the president of Ngā Puna Waihanga, the national body of Māori artists and writers, from 1982–1999. 5 Bull is a valuable part of an oeuvre which exemplifies the aim of the Māori modern artist in the unification of indigenous tradition with imported modernist influence.
1
2 “Para Matchitt,” Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
3 Ibid. 4 Brownson, “Para Matchitt’s vision of the haka!”, 2015. 5 “Para Matchitt,” Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
1 Brownson, “Para Matchitt’s vision of the haka!”, 2015.
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14 Robert Ellis Motorway Journey 1971 oil on signedboardRobert Ellis and dated 71 in brushpoint lower right; signed ROBERT ELLIS and inscribed MOTORWAY JOURNEY B.L Ex No 4 in brushpoint verso 900 × 900mm est $35,000 — $50,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Christchurch. Acquired from Brooke/Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, c1976.
Webb's August 72 Motorway Journey by Robert Ellis, like many of his highway works, captures the energy of urban environments.1 The work shows the bustle and congestion of busy, overlayed roads that appear to lead to nowhere. The busy tangle of routes are visceral, pulsating lines that appear like the complex tangle of communication pathways of an early computer. Ellis has created an image that conveys the universal experience of inner city highways.Thepicture plane is divided, with a tangle of congested lines of traffic dominating the upper third of the image. The impression of the motorway is presented from an aerial view, providing a calm distance from the intensity of the traffic. This creates a detached experience for the viewer, conveying the frustration of gridlock but also presenting it as an aesthetic experience. In Motorway Journey , Ellis has captured the mechanical heartbeat of a city.
For Robert Ellis, his motorway paintings are not of a particular city but instead a synthesis of all cities.2 One can deduce that this could be Auckland, which was home to Ellis after he migrated from London in 1957. At this time, the city sprawl that we know today had barely started. Only two years after the artist’s arrival, the Auckland Harbour Bridge opened, and was immediately flooded with cars.3 As Ellis lived in Northcote Point, this directly altered his day-to-day experience of the city. Throughout the 1960s, Ellis expressed his experience of the dramatic changes to the city’s landscape with his Motorway series. He used his painting practice to chronicle his internal response to these changes. The Motorway paintings reached a distinct point of harmony and abstraction in the 1970s, by which time his home would have been subjected to a constant blur of traffic.
According to Ellis, different interpretations of the works depend on the ‘cultural equipment’ of the viewer.4 Ellis developed a strong connection to the whenua through his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth Aroha Mountain, and her family after their marriage in 1966. He was absorbed into her Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou whānau, and was introduced to Rātana and Ringatu faiths that influenced his interpretation of place and those within it. In the lower half of Motorway Journey , we can see subtle references to Papatūānuku’s volcanic presence. Blood red blisters against black, describing the vitality of the ever-changing earth. This area of the painting, displaying solid bending lines, can be read as an abstraction of Ellis’ earlier works from the 1960s that show a defined koru. The koru – a symbol of renewal and birth – was used by Ellis to portray the lifegiving rivers that cities are often built near. In Motorway Journey , the liberated waterways are replaced by restrained concrete arteries and infrastructure that can both connect and divide, determining access for encounters and relationships.
1 Hamish Keith, Elizabeth, Hana & Ngarino Ellis, Robert Ellis (Auckland: Ron Sang Publications, 2014), 19. 2 Gil Docking, Micheal Dunn, Edward Hanfling, Two hundred and forty years of New Zealand Painting , (New Zealand: David Bateman, 2012), 191. 3 Nathan Mcleay, The Limits to Progress: The Auckland Harbour Bridge 1959–1969, Published 10 December 2019, Retrieved from, the-auckland-harbour-bridge-1959-1969/auckland.ac.nz/2019/12/10/the-limits-to-progress-https://ahi.
4 Gil Docking, Micheal Dunn, Edward Hanfling, Two hundred and forty years of New Zealand Painting , (New Zealand: David Bateman, 2012), 191.
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literature Francis Upritchard, Jealous Saboteurs , Charlotte Day and Robert Leonard (ed.) (Melbourne: Monash University Museum of Art; Wellington: City Gallery Wellington, 2016), 21–29.
exhibitions Francis Upritchard: Rainwob I, Govett–Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, 1 March – 18 May 2008.
Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Ivan Anthony, Auckland, 2008.
Upritchard graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts in 1997 and relocated to London. Her early practice referenced museum exhibits featuring displaced exotic creatures and weird juxtapositions of found vessels with animalistic appendages. In the mid-2000s, Upritchard moved on to small-scale figurative sculptures painted in bands and shapes of bright colour. She also added wigs and drapery to the figures to enhance the effect of ‘reality’. Upritchard’s figures invite close inspection and are usually placed on specially designed plinths so that they can be viewed at eye-level. She pays close attention to the figures’ facial expressions even though it is often impossible to determine exactly what they connote. The viewer feels both affinity and repulsion, both empathy and estrangement.Theirsmall scale and bright colours recall in a strange way 18th- century porcelain figures modelled at Meissen by the master-modeller Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). One of Kändler’s most famous models was the figure of Harlequin from a series based on the Italian theatre players known as the commedia dell’arte . Upritchard often paints her figures with the lozenge-shaped chequered pattern of Harlequin’s distinctive costume. Harlequin was the “trickster” character of the theatre company, and there is something of this spirit in Upritchard’s figures.
Webb's 2022 74 15 Francis Upritchard Pointer (Reacher) 2008 acrylic on polymer clay, foil and wire 505 × 200 × 325mm (widest points) est $20,000 — $30,000
Pointer (Reacher) is one of Upritchard’s signature figurative sculptures made the year before she represented New Zealand at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2009. Her modelled and painted figures are whimsical and creepy in equal measure. They appear both deeply human and at the same time extra-terrestrial. This tension lies at the heart of Upritchard’s practice and is what makes her work so compelling.
Webb's August 76 16 Adele Younghusband untitled 1962 oil on signedboard Adele Younghusband and dated 1962 in brushpoint lower left 498 × 368mm est $20,000 — $30,000 Privateprovenancecollection, New South Wales. Passed by bequest 2011; private collection, Auckland. Passed by bequest c1960s; Private collection, Auckland. Acquired directly from the artist. This untitled work from 1962 is a unique example of Adele Younghusband’s still life painting. Produced later in her career, this work displays her ability to blend elements of cubism and surrealism. Younghusband’s choice to paint simple household items conveys a sense of subjective and universally relatable domesticity. The kettle and the ornamental cat-shaped envelope holder clutter a bench top, offering a glimpse of Younghusband’s day-to-day life. Each inert object is rendered blocky and bold in punchy primary pastels. Black and white oil accents flatten and animate the individual items, granting the painting an ebullient character. Younghusband was a pioneering painter, designer and photographer in New Zealand in the early 20th century. Her painting practice proliferated during the inter-war period – a time when women artists were much less visible than their male counterparts. Art by men too often dominated the art scene through selection bias and entrenched attitudes. Due to this underrepresentation of women artists, at that time, there is little record of Younghusband’s education and achievements. However, a considerable body of her work exists, with examples held in national collections such as the Whangārei Museum of Art. She was a spiritual woman who painted still life, floral, landscape, figurative and religious works that explored alternative realities and belief systems. 1 She used surrealism to explore the differences between her Anglican faith and Māori creation cosmogony. 2
Cubist and surrealist approaches were favoured in her still life practice. The flattening of subjects here can be read as Younghusband’s dabbling with these modes of abstraction she used in this latter part of her career. In this work, the quaint nature of the 1960s New Zealand kitchen has a dreamy atmosphere. Younghusband has broken the scene into geometric elements. Repeated squares of the kitchen, and the circular shapes of the quirky envelope stand and kettle, are complemented by the wavy design on the cupboard front and the natural form of the flower. Younghusband has used Mondrian-like faceting of primary colours to separate and consolidate the composition. Younghusband’s work quietly demonstrates her sophistication and skill. Her use of bright colours and symbols create a sense of optimism in a domestic setting. Each still life object speaks to ephemerality and the passage of time. The jug, for example, reflects the glowing windows of the kitchen, capturing the sunlight as it crosses the sky. Temporality is further emphasised through the letters: the paper grows brittle with age, the messages soon fade into memory or be forgotten. The un-vased flower has been left to wilt on the benchtop. It is still bright – likely to have been recently plucked – but is falling limp. Younghusband has cast each piece in a moment of transient beauty.
1 Anne Kirker, New Zealand Women Artists, Reed Methuen, New Zealand, 1986, 201. 2 Were, Virginia. Alternative Art Histories. Art News (Auckland), Winter 2008, 110–111.
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2 Louise Henderson in ‘Portrait of Louise Henderson’, Kaleidoscope, TVNZ, 30 September 1983, producer J. Ewart.
Between 1956 and 1958, Louise Henderson spent time in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Iran and Iraq, while her husband Hubert undertook an education advisory role for UNESCO. Writing to Eric McCormick in March 1956, Henderson was optimistic about the artistic possibilities for her time in the Middle East, writing ‘at the moment I must let myself be, see, feel and take… I believe Klee found himself only after his trip to the East. I may be the same.’1 At times during the trip, Henderson struggled to practise art. Her personal correspondence demonstrates both a sense of artistic isolation, and more practical difficulties such as Muslim custom’s opposition to artistic representations of the human figure, and unwillingness of local women to be drawn. However, Henderson’s new environment clearly also offered diverse, unfamiliar subject matter through which she could explore artistic concerns. Later, she described the impetus to depict Middle Eastern figures and cityscapes: ‘There the form of things interested me very much. The form of the people in their garments. The form of the buildings which are a mass.’2 In Water Carriers, Henderson’s interest in figural form is resoundingly clear, showing her experimentation with ways to suggest the women’s form under their abayas. Exercising her artistic license, Henderson has rendered the garments with a diaphanous quality, through which we can discern their bodies. While capturing her unique surroundings in the late 1950s, Water Carriers also embodies many of the qualities for which Louise Henderson is celebrated in New Zealand art history. The influence of cubism appears in the three figures, with overlapping planar forms of varying blue, white and brown tones suggesting threedimensionality. The vibrant greens of the women’s environment, and the small blocks of oranges and reds embellishing the figures demonstrate Henderson’s skills as a colourist. And, as with Henderson’s oeuvre more broadly, at the heart of Water Carriers is Henderson’s drive to capture in paint the life she observed around her. Henderson Carriers c1957 oil on canvas 1010 × 720mm est $40,000 — $80,000
Water
Privateprovenancecollection Auckland. Passed by bequest 2010; Private collection, Auckland. Acquired directly from the artist, c1964.
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17 Louise
1 Louise Henderson, letter to Eric McCormick, 11 March 1956, Alexander Turnbull Library, MS-Papers-5598-66.
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Webb's August 80 18 Stanley Palmer untitled 1994 oil on signedcanvas S PALMER and dated 94 in brushpoint lower right 1090 × 1590mm est $30,000 — $40,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland.
