Contrary to what some have said about the Mossgreen sale of the Ross and Rona Clarke collection held in Brisbane, the sale was actually quite a triumph both for Mossgreen and the market for Aboriginal art.
A sold by lot rate of 86% and an auction total total of almost $1.1 million is very good considering that Mossgreen took the risk of holding the sale outside the usual art market hotspots of Sydney and Melbourne; a soft market for Aboriginal art was another obstacle that Mossgreen were up against.
According to Mossgreen director Paul Sumner, a sold result of 86% by value for a collection formed virtually entirely from contemporary Indigenous art is far from disappointing in these times
The sale of this collection achieved nearly $1.4 million (With after sales) including buyers premium and the total sales for indigenous art was over $1.1 million making this the most successful auction for contemporary aboriginal art for a very long time. This result exceeded our expectations and that of our vendors, Sumner went on to say.
Achieving the fifth highest price for a work sold at auction by Emily Kngwarreye is a huge achievement in current market conditions. Selling for $244,000.00 (including Premium) Emily’s Summer Rains on Alalgura, 1991 smashed the pre-sale estimate of $120,000-160,000.
The final icing on the cake for Mossgreen was the significant number of new auction records set for a number of Aboriginal artists including:
Lot 37 Angelina George, My Imagined Country 2005 ( $17,080)
Lot 45 Peggy Napangardi Jones, White, Yellow and Green Cockies 2005 ( $9,760)
Lot 66 Billy Benn, Artetyerre 2008 ( $9,150)
Lot 72 Mabel Juli, Karnkiny Ngarrangkami 2006 ($ 7,930.)
Lot 70 Patsy Marfurra, Traditional Women Designs and Dyes 2004 ( $5,490)
Lot 162 Marita Sambono, Fog Dreaming 2005 ( $5,368)
Lot 28 Carmel Yukenbarri, Winpurpurla 2005 ( $4,636 )
Lot 130 Jukuna Mona Chuguna, Parapara and Jilji 2005 ( $4,270)
Lot 23 Hamish Karrkarrhba, Stingray 1997 ($1,037)
