Record prices for Aboriginal art
March 20, 2008 04:16am
Some 120 works went under the hammer tonight for the Lawson-Menzies auction, many of which were post-1980 Aboriginal works.
A spokeswoman for auction house Lawson-Menzies said a clearance rate of 80 per cent showed the works were popular with investors.
"This has been a very strong night for the sale of Aboriginal art," she said.
"Sale prices broke records for three Aboriginal artists."
A polymer paint on linen work by Judy Watson Napangardi, titled Women's Dreaming, sold for $216,000 including a 20 per cent buyer's premium.
Another synthetic polymer paint on linen piece, Kutungka Napanangka at Papunga, by Walangkura Napanangka, sold for $52,800 including buyer's premium.
The third record-breaking price was achieved by a Robert Campbell Junior canvas titled Ash Wednesday. It sold for $21,600 including buyer's premium.
Information about buyers was not available immediately after the auction, however the spokeswoman said the sale was expected to "attract younger investors and those wanting to purchase museum-quality Aboriginal art".
Link to original article at News.com.au
1 comments:
Canadian Inuit art has also been seeing record prices at auctions but mainly for older pieces by deceased carvers. It's weird because from an artistic point of view, the older works are more primitive looking and not as polished as contemporary Inuit art pieces today.
But it's nice to see Australian aboriginal art get attention at auctions since this will only help out current artists and their works.
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