Webb's 2022 81 19 Russell Clark Native Canoes, Savo Island watercolour and ink on paper signed RUSSELL CLARK in ink lower right; signed Russell Clark and inscribed NATIVE CANOES, SAVO ISLAND in ink verso 350 × 450mm est $5,500 — $8,500 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Passed by bequest; Private collection, Wellington.
Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Passed by bequest; Private collection, Wellington. Acquired from Canterbury Society of Arts, Christchurch, 1964.
CanterburyexhibitionsSociety of Arts, Christchurch, 1964. Russell Clark (1905-66) was a hugely versatile and accomplished artist across a broad range of media and styles, from magazine illustration (he was chief illustrator for the New Zealand Listener and the School Journal for many years) to large scale public murals and sculptures, with many modes and manners of painting in between. In a varied occupational career he worked at different times as a commercial artist, as a designer and illustrator and as a gifted teacher of art. Himself a graduate of Canterbury College School of Art, where his teachers included Leonard Booth and Archibald Nicoll, he later returned to teach at the School from 1947 to 1966, alongside Bill Sutton and others. Earlier, while working for publisher John McIndoe in Dunedin, he gave art classes attended by Doris Lusk and Colin McCahon as teenagers. Clark also spent a period during World War II as an official war artist in the Pacific. He exhibited throughout the country and became a member of Christchurch collective The Group in 1948. He held solo exhibitions in Dunedin in 1949, Wellington in 1954 and Christchurch in 1964. A major posthumous retrospective was mounted by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery and toured the country in 1975-76. Makarora (1964), painted just two years before his death, is one of the strongest of his landscapes in oils. The primary influences here would appear to be Petrus van der Velden’s sublime Otira Gorge paintings from the 1890s, and Bill Sutton’s landscapes of the Canterbury backcountry. Like Sutton’s Dry September (1949), this painting is dominated by the strewn grey boulders of a mountain stream. Clark had explored this theme previously in his 1960 paintings, Creek Bed , and Tributary Creek (Pipsin Creek), Makaora. In both of these (as in Makarora) the foreground is dominated by chaotically tumbled rocks and boulders, each delineated with care and precision of outlines, shadows and Makaroratones.isa river in inland Otago that flows into Lake Wanaka near the Haast Pass highway. The creek depicted in the painting is probably a tributary, quiet and unthreatening in its depicted mood. However, the landscape of tortured stone through which it flows is evocative of the giant floods and tumultuous storms that deposited the wilderness of greywacke filling most of the image, apart from a contrasting narrow band at the top depicting the foothills towards which the creek debouches. The unusual elevated perspective positions the viewer looking downstream, away from the mountainous source. Three huge boulders in the lower left foreground occupy fully a quarter of the painting, giving it a monumental sculptural quality. The movement of the water in its rocky bed is skilfully suggested and its diagonal course leads the eye satisfyingly into the deep recesses of the scene, which is entirely free of human reference, save for the exotic shapes of macrocarpas and the burnt out remnants of native bush. It is a striking, powerful and confidently managed painting which shows the artist at his most authoritative and compelling.
Webb's August 82 20 Russell Clark Makarora 1964 oil on signedboardRUSSELL CLARK in brushpoint lower left 880 × 770mm est $30,000 — $50,000
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Webb's August 84 21 Robin White Claudia Pond Eyley 1972 graphite on paper signed R. White in graphite upper left 300 × 230mm est $7,000 — $10,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired from Contemporary & Modern, International Art Centre, Auckland, 2 December 2015, lot 85. BarryexhibitionsLettGalleries, Auckland, August 1972. AlisterliteratureTaylor, Robin White: New Zealand Painter (Martinborough: Alister Taylor, 1981), 91.
Webb's 2022 85 22 Bill Hammond Study 1998 ink on paper signed W.D Hammond, dated 1998 and inscribed STUDY in graphite lower left 750 × 540mm est $25,000 — $35,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Masterton. Acquired from Ivan Anthony, Auckland, 2004.
Webb's August 86 23 Christina Pataialii and John Wayne No Sugar Tonight 2018 acrylic on canvas signed JOHN WAYNE and inscribed No Sugar Tonight in brushpoint verso 1220 × 1220mm est $4,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington.
Webb's 2022 87 24 Stella Corkery Peach Scene 2016 oil on signedcanvas Stella Corkery, dated 2016 and inscribed 'Peach Scene' in ink verso 510 × 410mm est $2,000 — $3,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. exhibitions Jim Allen, Dan Arps, Stella Corkery, Michael Lett, Auckland, 17 August – 17 September 2016. 25 Stella Corkery Clover Series (neckchief) 2015 oil on canvasboard est $2,000 — $3,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. exhibitions Stella Corkery: Sparks , Michael Lett, Auckland, 24 June – 25 July 2015.
Webb's August 88 26 Neil Dawson Switch 1985 acrylic on stainless steel 840 × 780 × 20mm (widest points) est $7,000 — $10,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Fine Art, Webb's, Auckland, 30 March 2004, lot 22.
Webb's 2022 89 27 Terry Stringer The Nature of Poetry 2006 signedbronze TERRY STRINGER, dated 2006 and inscribed For Rosetta The Nature of Poetry with incision 400 × 120 × 110mm (widest points) est $7,000 — $12,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired directly from the artist, c2006.
Webb's August 90 Andrew’s Huia Pair is a marvellous photographic rendering of a lost endemic species. Dame Fiona Pardington (Ngāi Tahu, Kati Mamoe, and Ngāti Kahungunu) has cast them, spot-lit, in an eternal darkness that allegorically describes the bird’s extinction. The loss of the magpie-sized glossy birds was brought on by colonisation which saw the introduction of predators, destruction of habitats and the occurrence of human hunting.1 Though there were protective measures introduced in the 1890s, including plans to transfer the birds to Kapiti and Little Barrier island, their poor execution resulted in the loss of the Pardingtonspecies.draws upon both museum archives and her own whakapapa to empathically display these natural subjects. Known for her photographic still lifes, particularly of taonga, Pardington powerfully and sensitively salvages the male and female pair of Huia by illuminating them with her lens, protecting them from oblivion. She places them facing one another, frozen and coupled forever. The distinct features of the ivory-white bills and vibrant orange wattles of the Huia contrast against the swallowing abyss, causing the immortalised fauna to straddle the fragile line of past and present, and too, the heavenly and terrestrial realms. Last sighted in 1907, the Huia is a profoundly significant bird within te ao Māori. Their feathers are treasured items that symbolise mana, nobility and wisdom. They were often worn around the neck or in the hair of rangatira, and appear in historical paintings and photography. The Huia now also symbolises the consequences of human impact on Aotearoa’s natural environments. Pardington shares her relationship with whenua and the values of kaitiakitanga by establishing an intimacy between the viewer and the image presented. She builds a communication of indigenous knowledge systems which nod to the preservation and conservation of Aotearoa’s nuanced environs. 1 New Zealand Birds Online –https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/huiaHuia. 28 Fiona Pardington Andrews Huia 2019 inkjet print on Hahnemühle paper, 9/10 signed Fiona Pardington in ink verso 870 × 900mm (each panel) est $60,000 — $80,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. exhibitions VIRTUAL FAIR – Auckland Art Fair, STARKWHITE, online May 2020.
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29 Fiona Pardington Portrait of a Huia 2005 c-type print, artist's proof 1190 × 1585mm est $40,000 — $60,000 Privateprovenancecollection.Webb's August 92
Webb's 2022 93 30 Fiona Pardington Akaroa Female Ngai Tahu Heitiki 2002 toned silver bromide fibre based print, 4/5 550 × 420mm est $10,000 — $20,000 Privateprovenancecollection.
Webb's August 94 31 Ralph Hotere Requiem 1973–74 brolite lacquer on board signed Hotere dated 73 74 and inscribed “REQUIEM” Port Chalmers in brushpoint verso 600 × 900mm est $50,000 — $80,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired directly from the artist, 1975.
Ralph Hotere’s Requiem series followed on from the earlier Black Paintings , Malady and Port Chalmers series. The death of his mother Ana Maria and of his friend, the composer Anthony Watson, motivated the Requiem series, where Hotere made a very public statement about his personal loss. Requiem references both Hotere's Roman Catholic and Māori upbringing and his passion for music. In Roman Catholic practice, a Requiem Mass is sung for the repose of the soul of the deceased, just as waiata tangi are sung at Māori tangi. On the left two-thirds of the polished black lacquer surface, Hotere has painted thin vertical lines of white, brown, blue and purple which reverberate across the surface and pulsate backwards and forwards like the strings of a celestial harp. The intervals between the lines have been likened to a visual musical notation. On the right third of the painting, Hotere has inscribed the Māori story of the perennial struggle between the Tasman Sea and the waters off Cape Reinga in the far north – the stepping-off point of the spirits of the departed. He has reworked the script over and over to suggest the neverending nature of the life and death cycle. Hotere’s distinctive use of black was deeply informed by the significance of black in Māori culture and in particular within his own iwi. The darkness of night (pō) is embedded in the name of Hotere’s iwi Aupōuri, which in turn refers to the historical deliverance of his ancestors from warfare under the cover of blackBlacksmoke.ishere associated with rebirth rather than death and oblivion. In wider Māori culture, black is the ‘colour’ of the world that follows on from Te Korekore, the void, before the creation of the world. It is the state of the world before the Te Ao Mārama. In the Requiem series, Hotere has ccreated an amalgamation of Māori and Pākehā ideas which speak to and with each other through a shared visual language.
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Webb's August 96 32 Tony Fomison Outside the Sea Cave 1978–79 oil on signedcanvasFomison, dated 78 79 and inscribed #235 in brushpoint lower right; signed Fomison, dated 78 79 and inscribed Outside the Sea Cave in graphite verso 558 × 507mm est $45,000 — $65,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Picton. Acquired from Important Paintings & Contemporary Art, Art+Object, Auckland, 23 August 2018, lot 63. Caves and shorelines hold a very special place in Tony Fomison's oeuvre. The subject matter features in some of his most revered paintings such as The Fugitive (1982, BNZ Art Collection) and Not just a picnic (1980-82, Collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki). Like both of these paintings, the artist rendered Outside the Sea Cave in a light, warm palette. Most of Fomison's work of the 1960s and 70s was dark, brooding and high-contrast. So, the move into sun-drenched tones signalled a new direction in his practice. Fomison was an avid amateur anthropologist. He was knowledgeable about te ao Māori and studied the rock drawings in South Canterbury. There are several hundred sites in the region where this early mahi toi is present. The caves were a crucial source of temporary shelter for travelling hunters and traders. In this painting, and others like it, Fomison uses the cave as a symbol for shelter. These paintings are about the human need for refuge. The shorelines in Fomison's paintings are boundaries between Aotearoa and the wider world. They speak of the cultural and geographic conditions that are unique to this country. The artist's 'cave' paintings reinterpret the tradition of landscape painting in New Zealand. They're not epic, panoramic scenes of sublime wonder. Instead, they offer shelter from the storm.
