Sydney, 1 July 2011
On 28 June 2011, Bonhams auction house hosted a session dedicated to Aboriginal art in Sydney. The sale did not realise the expected amount and the two most expensive works were not sold. Juntarkal Rainbow Serpent, a painting by Rover Thomas, which had been estimated at approximately A$180,000, received no bids higher than one hundred thousand dollars. Nigura Napurrula’s Untitled, estimated at A$150,000 to £200,000, did not reach its reserve price of A$135,000.
The directors of the auction house and other influential figures on the Australian art market have attributed this phenomenon to the Greek crisis which has had a global impact on the economy.
Tim Klingender, who works at the Aboriginal art department at Bonhams Sydney, told Wall Street Journal that “people are still a little bit nervous about making any significant art purchases.”
Of the 145 lots on auction, only 68 were sold. The sale was expected to reach approximately A$1.8 million, if all the lots were sold. The final result is A$744,168 and the lots that were sold rarely exceeded their pre-auction estimates.
The best-selling piece was Booralbun by Mr. Thomas, which struggled to realise A$68,000, thought it had been valued at A$100,000 to A$120,000. Although the results were disappointing, the collector did not make a loss, as the piece was acquired ten years ago at Sotheby’s for A$46,000.
Les Margulis, a collector of Aboriginal art, stated that prices could not sink any lower.