Now art reflects strife in economy at Sotheby's sale
Corrie Perkin | August 26, 2008

THE nation's economic wobbles finally hit the art market last night when several major paintings failed to sell at Sotheby's Melbourne auction, including animportant Tasmanian landscape by early 19th-century artist John Glover.

The auction, which sold just 49 per cent of its total works, clawed its way to a final sales figure of $5.77 million. This was well below Sotheby's original estimate of between $9 million and $12 million

Moulting Lagoon and Great Oyster Bay, From Pine Hill, which Glover painted in the 1830s, carried a reserve price of between $1.8 million and $2.2million. Its owner, Peter Farrell, the founder of sleep disorder device manufacturer ResMed, bought the painting in 2001 for about $1.25 million.

Dr Farrell and Sotheby's were confident there would be strong interest, particularly from the state art galleries. But bidding was flat and the work was passed in at $1.62 million.

Another surprise was John Brack's 1953 The Return of theProdigal Son, which carried a modest reserve of $700,000 to $900,000, but was passed in at$650,000.

One of the auction's few highlights was the sale of Rocky McCormack, an ochre-toned portrait by Russell Drysdale, painted in 1962-63. It sold for $1.89 million, including auction house commission -- a record price for the artist.

Sotheby's unusual strategy of stacking the start of its winter auction with a number of reasonably priced contemporary Australian works paid dividends.

Most of the works priced under $50,000, by artists such asRick Amor, Del Kathryn Barton and David Larwill, went to new owners, adding excitement to what was otherwise a lacklustre event attended by fewer than 150 people.

Georgina Pemberton, Sotheby's head of paintings, described last night's result as "a reflection of our economic climate and we are now going through a correction in the art market".

All eyes now turn to auction houses Bonhams and Goodman and Deutscher and Hackett, which have their Melbourne sales tonight and tomorrow respectively.