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33 Toss Woollaston Left of the Mountain 1967 oil on signedboardWoollaston in brushpoint to lower left; signed Woollaston, dated '67 and inscribed LEFT OF THE MOUNTAIN in ink verso 510 × 390mm est $15,000 — $25,000
Privateprovenancecollection, Christchurch. Acquired from Gallery 91, Christchurch, c1968.
34 Toss Woollaston Right of the Mountian 1967 oil on signedboardWoollaston in brushpoint lower left; signed Woollaston, dated '67 and inscribed RIGHT OF THE MOUNTAIN in ink verso 510 × 390mm est $15,000 — $25,000
Privateprovenancecollection, Christchurch. Acquired from Gallery 91, Christchurch, c1968.
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Webb's 2022 99 35 Colin McCahon untitled watercolour1948on paper signed McCahon and dated 1948 in brushpoint lower right 150 × 170mm est $25,000 — $35,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Warwick Henderson Art Auction, Hamilton, c2007.
36 Milan Mrkusich Let There Be Light 1962 oil on signedcanvasMRKUSICH and dated 62–12 in brushpoint lower right; dated 1962 and inscribed Let There be Light in graphite verso 1095 × 890mm est $60,000 — $80,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Petar Vuletic, Auckland. Webb's August 100 Mrkusich is one of the greats of New Zealand abstract painting. Through his decades long practice, he has left an important legacy that will continue to inform and shape the art of this country for many years to come.
1 Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling, Mrkusich: the Art of Transformation (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2009), 11. 2 Ibid, 12.
Milan Mrkusich is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers of modernist abstract painting in New Zealand. In the late 1940s, Mrkusich set out on his own path of skill development. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he chose not to study at Elam School of Art – Auckland’s leading art academy of the day – preferring instead to take an apprenticeship at design firm, Neuline Studios. There, he encountered fresh ideas on arts and architecture, and developed a keen interest in the output of early 20th Century European design academy, the Bauhaus. Mrkusich held his first solo exhibition of paintings and drawings in 1949, which was presented at the Auckland School of Architecture. 1 New Zealand audiences of the time were not engaged by abstract art and there were few opportunities for artists pursuing this mode of painting. In their book Mrkusich: the Art of Transformation , writers Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling stated, “There was no support structure in New Zealand for modernist artists – no means of gaining recognition or exhibiting work, barely even an ‘art world’ –and little acceptance of anything approaching abstraction.”2 Despite this unsupportive cultural context, Mrkusich pursued abstract painting. His work from the time of his first show was influenced by aspects of design, architecture, and European abstract art, and it paved the way for a lifetime dedicated to the pursuit of a distinctive artistic vision. These two works by Mrkusich, painted twelve years apart, are revealing of the evolution of his practice. He made Painting with Blue Shape in 1950. The work is tightly composed, contrasting precise geometrical shapes and lines with gestural mark-making. At the time, Mrkusich was still in his mid-twenties; the work speaks to some of the influences on the young artist: Bauhaus design, the suprematist and constructivist paintings of Kazimir Malevich and El Lissitzky, and the geometric explorations of John Tunnard. It is a remarkably accomplished piece, containing many of the elements that would unfold in the artist’s work in the decades that followed.Inthecase of And Let There Be Light , painted in 1962, Mrkusich has stepped fully into his own visual language. Like Painting with Blue Shape, the work contrasts tight geometry with expressive paint work, yet the artist has eschewed all trace of homage. And Let There Be Light firmly advances the remarkable vision for non-representational painting he pursued relentlessly throughout his life. One can see the development of the path laid out in the earlier work, and the growing confidence with which the artistMrkusichpainted.is one of the greats of New Zealand abstract painting. Through his decades long practice, he has left an important legacy that will continue to inform and shape the art of this country for many years to come.
37 Milan Mrkusich Painting with Blue Shape 1950 oil on canvas on board signed Mrkusich and dated '50 in brushpoint lower left 725 × 1135mm est $85,000 — $125,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Palmerston North. Catalogueliterature(Auckland: John Leech Gallery and Gow Langsford Gallery, 1998), 43. Webb's 2022 103
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Privateprovenancecollection,
38 Pat
2 Gregory O’Brien, Pat Hanly (Auckland: Ron Sang Publications, 2012), 10.
This vibrant work is one of a suite of remarkable Torso paintings produced by Pat Hanly between 1977 and 1978; it typifies his spontaneous painterly techniques and his fascination with the female form.
640mm est
1 Russell Haley, Hanly, A New Zealand Artist (Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 20.
The series is considered to be a natural development of both the Jinger Girl suite of 1976 and the Pure Paintings and Condition works of 1977, and an ongoing ode to sexual energy and the notion of an uninhibited female muse. The works were intended to be fluid impressions which evoked the physical qualities of 'remembered' women in the artist's life. As the artist himself stated at the opening of his exhibition of torsos in July 1978, "These figurative works are emotional and painterly responses to some memorable torsos. They are mainly reflex gesture paintings concurrent with my intention to make works with the freest of techniques resulting in a direct and passionate visual statement."1 The series marks a resolution to Hanly's previous tension between abstraction and figuration – the abstraction of the past is replaced with a synthesis of the freedom of 'pure painting' and the figurative. Torso C utilises the confident brushwork associated with his earlier abstracts and reintroduces the poured and dripped paint techniques of the Condition series. The use of brilliant enamels to depict an erotically posed female figure over a vivid blue background, dappled with green and black spots, creates a dynamic visual effect. By incorporating passages of trailed paint, these works rely on chance as much as they do on intuition and discipline. Hanly gives a subjective and heightened rendering of his muse, one which he freely distorts in scale, colour and shape with sharp angles and arabesques. As with others in this Torso series, the initial C is included in the title on the painted surface, registering the name of the 'remembered' woman who was the subject: a woman Hanly had "known but not necessarily biblically". The intention was to paint her as an embodiment of womanhood rather than as a portrait; however, as the focus is on the torso rather than on the face, the figure's sexuality is paramount.Hanlyhas been described as a humanist painter. His expressionistic style of painting can be seen as being somewhat at odds with the angst-ridden darkness and pessimism of some of his contemporaries, more than hinting at the artist's exuberant approach to art and life. The Torso series has been described by Gregory O'Brien as amongst Hanly's most libidinous works and also amongst his "most sparking and fizzing painterly performances", thus observing that Hanly's "unabashedly personal, autobiographical works never played to the prescriptive detachment of the postmodern era".2 Hanly , dated 78 and inscribed C lower right 580 × $75,000 — $95,000 Auckland. Acquired from Petar Vuletic, Auckland.
TORSO
in brushpoint
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Torso C 1978 enamel on board signed Hanly
3 Moreover, where the elements of chance and automatism were central to Louis' and Frankenthaler's practice, Albrecht retained a greater sense of control over the genesis of her work. On summer nights, she would head to the beach with paint and a watercolour block, and make sketches, taking visual notes of the colours she experienced. In these preliminary observations of the landscape, and in approaching her compositions with a horizontal configuration in mind, Albrecht still consciously controlled the process. Rather than allowing the paint to move autonomously across the composition, the direction of the paint flow was carefully managed by her speed brush.
It is no coincidence that the series of paintings Gretchen Albrecht produced between 1972 and 1977, with bold swathes of colour stretching across the compositions, coincided with the establishment of her home and studio in Titirangi. It was from there that she ventured out to Tāmaki Makaurau's West Coast beaches, and made sketches of intersections of sky, sea and land, which served as the basis for these works. Indeed, the intense skyscapes of West Coast sunsets are captured in Blue Passage , where the cobalt blue meets sweeps of fiery orange and black, suggesting a blazing setting sun, and impending twilight. The development of these landscapes in the mid-1970s constitutes a key moment for the development of Albrecht's style and career. The decade prior, Albrecht's practice had remained rooted in figuration. In the 1970s, though, in line with the centrality of abstraction in international contemporary art, Albrecht's style adapted. At the start of the decade, her Tablecloth and Garden paintings visually abbreviated foliage with gestures and strokes, and Albrecht began employing the canvas-staining technique that would be championed in her landscape works, including Blue Passage. In 1972, Gordon Walters introduced Albrecht to the speed brush, a sponge-headed tool, enabling her to shape thin layers of diluted acrylic paint across the canvas. Then, with her abstract landscapes, Albrecht moved away from direct observation and towards memory and imagination, embracing her personal vision of nature. In the decades that followed, her practice has built upon key elements of this 1970s series, including her synthesis of colour and form, embrace of abstraction and use of landscape as a point of departure. The series was also a catalyst for widespread recognition of Albrecht's unique, expressive approach to abstraction, which defied the hard-edged style of many New Zealand abstract artists practising at the time. For Albrecht, too, these works were important to her artistic progression. In a women's magazine in 1972, she declared them her 'first really mature works.'1 It is tempting to draw a link between Albrecht's stained canvases and Helen Frankenthaler. Both poured thin layers of acrylic paint across unprimed canvas, welcomed the physicality and gesture of the process, and allowed different tones to soak into the canvas and bleed together. Yet Albrecht does not embrace, nor support, this comparison, suggesting much of the connections drawn between the two women painters are based on their shared gender.2 Indeed, it was Frankenthaler who, in New York, spearheaded the soak-staining technique, then taken up by Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis, and lauded by influential art critic Clement Greenberg. But by the 1970s, when Albrecht produced her abstract landscapes, abstract artists were widely familiar with post-painterly techniques, which were certainly not unique to Frankenthaler. Instead, Albrecht cites the colourfield artist Morris Louis, and his Veil paintings, which were exhibited at the Auckland City Art Gallery in 1971, as a greater influence. In her abstract landscape works, there are many elements separating Albrecht from the American artists championing post-painterly abstraction. Albrecht points to the fact that Frankenthaler painted giant rolls of canvas, then separating different passages she liked into individual artworks, as a dissociating characteristic.
Describing Pierre Bonnard's work, she admires 'the little wriggling stroke of paint describing, say, gathered material round a dressing table – it's fabric, he's trying to paint fabric, it doesn't look like fabric and yet it has everything about fabric in it.'5 Similarly, Blue Passage does not attempt to mirror the way a sunset might appear to the human eye, but rather captures its impression through abstract forms. In this way, it has an impressive eidetic power. Albrecht has described the intense experience of a West Coast sunset as an 'incredible explosion every night of the setting sun going down behind this bar of hills, which became like a black undulating shape.'6 It is these qualities – the explosive colour, the undulating forms of the landscape, and the expressive power of nature – that she represents in the 1970s series.
1 Gretchen Albrecht, quoted in an untitled piece by Mary Glassey in New Zealand Woman, 20 December 1972, 32. 2 Edward Hanfling, 'Rectangles, Rediscoveries & Radiance: Gretchen Albrecht on Continuity and Change' in Art New Zealand no.136 (Summer 2010-11): 31. 3 Edward Hanfling, 'Rectangles, Rediscoveries & Radiance: Gretchen Albrecht on Continuity and Change' in Art New Zealand no.136 (Summer 2010-11): 31. 4 Luke Smythe, 'A Threaded Communion of Earth, Sea and Sky', in The Journal of New Zealand Art History, volume 29 (2008), 58. 5 Linda Gill, Gretchen Albrecht (Auckland: Random Century, 1991), 13. 6 Gretchen Albrecht in email correspondence with Peter Vangioni, June 2015. Cited in Ken Hall et. al., Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania (Christchurch: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, 2020), 152.
Gretchen Albrecht – Blue Passage Essay by VICTORIA MUNN
The thin layers of acrylic paint, swept across the canvas, do much to enhance the lyricism and fluidity of Blue Passage Despite the richness and intensity of the composition's colours, it is not a heavy work. Rather, the passages of white canvas, the varying density of the paint, and the lack of opacity suggest dynamism and flux, like that we find in nature. Like clouds travelling across the sky, or river water flowing downstream, the swathes of colour are constantly in motion. Moreover, the way in which the colours flow in and out of the canvas seems to suggest they continue, infinitely, beyond the picture plane, aptly foregrounding the visual cosmographies Albrecht would create with her later hemispherical and oval compositions.WhereasMorris Louis' Veil series sought to fully embrace a non-objective abstraction, Albrecht's stained canvases of the 1970s kept one foot in representation, seeking to capture, or envision, the landscapes she experienced with an abstract style. As Luke Smythe has noted, Albrecht's delicate balance of representation and abstraction encourages the viewer to slide between the two.4 Albrecht seems to enjoy the seemingly dichotomous potential of paint application to both represent nature, and simultaneously look nothing like it.
39 Gretchen Albrecht Blue Passage 1974 acrylic on canvas signed Albrecht and dated 74 in brushpoint lower right 1125 × 1570mm est $60,000 — $80,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wanaka. Acquired from Important Works of Art, Webb's, Auckland, 1 December 2009, lot 42. Webb's 2022 107
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Goldie depicted Te Kamaka on at least five separate occasions between 1916 and 1921, with this work being the first of the five. Te Kamaka is posed in slightly different positions in the five paintings and has been given alternative titles by Goldie. Te Kamaka's portraits have been titled by Goldie as The Diplomatist in 1918 and An Aristocrat in 1921.
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Goldie depicted Te Kamaka on at least five separate occasions between 1916 and 1921, with this work being the first of the five. Te Kamaka is posed in slightly different positions in the five paintings and has been given alternative titles by Goldie. Te Kamaka's portraits have been titled by Goldie as The Diplomatist in 1918 and An Aristocrat in 1921. The last final painting made in 1921 shows Te Kamaka aged 90 – an exceptional life span for any era, especially for a chief who likely led his iwi into battle during the New Zealand wars. Goldie’s titles were often deliberately sensationalist, dramatising the prestige of his sitters. There is an inscription written in Goldie’s hand on the back of the painting that again titles the chief. Its reads “The Whitening Snows of Venerable eld” Te Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe. “The Whitening Snows of Venerable Eld” is a quotation from an 18th-century English poem and Goldie used it often as a title, regardless Previous: Detail of a korowai that exemplifies whatu, finger weft twining. Whatu is a customary Māori artform that has been passed down through generations. Traditionally, korowai are woven with harakeke and adornments such as kiwi feathers and/or black twisted throngs. Korowai are symbolic of leadership and worn by esteemed figures. Each korowai holds the mana and customary knowledge of those who weaved the taonga and the ancestors before them.
Above: Detail of Goldie’s inscription in ink on verso. “The whitening snows of venerable eld.” Kamaka a chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe by C. F. Goldie.
Webb's August 110 Charles Frederick Goldie "The Whitening Snows of Veneriable Eld." Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe Te Kamaka, Ngāti Maniapoto Essay by OLIVIA TAYLOR
Charles Frederick Goldie was the leading painter of Māori subjects in New Zealand at the turn of the twentieth century. His most favoured subjects were esteemed rangatira wearing customary dress and ancestral taonga. Goldie depicted these subjects with astonishing realism using a technique of painting he learned at the Parisian Académie Julian – where he trained from 1893 until 1898.
Webb's 2022 111 of the identity of the sitter. It was intended to evoke a nostalgic and faded past of a people who were mistakenly believed to be on the brink of extinction. Goldie’s inscription also identifies Te Kamaka as a chief of Ngāti Mahuta. Te Kamaka was in fact a rangatira of the wider iwi, Ngāti Maniapoto based in the Waikato-Waitomo region. Ngāti Maniapoto belongs to the Tainui confederation whose whakapapa voyaged on the Tainui waka to Aotearoa. Ngāti Maniapoto land encompassed much of Te Nehe-nehe-nui, meaning ‘the great forest’,1 also known as King Country.
The name Ngāti Mahuta inscribed by Goldie describes Te Kamaka’s hapū. There was an ambivalent attitude among Māori to naturalistic portraiture, be it painted, sculpted or photographed. While carvings and depictions of tipuna are a central part of tikanga Māori, many Māori were deeply suspicious of the making of portraits of living individuals and of their potential for inappropriate use. Indeed, many believed that the capturing of a likeness had the potential to rob them of their mana. Perhaps Māori portraiture was seen as a colonising mode of representation. However, while some Māori resisted the attempts of external artists to capture their likeness, others embraced portraiture. They were aware that their simulated likenesses would become taonga in their own right, esteemed by their descendants and bolstering the status of indigenous chieftainship in Pākehā eyes. The chief’s name, Kamaka, directly translates to boulder, rock or stone, inferring stability and strength. There is very little record of Te Kamaka or his chieftain legacy. What can be deduced from scattered historical evidence is that he was a strong leader who collaborated with rangatira of other iwi to resist Pākehā crown authority during conflicts associated with the failure to uphold treaty promises. Chiefs of Ngāti Maniapoto, specifically of the Ngāti Mahuta hapu, are recorded to have signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in late March or early April of 1840 at the Waikato Heads when the documents toured Aotearoa.2 Te Kamaka’s iwi was potentially one of many that agreed to the promises of the te reo text of the treaty that assured them of protection, retained sovereignty, and continuation of their agency. Upon signing, they were only to become disenfranchised by the Crown’s shortcomings. Crown land confiscations were followed by violent conflicts of the 1850s that flowed into the 1860s and 70s.
Te Kamaka’s iwi is based in the Waikato, meaning he would have likely been involved in the Kīngitanga movement that was born out of this region. Kīngitanga was the appointment of a Māori monarch to consolidate Māori interests, thus allowing them to take action to reclaim autonomy and whenua. In an article, published 23 July, 1886, Kamaka is mentioned as a disruptive force. If Goldie’s work from 1921 aging Te Kamaka as 90 is acurate, he would have been 55 when he interrupted the settled property of the Hastie family at Mania. He did so to build a whare and set up tents along with 500 other Māori and several chiefs from Parihaka, Wanganui, and Waiotara.
When asked why they had come, they said ‘it was a dispute about land that brought them.’ Te Kamaka, Tu Rahoe and Ngahina were arrested onsite by the authority of 30 special constables. Though often overthrown by violence, reclaiming land by peaceful occupation has been a common tactic utilised by Māori against the crown. This includes the history of Parihaka – which is
Previous: Te Kamaka’s ancestral lands are in Waikato where many conflicts of the New Zealand Wars took place. Te Kamaka was involved in the battles at Pukerangiora – the pā site located on the banks of the Waitara River, Taranaki. This map details the military position of Crown forces in the 1860s. Plan of Waitara showing military position, 1860–1869. 1934. Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. Retrieved 25 July, 2022.
Thesestudio.visits are recorded in a famous photograph commissioned by Goldie showing him in his studio with the venerable chief. The artist has taken a break from his work and sits pensively reading. The painted image of Pātara sits unfinished on the easel. In the centre, the aged chief sits with his cup of tea. His body is draped in a magnificent korowai which falls almost to his feet. Almost, but not quite, for beneath the korowai it is possible to catch a glimpse of the cuff of the chief’s
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Charles Frederick Goldie, A Hot Day: Wiremu Pātara Te Tuhi (Ngāti Mahuta), 1901, oil on canvas, 765 x 690mm, Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
Pātara Te Tuhi of Ngāti Mahuta is pictured with a cup of tea, taking a break with Charles Frederick Goldie in his Shortland Street Studio. 1904. Retrieved from, f-goldie-the-old-master-revisited/https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/cchronicled in paintings by artists including Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere. Even as a favoured subject of Goldie, when and where he met chief Te Kamaka is not recorded. It is known that Goldie made the first of several visits to Rotorua in 1901, where he made contact with several kaumātua whom he would go on to depict. These included the Waikato chief Wiremu Pātara Te Tuhi (Ngāti Mahuta) and Te Ahoo-te rangi Wharepu (Ngāti Mahuta), Ina te Papatahi (Ngā Pui) and Wharekauri Tahuna (Ngāti Manawa). Goldie could have possibly met Te Kamaka at this time, as Pātara Te Tuhi and and Te Aho-o-te Rangi Wharepu are both from Te Kamaka’s hapū. Pātara Te Tuhi was a consistent advocate for Goldie’s portraiture. A warrior and editor of the first Māori language newspaper published in the fledgling colony, Pātara gave voice to Māori grievances about land confiscations and broken treaty promises. He was something of a cosmopolitan thinker, equally at ease in the tourist spots and drawing rooms of London as he was on his ancestral lands. He travelled to London while accompanying his cousin and brother-in-law, Māori King Tāwhiao, during his tour to England in 1884. In later life, Pātara lived in a suburb of Auckland and was often found in Goldie’s Shortland Street
Charles Frederick Goldie , The Aristocrat Te Kamaka, Ngati Maniapoto Tribe, Aged 90 Years , oil on canvas, signed and dated 1921, 2650 × 2180mm.
Retrieved from Paperspast, Coast line from Rangitikei to Waitara. 1860. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. Map 3773.
European trouser and leather brogue. The rest of his workaday clothing lies piled up behind the artist. What appears at first glance as cultural exploitation, is in fact, compelling evidence of the active role that Pātara willingly took in the process of capturing his likeness and culture for future generations of his people. Pātara Te Tuhi was not merely the compliant subject of Goldie’s nostalgic depictions. Instead, he was a collaborating agent that recognised he could participate in the creation of a new type of taonga. There is compelling evidence that, like Pātara Te Tuhi, Te Kamaka was a willing collaborator in the production of his portrait. Like many painters of the period, Goldie made photographic studies of his subjects to aid in the production of the final painting. This appears to be so in the case of his portraits of Te Kamaka. A photograph of a Māori chief that is attributed to Goldie held by Auckland Museum bears a strong resemblance to Te Kamaka. The photograph shows him in profile looking to the left, whereas in this portrait he is turned in three-quarter pose to the right. The work is painted in Goldie’s mature style, and pays careful attention to the detail of the skin, hair, tā moko and dress of the venerable chief. He is shown wearing a finely woven korowai, a long kuru in his ear, and a heitiki around his neck. The cloak, ear pendant and heitiki were almost certainly items in Goldie’s studio rather than the chief’s own taonga; they appear repeatedly in Goldie’s portraits of various sitters. The chief does not engage with the viewer. Instead, his eyes are averted, and he appears to be lost in contemplation. His face is framed by a background of woven harakeke – a neutral backdrop that contrasts against the superbly detailed rendition of the subject’s features.
fought“R.inOverleafNZT18860723.2.11?items_per_page=10&page=3&query=kamaka&snippet=truehttps://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/(right):Mapfrom1860displayingMāoriandEnglishsettlementsTaranaki.TheMountainelevationiscentredonthepeninsula.Waitara”atthenorthern-mostplotistheriverwhereTeKamakafurthersouth-eastatPukerangiora.
Overleaf (left): Little is recorded of Te Kamaka. However, this News of the Week article published in 1886 chronicles Te Kamaka’s shortlived occupation of Maniapoto lands which he attempted to reclaim alongside several other chiefs and 500 Māori – New Zealand Tablet. News of the Week . Vol, XVII. Issue 13, 23 July, 1886. 9.
Photograph showing the base of Mount Taranaki and natural forestry, a landscape that Te Kamaka would likely have traversed during travel, land negotiations and conflicts. c1900. Gelatin Silver Print. (Photographer Unknown).
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Webb's August 118 40 Charles Frederick Goldie "The Whitening Snows of Veneriable Eld." Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe Te Kamaka, Ngāti Maniapoto 1916 oil on signedcanvas C. F Goldie and dated 1916 in brushpoint lower right; signed C. F Goldie and inscribed "The Whitening Snows of Veneriable eld. " Kamaka. A Chief of the Ngatimahuta Tribe in ink verso 260 × 190mm est $700,000 — $1,200,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Whangārei. Passed by bequest, 1995; Private collection, Auckland. Passed by bequest, 1993; Private collection, Auckland. Acquired 1973; Private collection, Wellington. Acquired from Bethue's Auction, Wellington, 2 September 1964. AucklandexhibitionsSociety of Arts, Auckland, 1918; Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, 1969. AlisterliteratureTaylor and Jan Glen, C.F. Goldie: His Life & Painting (Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers, 1977), 238.
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Hodgkins developed an extensive body of watercolour works throughout her career that captured landscape and portrait subjects. The portability and quick drying times of watercolour enabled Hodgkins to move freely and paint whatever she saw fit. She first began using the medium during childhood lessons from her painter father. Later, she was taught in the medium by Siense artist Girolamo Nerli. Skills developed from both influences, and her later travels inspired Hodgkins’ palette selection and impressionist style. Portraiture was favoured in her early years as it differentiated her practice from her father’s – who generally paintedThoughlandscapes.Hodgkins made Old Man with Pipe before she left New Zealand, paintings in this style were typical of those made during her life in Europe. Her watercolour practice was deeply influenced by her immersion in the world's cosmopolitan artistic centres. She travelled incessantly, moving through small towns in England, France, Italy, and Morocco. In these places, Hodgkins painted village markets and harbour scenes that conveyed human energy in a colourful and decorative way. Hodgkins often worked en plein air when the weather permitted, creating expressive outdoor sketches in a light palette. Such works were instrumental in the development of her expressionist and modernist approaches to painting that she is most famous for today.
In Old Man with Pipe, New Zealand’s pioneering expatriate artist Frances Hodgkins has expertly managed highlights and shadows to create a rich impression. The intensity of the subject, a wary looking man, is vividly communicated through smudges of cobalt and flushed pinks against various muted ashy browns. He smokes his pipe solemnly, and with a wise expression. One can imagine him propped up in a local brewery, engaging sparingly in conversation. Though the figure might appear somewhat taciturn, Hodgkins’ use of warm tones gives the figure an appearance of approachability. The blended hues of the sitter merge effortlessly with the background washes.
1 Catherine Hammond and Mary Kisler, Frances Hodgkins European Journeys, (Auckland: University Press, 2019), 45. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid, 40. Webb's 120
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FH in brushpoint lower right 290 × 205mm est $30,000 — $50,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Christchurch. Acquired from Dunbar Sloane, Wellington, 19 October 1981, lot 20; Collection of Mr G G Hodgkins, Wellington. Acquired directly from the artist.
41 Frances Hodgkins Old Man with Pipe signedwatercolourc1900onpaper
exhibitions The Origins of Frances Hodgkins: An Exhibition of Paintings in the Centennial Year of her Birth , Hocken Library, Dunedin, 1969. EliteratureHMcCormick,Works of Frances Hodgkins in New Zealand 1906–1995 (Auckland: Auckland City Art Gallery, 1954), 160. Francesnote Hodgkins Online Catalogue number: FH0289.
Hodgkins’ detailed depiction of her subjects brings forth distinct features, such as the sitter’s deep-set eyes. The man’s easy expression suggests that he has been painted in repose, as many of her subjects were.1 His sea-green eyes appear disinterested, fatigued by a fullThelife.man is composed. The treatment of light suggests that he is most likely situated inside. A long life is suggested by Hodgkins' adept control of the light effects which cast a soft glow on his features. Hodgkins’ speckles of oyster white and reduced magentas render softly the skin on the man’s cheeks. This sensitive approach shows Hodgkins’ connection with her subject, as well as the level of sincerity in her figurative painting. In the late 1890s, Hodgkins’ portraiture tended toward the sentimental. Her subjects’ heads were often tilted to one side or with large eyes that were out of proportion with the rest of the face. By the 1900s, there was a greater maturity in her handling of colour and sophisticated control of facial modelling, as is the case with Old Man with Pipe 2
McCahon’s works will continue to present provocations for as long as people continue to study them. His work is layered in complexities that tap the psyche and present questions about our earthly existence, exploring the very substance of the human condition. This is at the essence of why McCahon remains one of Aotearoa’s greatest artists.
Colin McCahon’s painting practice contained a multitude of references. It was so varied and multifaceted that, even after years of looking, one can still find something new. So it is with the work Father Mother, which brings together diverse influences throughout the artist’s practice.
Father Mother employs McCahon’s distinctive use of text in the lower third of the painting. The text reads, “Grant us we beseech Thee, Almighty and Merciful God, that what we have received in visible mysteries we may obtain in its invisible effect” and appears to have been drawn from a liturgical missal. The positioning of the text sets up a compositional contrast with the upper picture plane, which gives the impression of atmospheric expanse.
Father Mother was made in 1969, shortly after McCahon built his Muriwai studio. The work is rendered in conté – ostensibly a drawing medium, though one that lends itself well to blending effects, and, consequently, takes on painterly qualities. McCahon used the medium extensively, and to great effect. He produced a substantial body of work in conté in the late 1960s and early 1970s – an intensely productive time for the artist, when he produced some of his best work.
The non-textual elements of the work sit in a colour field register. In the softly blended, subtly contrasting colours, one can detect a nod to the work of American artist Mark Rothko, who was one of the artists whose work McCahon encountered in 1958. The soft line in the top quarter of the image could register as a horizon line – harking back to McCahon’s roots in landscape painting. Though this is indefinite. The work holds as non-pictorial, a work of subtle effects of colour and text.
42 Colin McCahon Father Mother 1969 conté on board signed Colin McCahon and dated Sept 9 '69 in brushpoint lower right; inscribed (Father Mother) in brushpoint lower left 1560 × 540mm est $70,000 — $120,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Dunbar Sloane, c1997.
McCahon’s work of the 1960s shows the impact of his 1958 visit to the United States. He and his wife, Anne, spent four months travelling and viewing museum collections of art. There, he encountered modernist works by many of the American greats. When he returned, he created work with a renewed vigour and focus on the non-pictorial.
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43 Rita Angus untitled watercolour1951on paper signed Rita Angus and dated /51 in graphite lower edge 270 × 220mm est $8,000 — $12,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. 44 Séraphine Pick untitled watercolour2016on paper signed S Pick and dated 2016 in graphite lower right 230 × 170mm est $4,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired from Paper–Works Gallery, Te Awanga. Webb's August 124
45 Ralph Hotere Window in Spain watercolour1978on paper signed Hotere, dated 4–78 and inscribed Window in Spain in ink lower right 320 × 220mm est $7,000 — $10,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Brisbane. Passed by bequest, 2020; Private collection.
46 Philip Clairmont Interior with Light c1976 oil and newspaper on jute on canvas 1560 × 910mm est $100,000 — $180,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. This painting belongs with the staircase triptychs Philip Clairmont started making after he moved from Waikanae Beach to Newtown, Wellington, in 1977. As such it is a precursor to Staircase, 36 Roy Street (1977) and Staircase, Night (1978), as well as to Light Source (1978). The naked lightbulb motif which dominates works from this period originated at Roy Street, at the head of the staircase Clairmont climbed when he went to work in his studio, on the top floor of the house. In this we see it beneath an archway, swinging above an abyss which is also the view down from the landing. The cord with which to turn the light off and on twists beside it. Browns, yellows, greens and reds, with some swatches of blue, define the palette. The collage elements in the arch are from a reproduction of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Hunters in the Snow (1565): tiny black silhouetted figures curling on the ice; a peasant bent over carrying a load of sticks across a bridge. They look like fragments of lettering and draw the viewer’s attention to other marks on the painting, some of which resemble Japanese characters. Curiously, a photograph of an earlier version of the work shows a yosegaki hinomaru, a good luck flag, collaged into the top of the painting. These flags were given to Japanese soldiers going away to war and usually included messages from loved ones brushed, like rays, on the white square surrounding the red sun disk. The removal of the yosegaki appears deliberate and emphasises that, here, decorative elements take precedence over thematic concerns. The patterning, for instance in the zig-zags on either side of the ceiling, is gorgeous. Further down, on the right, the corner of a rectangle, perhaps from another painting, juts into the picture. It has a red frame, with black motifs on a yellow ground, echoed in the lizard-like shape towards the other edge of the canvas, as well as in the three ‘characters’ above and immediately to the right of the Bruegel appropriations. There are other quasi hieroglyphic marks upon the painting, which inhabits a zone of seductive, indeterminate, Japonaiserie, poised somewhere between visual and written meaning. Clairmont’s marks often look representational but in fact have to be read intuitively, that is, emotionally. The central element of the composition is the bulb itself. Bone white, with yellow and red filaments, it contains, or imprisons, an homunculus. Rays of light, incised or flick painted, pour from it. There is an eye where the cord comes out of the ceiling, re-iterating the connection between light and vision. And yet, in this work, it is not really depth, nor the abyss, which is illuminated. We are not looking, as we are in the two magnificent staircase triptychs, into the interior space of a stairwell, with all of its attendant terrors and wonders. Rather, space is brought forward onto the picture plane, there to be embroidered, it seems, by a deft hand which can find beauty, and the ghost of meaning, in the enigmatic signs it has already inscribed, laconically, across the tapestry-like surface of the work.
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Key works from Gordon Walters’ most important shows are a rarity. Oriental is appearing on the secondary market for the first time – it has been held in a private collection for decades. Coming to light, this painting presents another view of the remarkable work by one of the nation’s most important artists.
Gordon Walters: Dynamic Dissonance Essay by
Gordon Walters was one of the first New Zealanders to pursue abstraction, creating distinctive geometric paintings from the early 1950s onward. He is best known for his koru works, which combined the wellknown Māori motif with principles of hardedged, Western abstract art. These distinctive paintings, prints and drawings, which he started producing in earnest in the 1960s, have been widely celebrated in New Zealand for decades. But, for all their noteworthiness, Walters’ koru works were only one facet of his artisticWalters’practice.early influences included surrealist painters Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dali, and some of his exploratory drawings of the early 1940s employed the free-associative methods of surrealism. Though it was his friendship with Theo Schoon that provided enduring influence on his work. Walters met the Dutch émigré in 1941, and through him was introduced to key ideas of European modernism. It was Schoon that guided Walters through his definitive encounter with Māori rock drawings in 1946 in South Canterbury, taking him to numerous sites in the region.1
JULIAN MCKINNON
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1 Michael Dunn, Gordon Walters (Auckland: Auckland City Art Gallery, 1983), 10. 2 Ibid., 12.
Webb's 2022 131 Oriental at New Vision Gallery, 1968. Image appears courtesy of E H McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
Walters has proven to be highly influential figure in New Zealand art, his work shaping narratives around identity, abstraction, and what it means to be an artist in this country.
Drawings that Walters made as a result of this provided the impetus for much of his future work. Yet, as much as Schoon’s influence was vital and informative, the artistic path Walters pursued was of his own making. As a mode of painting, geometric abstraction originated in Europe in the early twentieth century. Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian were among its earliest protagonists, creating artworks based on geometric relationships rather than underlying references to nature. It was Mondrian in particular that captured the attention of Walters when he visited Amsterdam in 1950.2 The Dutch master’s rigorously composed linear matrices proved highly influential on the young New Zealand artist, who had based himself in London for a year, travelling to other European centres to take in the continent’s art.
Walters left Europe and settled for a time in Melbourne. There he began his own explorations of colour, tone, and geometry, creating some of his earliest explorations of synthetic abstraction – paintings of and about painting. He returned to New Zealand in 1953 and continued to develop his unique approach to art making. Yet, the cultural climate was not receptive to abstract art – some regarded it as foreign, with no relevance to New Zealand’s cultural discourse. Consequently, Walters did not hold a solo exhibition of his work between 1949 and 1966. Instead, he continued to develop his art in private, producing numerous paintings and studies that were not exhibited until much later.3 Ultimately, this approach was fruitful. According to art historian Michael Dunn, Walters’ exhibition in 1966 at New Vision gallery was, “an artistic triumph and vindication of the long years of preparation that went into its creation.”4 Another show followed at the same venue in 1968, presenting a body 3 Ibid., 18. 4 Ibid., 18. 5 This was a title that Walters used more than once, and apparently referred to Wellington’s Oriental Bay.
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Marti Friedlander, Gordon Walters, image courtesy of the Gerrard and Marti Friedlander Charitable Trust.
Philip Doyle, His Majesty's Arcade, Queen Street, 1977. New Vision Gallery was located inside the building. Image courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 435-05-34.
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Webb's August 134 of work that asserted Walters distinctive style. Together, these two exhibitions were definitive, featuring many of the artist’s most famous works, and firmly establishing him as a painter of national significance. Oriental,5 which features in this catalogue, was shown at New Vision Gallery in 1968. It demonstrates the precision, accomplishment, and graphic sensibility of Walters’ work –though it does not rely on the koru motif to achieve this. Instead, the refined abstract image sets up a dynamic visual contrast in its geometric elements. The composition is comprised of two evenly sized and symmetrically spaced diamond shapes, painted in a dark grey tone, almost black. They are set against a light grey background. Thick blue contours sit over the diamonds, introducing a nonsymmetrical element to the work. All three colours are solid, with no tonal variations. The blue lines are equally weighted, but their differentiated configuration sets up a dynamic dissonance within the work. If the image was purely symmetrical, it would become static. Instead, it pops. This dynamic interaction of elements is a central feature of Walters’ work. As curator Julia Waite notes, “Walters' interest in Mondrian during the 1950s resulted in the production of a series of geometric paintings which use interlocking rectangles engaged in horizontal and vertical interplay. In order to achieve dynamic equilibrium, which relied on establishing a tension between 'unequal but equivalent parts', Mondrian avoided symmetry. Asymmetry was a vital element in Walters' painting too.”6 This set up of visual tension can be read in many of the artist’s works – in Oriental, it is palpable. This use of dynamic contrast is part of what ensures that Walters’ work remains compelling and vital today.
Webb's 2022 135 Walters has proven to be highly influential figure in New Zealand art, his work shaping narratives around identity, abstraction, and what it means to be an artist in this country. This is a point picked up on by curator and writer Lucy Hammonds, “Walters' influence on contemporary New Zealand art has been significant; his formal approach and processes of abstraction, reduction and repetition being examined and reconsidered by subsequent generations of artists. In the case of artists such as Richard Killeen, Ian Scott and Chris Heaphy, the influence of Walters’ work came through their individual connection to the artist. In the wider field of New Zealand abstraction, Walters is considered a pioneer, providing a history lesson and example of what abstract art can be in this country.”7
Key works from Gordon Walters’ most important shows are a rarity. Oriental is appearing on the secondary market for the first time – it has been held in a private collection for decades. Coming to light, this painting presents another view of the remarkable work by one of the nation’s most important artists.
1 Julia Waite, "New Networks and a Paper Museum." In, Gordon Walters: New Vision (Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki; Dunedin: Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2017), 45. 2 Lucy Hammonds, Gordon Walters: An Expanding Horizon . In, Gordon Walters: New Vision (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2017), 32. Invitations to Gordon Walters' exhibitions at New Vision Gallery in 1966 and 1968. Image courtesy of E H McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
Gordon Walters, 1987. Webb's 2022 137
Webb's August 138 47 Gordon Walters Oriental c1968 acrylic on canvasboard 900 × 1210mm est $400,000 — $600,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Petar Vuletic, Auckland. exhibitions Gordon Walters , New Vision Gallery, Auckland, 1968.
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49 Philip Clairmont Crucifix Window watercolour1980and pastel on paper signed Clairmont and dated 80 in brushpoint lower right; inscribed Crucifix Window in brushpoint upper edge 400 × 280mm est $6,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired from Dunbar Sloane, Wellington, 1994. 48 Philip Clairmont untitled c1970s pastel and watercolour on paper 1090 × 710mm est $15,000 — $18,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Nelson. Webb's August 140
Webb's 2022 141 50 Toss Woollaston untitled (Bayley's Hill, Taranaki) watercolourc1965on paper signed Woollaston in brushpoint lower right 280 × 370mm est $5,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired from The Estate of James Bertram, Dunbar Sloane, Wellington, 2003. 51 Toss Woollaston untitled watercolour on paper signed Woollaston in brushpoint lower right 300 × 380mm est $4,000 — $8,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Warwick Henderson Art Auction, Hamilton, c2007.
Webb's August 142 52 Julian Dashper Are you talkin' to me? 1992 graphite on paper dated 2.03.92 and inscribed "Are you talkin' to me?.." in graphite upper edge 405 × 475mm (each panel) est $5,000 — $7,000 Privateprovenancecollection. Acquired directly from the artist c1992.
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Dashper completed his studies at Elam art school at the end of 1981. Back then, struggling creatives often sought convenient shift work while pursuing their dreams. Dashper became a taxi driver. There were two ways to do it: own your own cab and licence, or work for someone who did. Owners took it easy and worked during the day, engaging others to do the less-desirable night shifts. From 1982 to 1991, Dashper drove at night, and painted by day. Taxi driving had its own lore and lexicon. In Auckland, you had to learn the local version of ‘the knowledge’ to pass the exam. In the 1980s, the titles of Dashper’s neo-expressionist paintings often referred to taxi-driver geography, particularly the locations of taxi stands and hotels. As a nocturnal taxi driver, Dashper haunted all-night cafes and observed the city’s seedy side. The job suited him. Required to talk to strangers, he perfected his taxi-driver patter. Partly, he modelled his persona on Travis Bickle, the psychotic New York cabbie played by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver
Webb's August 144 Julian Dashper is a key figure in New Zealand art. His work frames our art history as much as it frames him. He emerged in the 1980s, at a time when our idea of the artist was changing, with the discussion turning away from tormented expressionism (Philip Clairmont) towards detached professionalism and postmodern irony (Billy Apple). More than any other New Zealand artist, Dashper exemplifies this transition. He may have been the first to get a business card.
. For Dashper, the sedentary junk-foodlaced lifestyle took its toll. He inevitably put on weight, as De Niro did more deliberately in order to play Jake LaMotta, the boxer who ‘could have been a contender’ in Scorsese’s 1980 film Raging Bull. And Dashper loved reciting LaMotta’s famous dressing-room speech, where De Niro was himself channelling Marlon Brando from On the Waterfront (1954). In 1987, Dashper went to Europe and America on a four-month art odyssey that, he said, ‘forever changed my way of making and thinking about art’. He returned to Auckland svelte and jettisoned his painterly ways, in favour of the cool and conceptual. For a few more years, he continued to drive cabs and his work occasionally referred to this. For the 1989 exhibition Occupied Zone at Auckland’s Artspace, he made a wall painting of one word writ large: ‘Drive’. But was it a reference to taxi driving, to his artistic ambitions, or to McCahon’s legendary Rinso packet? (Drive was an alternative brand of washing powder.) He also created a laminated taxi-driver photo ID, identifying himself as ‘Travis 1’. Around 1992, Dashper was commissioned to make a body of works quoting Bickle’s line, ‘You talkin’ to me?’ In Taxi Driver, Bickle is home alone, eyeing himself in the mirror, practicing menacing lines and drawing his handgun, rehearsing a confrontation with his own reflection: ‘You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do think you’re talking to?’ This monologue wasn’t in the script. De Niro came up with it on the spot in a moment of method-acting genius. For the commission, Dashper made a series of pencil drawings and printed a typeset bumper sticker. The drawings rendered Bickle’s words in an absurd, cartoony hand-lettering style, using drafting tools, including French curves and rulers. Dashper just did the outlines, as if he might return later to colour them in. These jazzy improvised variants re-present Bickle’s words this way and that, shifting the visual emphasis, like Bickle himself repeating his line with different emphases. However, dislocated from the noir context of the film, the line is drained of menace. It’s benign. It’s Bickle as comedy, Bickle as bumper sticker. It’s an art joke too. The line seems to refer to the drawings themselves, as if they were accusing us of talking to them , while also courting our attention. In this, they recall American painter Ad Reinhardt’s famous 1940s art cartoon, where a cubist painting talks back. ‘Ha ha, what does this represent?’, asks the viewer, pointing at the painting; only for it to come alive and reply angrily, ‘What do you represent?’, knocking the viewer for six. Of course, Dashper was no Bickle – no toxic male. Even as a neo-expressionist, he was a campy, self-conscious one. There’s a great shot of him on the cover of Art New Zealand in 1987, taken before his transformative big trip. He’s thick set with a buzz cut, legs astride, attended by dogs. He’s standing in front of a corrugatediron building with a gestural abstract painting beside him to match his paint-smeared slacks. The scenario is a nod to Hans Namuth’s photos of Jackson Pollock at his barn. In retrospect, the shot seems drenched in irony – a set up, a pose. But, at the time, Listener critic Lindsey Bridget Shaw took it at face value. Drawing attention to Dashper’s girth, she snipped: ‘Art New Zealand 43 showed us that Julian Dashper, not content with ripping off the ideas of Julian Schnabel… is actually beginning to look like him.’ I like to imagine Dashper turning his head to respond. ‘You talkin’ to me?’
Essay by ROBERT LEONARD
Julian Dashper – Are you talkin' to me?
Webb's 2022 145 53 Julian Dashper Are you talkin' to me? c1992 vinyl print 1580 × 650mm est $8,000 — $12,000 Privateprovenancecollection. Acquired directly from the artist, c1992. 54 Julian Dashper Are you talkin' to me? c1992 vinyl print 450 × 630mm est $800 — $1,200 Privateprovenancecollection. Acquired directly from the artist, c1992. 55 Julian Dashper untitled c1992 Perspex, zip 1140 × 190mm est $3,000 — $4,000 Privateprovenancecollection. Acquired directly from the artist, c1992. literature Planet (Auckland). no.13. Winter 1994, 78–79. 53 54 55
56 Nigel Brown Pacific Artist 1991–92 oil on signedboard Nigel Brown and dated 91–92 in brushpoint lower left 1245 × 2450mm est $30,000 — $50,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired from Milford Galleries, Dunedin, 2000. exhibitions Points Along the Way, Milford Galleries, Dunedin, 2000; Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua, 2000–2001; Fisher Gallery, Auckland, 2001; Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, 2001; Ashburton Art Gallery, Ashburton, 2002; Forester Gallery, Oamaru, 2002; Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, 2003.
57 Max Gimblett Marriage 1995–97 gold leaf, silver leaf and black clay on board signed Max Gimblett, dated 1995/97 and inscribed "MARRIAGE" in brushpoint verso 380 × 760mm est $15,000 — $18,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Gow Langsford, Auckland, c2000.
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Webb's 2022 147 58 Michael Smither Self Portrait 1984 oil on signedboard MDS and dated 84 in brushpoint lower left 560 × 480mm est $40,000 — $60,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Wellington. Acquired privately; Estate of Batch Collins. Acquired directly from the artist. exhibitions Michael Smither. An Introduction , Govett–Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 1984. 59 Nigel Brown A Wonderfully Beautiful Picture 1999 acrylic on canvas signed N.Brown, dated '99 and inscribed WORD R.F.SCOTT 'AFTER POINTER' brushpoint lower right; signed Nbrown, dated 1999 and inscribed 'A WONDERFULLY BEAUIFUL PICTURE' (after pointer) WORDS FROM R.F.SCOTT in brushpoint verso 1215 × 600mm est $12,000 — $20,000 Privateprovenancecollection, Auckland. Acquired from Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland, 2000.
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The conditions that are listed below contain terms that are used regularly and may need explanation. They are as follows: “the Buyer” means the person with the highest bid accepted by the Auctioneer. “the Lot” means any item depicted within the sale for auction and in particular the item or items described against any lot number in the catalogue. “the Hammer price” means the amount of the highest bid accepted by the auctioneer in relation to a lot. “the Buyer’s Premium” means the charge payable by the Buyer to the auction house as a percentage of the hammer price. “the Reserve” means the lowest amount at which Webb’s has agreed with the Seller that the lot can be sold. “Forgery” means an item constituting an imitation originally conceived and executed as a whole, with a fraudulent intention to deceive as to authorship, origin, age, period, culture or source, where the correct description as to such matters is not reflected by the description in the catalogue. Accordingly, no lot shall be capable of being a forgery by reason of any damage or restoration work of any kind (Including re-painting). “the insured value” means the amount that Webb’s in its absolute discretion from time to time shall consider the value for which a lot should be covered for insurance (whether or not insurance is arranged by Webb’s). All values expressed in Webb’s catalogues (in any format) are in New Zealand Dollars (NZD$). All bids, “hammer price”, “reserves”, “Buyers Premium” and other expressions of value are understood by all parties to be in New Zealand Dollars (NZD$) unless otherwise specified.
Terms and Conditions
All statements by Webb’s in the catalogue entry for the property or in the condition report, or made orally or in writing elsewhere, are statements of opinion and are not to be relied upon as statements of fact. Such statements do not constitute a representation, warranty or assumption of liability by Webb’s of any kind. References in the catalogue entry to the condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance only and should be evaluated by personal inspection by the bidder or a knowledgeable representative. The absence of such a reference does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Estimates of the selling price should not be relied on as a statement that this is the price at which the item will sell or its value for any other purpose. Neither Webb’s nor The Seller is responsible for any errors or omissions in the catalogue or any supplemental material. Images are measured height by width (sight size). Illustrations are provided only as a guide and should not be relied upon as a true representation of colour or condition. Images are not shown at a standard scale. Mention is rarely made of frames (which may be provided as supplementary images on the website) which do not form part of the lot as described in the printed Ancatalogue.itembought “on Extension” must be paid for in full before it will be released to the purchaser or his/ her agreed expertising committee or specialist. Payments received for such items will be held “in trust” for up to 90 days or earlier, if the issue of authenticity has been resolved more quickly. Extensions must be requested before the auction. Foreign buyers should note that all transactions are in New Zealand Dollars so there may be a small exchange rate risk. The costs associated with acquiring a good opinion or certificate will be carried by the purchaser. If the item turns out to be forged or otherwise incorrectly described, all reasonable costs will be borne by the vendor.
3. Before the Sale 3.1. Examination of Property Prospective Buyers are strongly advised to examine in person any property in which they are interested before the Auction takes place. Neither Webb’s nor the Seller provides any guarantee in relation to the nature of the property apart from the Limited warranty in the paragraph below. The property is otherwise sold “AS IS”
5.6.10. to take such other action as Webb’s deem necessary or Ifappropriate.wedosellthe property under paragraph (4), then the defaulting Buyer shall be liable for payment of any deficiency between the total amount originally due to us and the price obtained upon reselling as well as for all costs, expenses, damages, legal fees and commissions and premiums of whatever kinds associated with both sales or otherwise arising from the Ifdefault.wepay any amount to the Seller under paragraph (5) the Buyer acknowledges that
All International clients not known to Webb’s will be required to scan or fax through an accredited form of photo identification and pay a deposit at our discretion in cleared funds into Webb’s account at least 24 hours before the commencement of the auction. Bids will not be accepted without this deposit. Webb’s also reserves the right to request any additional forms of identification prior to registering an overseas bid. This deposit can be made using a credit card, however the balance of any purchase price in excess of $5,000 cannot be charged to this card without prior arrangement. This deposit is redeemable against any auction purchase and will be refunded in full if no purchases are made.
4.6. Telephone Bids Priority will be given to overseas and bidders from other regions. Please refer to the catalogue for the Telephone Bids form. Arrangements for this service must be confirmed AT LEAST 24 HOURS PRIOR to the auction commencing. Webb’s accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any errors or failure to execute bids. In telephone bidding the buyer agrees to be bound by all terms and conditions listed here and accepts that Webb’s cannot be held responsible for any miscommunications in the process. The success of telephone bidding cannot be guaranteed due to circumstances that are unforeseen. Buyers should be aware of the risk and accept the consequences should contact be unsuccessful at the time of Auction. You must advise Webb’s of the lots in question, and you will be assumed to be a buyer at the minimum price of 75% of estimate (i.e. reserve) for all such lots. Webb’s will advise Telephone Bidders who have registered at least 24 hours before the auction of any relevant changes to descriptions, withdrawals, or any other sale room notices.
The Auctioneer has the right at his/ her absolute and sole discretion to refuse any bid, to advance the bidding in such a manner as he/she may decide, to withdraw or divide any lot, to combine any two or more lots and, in the case or error or dispute and whether during or after the sale, to determine the successful bidder, to continue the bidding, to cancel the sale or to reoffer and resell the item in dispute. If any dispute arises after the sale, then Webb’s sale record is conclusive.
4.8. Reserves Unless otherwise indicated, all lots are offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum price below which the Lot will not be sold. The reserve will not exceed the low estimate printed in the catalogue. The auctioneer may open the bidding on any Lot below the reserve by placing a bid on behalf of the Seller. The auctioneer may continue to bid on behalf of seller up to the amount of the reserve, either by placing consecutive bids or by placing bids in response to other bidders.
4.11. Indicative Bidding Steps, etc. Webb’s reserves the right to refuse any bid, withdraw any lot from sale, to place a reserve on any lot and to advance the bidding according to the following indicative steps: Increment Dollar Range Amount $20 $0–$500 $50 $500–$1,000 $100 $1,000–$2,000 $200 $2,000–$5,000 $500 $5,000–$10,000 $1,000 $10,000–$20,000 $2,000 $20,000–$50,000 $5,000 $50,000 – $100,000 $10,000 $100,000–$200,000 $20,000 $200,000–$500,000 $50,000 $500,000–$1,000,000 Absentee bids must follow these increments and any bids that don’t follow the steps will be rounded up to the nearest acceptable bid.
5.2. Payment and Passing of Title
The buyer must pay the full amount due (comprising the hammer price, buyer’s premium and any applicable taxes and GST) not later than 2 days after the auction date. The buyer will not acquire title to the lot until Webb’s receives full payment in cleared funds, and no goods under any circumstances will be released without confirmation of cleared funds received. This applies even if the buyer wishes to send items overseas. Payment can be made by direct transfer, cash (not exceeding NZD$5,000, if wishing to pay more than NZD$5,000 then this must be deposited directly into a Bank of New Zealand branch and bank receipt supplied) and EFTPOS (please check the daily limit). Payments can also be made by credit card in person with a 2.2% merchant fee for Visa and Mastercard and 3.3% for American Express. Invoices that are in excess of $5,000 and where the card holder is not present, cannot be charged to a credit card without prior arrangement. Bank cheques are subject to five days clearance.
5.6.8. to reject at any future auction any bids made by or on behalf of the Buyer or to obtain a deposit from the Buyer prior to accepting any bids.
4.9. Auctioneers Discretion
5.6.9. to exercise all the rights and remedies of a person holding security over any property in our possession owned by the Buyer whether by way of pledge, security interest or in any other way, to the fullest extent permitted by the law of the place where such property is located. The Buyer will be deemed to have been granted such security to us and we may retain such property as collateral security for said Buyer’s obligations to us.
5.4. Packing, Handling and Shipping Webb’s will be able to suggest removals companies that the buyer can use but takes no responsibility whatsoever for the actions of any recommended third party. Webb’s can pack and handle goods purchased at the auction by agreement and a charge will be made for this service. All packing, shipping, insurance, postage & associated charges will be borne by the purchaser.
5.6.3. to cancel the sale.
4.10. Successful Bid and Passing of Risk Subject to the auctioneer’s discretion, the highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer will be the buyer and the striking of his hammer marks the acceptance of the highest bid and the conclusion of a contract for sale between the Seller and the Buyer. Risk and responsibility for the lot (including frames or glass where relevant) passes immediately to the Buyer.
5. After the Sale 5.1. Buyers Premium In addition to the hammer price, the buyer agrees to pay to Webb’s the buyer’s premium. The buyer’s premium is 19.5% of the hammer price plus GST (Goods and Services Tax) where applicable.
4.5. Absentee Bids Webb’s will use reasonable efforts to execute written bids delivered to us AT LEAST 24 Hours before the sale for the convenience of those clients who are unable to attend the auction in person. If we receive identical written bids on a particular lot, and at the auction these are the highest bids on that lot, then the lot will be sold to the person whose written bid was received and accepted first. Execution of written bids is a free service undertaken subject to other commitments at the time of the sale and we do not accept liability for failing to execute a written bid or for errors or omissions which may arise. It is the bidder’s responsibility to check with Webb’s after the auction if they were successful. Unlimited or “Buy” bids will not be accepted.
5.5. Permits, Licences and Certificates Under The Protected Objects Act 1975, buyers may be required to obtain a licence for certain categories of items in a sale from the Ministry of Culture & Heritage, PO Box 5364, Wellington. 5.6. Remedies for Non-Payment If the Buyer fails to make full payment immediately, Webb’s is entitled to exercise one or more of the following rights or remedies (in addition to asserting any other rights or remedies available under the law) 5.6.1. to charge interest at such a rate as we shall reasonably decide.
4.7. Online Bidding Webb’s offers an online bidding service. When bidding online the buyer agrees to be bound by all terms and conditions listed here by Webb’s. Webb’s accepts no responsibility for any errors, failure to execute bids or any other miscommunications regarding this process. It is the online bidder’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the relevant information regarding bids, lot numbers and contact details. Webb’s does not charge for this service.
5.6.4. to resell the property publicly or privately on such terms as we see fit.
5.6.7. where several amounts are owed by the Buyer to us, in respect of different transactions, to apply any amount paid to discharge any amount owed in respect of any particular transaction, whether or not the Buyer so directs.
5.6.6. to set off against any amounts which Webb’s may owe the Buyer in any other transactions, the outstanding amount remaining unpaid by the Buyer.
5.6.5. to pay the Seller an amount up to the net proceeds payable in respect of the amount bid by the defaulting Buyer. In these circumstances the defaulting Buyer can have no claim upon Webb’s in the event that the item(s) are sold for an amount greater than the original invoiced amount.
When making a bid, a bidder is accepting personal liability to pay the purchase price including the buyer’s premium and all applicable taxes, plus all other applicable charges, unless it has been explicitly agreed in writing with Webb’s before the commencement of the sale that the bidder is acting as agent on behalf of an identified third party acceptable to Webb’s and that Webb’s will only look to the principal for payment.
4.4. International Registrations
The buyer is responsible for any bank fees and charges applicable for the transfer of funds into Webb’s account.
5.6.2. to hold the defaulting Buyer liable for the total amount due and to commence legal proceedings for its recovery along with interest, legal fees and costs to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law.
5.3. Collection of Purchases & Insurance Webb’s is entitled to retain items sold until all amounts due to us have been received in full in cleared funds. Subject to this, the Buyer shall collect purchased lots within 2 days from the date of the sale unless otherwise agreed in writing between Webb’s and the Buyer. At the fall of the hammer, insurance is the responsibility of the purchaser.
Webb's September 150
4.3. Bidding as a Principal
Webb’s will provide auction results, which will be available as soon as possible after the sale. Results will include buyer’s premium. These results will be posted at www.webbs.co.nz.
7. Limited Warranty Subject to the terms and conditions of this paragraph, the Seller warrants for the period of thirty days from the date of the sale that any property described in this catalogue (noting such description may be amended by any saleroom notice or announcement) which is stated without qualification to be the work of a named author or authorship is authentic and not a forgery. The term “Author” or “authorship” refers to the creator of the property or to the period, culture, source, or origin as the case may be, with which the creation of such property is identified in the catalogue. The warranty is subject to the itfollowing:doesnot apply where a) the catalogue description or saleroom notice corresponded to the generally accepted opinion of scholars and experts at the date of the sale or fairly indicated that there was a conflict of opinions, or b) correct identification of a lot can be demonstrated only by means of a scientific process not generally accepted for use until after publication of the catalogue or a process which at the date of the publication of the catalogue was unreasonably expensive or impractical or likely to have caused damage to the property. the benefits of the warranty are not assignable and shall apply only to the original buyer of the lot as shown on the invoice originally issued by Webb’s when the lot was sold at theAuction.Original Buyer must have remained the owner of the lot without disposing of any interest in it to any third party. The Buyer’s sole and exclusive remedy against the Seller in place of any other remedy which might be available, is the cancellation of the sale and the refund of the original purchase price paid for the lot less the buyer’s premium which is non-refundable. Neither the Seller nor Webb’s will be liable for any special, incidental nor consequential damages including, without limitation, loss of profits. The Buyer must give written notice of claim to us within thirty days of the date of the Auction. The Seller shall have the right, to require the Buyer to obtain two written opinions by recognised experts in the field, mutually acceptable to the Buyer and Webb’s to decide whether or not to cancel the sale under warranty. the Buyer must return the lot to Seller in the same condition that it was purchased.
Webb's 2022 151
12. Sale Results
Webb’s publishes with each catalogue our opinion as to the estimated price range for each lot. These estimates are approximate prices only and are not intended to be definitive. They are prepared well in advance of the sale and may be subject to revision. Interested parties should contact Webb’s prior to auction for updated pre-sale estimates and starting prices.
6. Extent of Webb’s Liability Webb’s agrees to refund the purchase price in the circumstances of the Limited Warranty set out in paragraph 7 below. Apart from that, neither the Seller nor we, nor any of our employees or agents are responsible for the correctness of any statement of whatever kind concerning any lot, whether written or oral, nor for any other errors or omissions in description or for any faults or defects in any lots. Except as stated in paragraph 7 below, neither the Seller, ourselves, our officers, agents or employees give any representation warranty or guarantee or assume any liability of any kind in respect of any lot with regard to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, description, size, quality, condition, attribution, authenticity, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibition history, literature or historical relevance. Except as required by local law any warranty of any kind is excluded by this paragraph.
10. Law and Jurisdiction
13. Goods and Service Tax GST is applicable on the hammer price in the case where the seller is selling property that is owned by an entity registered for GST. GST is also applicable on the hammer price in the case where the seller is not a New Zealand resident. These lots are denoted by a dagger symbol † placed next to the estimate. GST is also applicable on the buyer’s premium.
8. Severability If any part of these Conditions of Sale is found by any court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part shall be discounted, and the rest of the Conditions shall continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.
The copyright in all images, illustrations and written material produced by Webb’s relating to a lot including the contents of this catalogue, is and shall remain the property at all times of Webb’s and shall not be used by the Buyer, nor by anyone else without our prior written consent. Webb’s and the Seller make no representation or warranty that the Buyer of a property will acquire any copyright or other reproduction rights in it.
Webb’s shall have all of the rights of the Seller, however arising, to pursue the Buyer for such amount.
9. Copyright
These terms and conditions and any matters concerned with the foregoing fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand, unless otherwise stated.
11. Pre-Sale Estimates
5.7. Failure to Collect Purchases Where purchases are not collected within 2 days from the sale date, whether or not payment has been made, we shall be permitted to remove the property to a warehouse at the buyer’s expense, and only release the items after payment in full has been made of removal, storage handling, insurance and any other costs incurred, together with payment of all other amounts due to us.
Webb's
Stichbury, Peter 63
Index
Hartigan, Paul 67 Henderson, Louise 78-79 Hodgkins, Frances 120-121 Hotere, Ralph 94-95, 125 K Killeen, Richard 62 L Leek, Saskia 66 M Matchitt, Para 70-71 McCahon, Colin 99, 122-123
P Palmer, Stanley 80 Pardington, Fiona 90-93 Parekōwhai, Michael and et al. 68
Stringer, Terry 89 U Upritchard, Francis 74-75 W Walters, Gordon 62, 128-139 White, Robin 65, 84 Woollaston, Toss 98, 141 Y Younghusband, Adele 76-77 of Artists September 154
Mrkusich, Milan 100-103
Pataiallli, Christina 86 Pick, Séraphine 124 S Scott, Ian 64 Smither, Michael 147
A Albrecht, Gretchen 106-107 Angus, Rita 124 B Brown, Nigel 146-147 C Clairmont, Philip 126-127, 140 Clark, Russell 81-83 Corkery, Stella 87 D Dashper, Julian 142-145 Dawson, Neil 88 E Ellis, Robert 72-73 F Fomison, Tony 96-97 G Gimblett, Max 146 Goldie, Charles Frederick 108-119 H Hammond, Bill 69, 83 Hanly, Pat 104-105
Absentee Bid Form In order to register to bid with Webb’s please complete this form and scan or email to auction@webbs.co.nz I have read and accepted Webb’s terms and conditions as printed in the catalogue and online at www.webbs.co.nz. Bids will not be processed unless this form is signed. I authorise Webb’s to register bids on a per lot basis up to the maximum price I have indicated for each lot. I will not hold Webb’s responsible for any errors that occur. I understand that if my bid is successful, the purchase price will be the sum of my final bid plus the buyer’s premium of 19.5% of the final bid price plus any GST payable on the buyers premium, as indicated in the catalogue. GST will be charged on the buyer’s premium. Bidder #SignatureAddressCityName Date (In Order of Preference) (PO Box not sufficient) (Please provide for invoice purposes) (Please Print Clearly) (Office Use Only) (Please Print Auction & Title Here) Not including buyer’s premium or GST(in order) 1 2TelephonePostcodeEmail Number(s) Auction # & Title Maximum BidLot Number DescriptionCatalogue ValuationsPrivateAuctionsSales auction@webbs.co.nzwebbs.co.nz auckland 33a Normanby Road Mount Eden, Auckland, 1024 09 529 5600 wellington 23 Marion Street Te Aro, Wellington, 6011 04 555 6001 DigitalInteractiveVersion Webb's 2022 155
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