Select, December 2022

04.12.22 Select

Nicola Farquhar untitled

0651

Auction Catalogue December 2022 Contemporary, Modern and Historical Art

Programme Wellington Preview Wednesday 23 November

6pm ­— 8pm

Wellington Viewing Wednesday 16 — Friday 18 November

10am — 5pm

Saturday 19 November

11am — 3pm

Monday 21 — Friday 25 November

10am — 5pm

Saturday 26 November

11am — 3pm

Auckland Preview Tuesday 29 November

6pm ­— 8pm

Auckland Viewing Wednesday 30 November — Friday 2 December

10am — 5pm

Saturday 3 December

10am — 4pm

Auckland Viewing on Request Sunday 4 December

10am — 1pm

Art to Date Auction Sunday 4 December

2pm

Select Auction Sunday 4 December

6pm

Supplementing our December Art to Date catalogue, we are pleased to present the final edition of Select for 2022. This addition to the main catalogue features interesting pairings of works that our team of specialists have chosen as stand-out consignments. Accompanied by a small text to contextualise the pairings, this catalogue offers a wonderful overview of artistic practice.

Starting the catalogue strong is a pairing of bold prints by Robert Ellis and Colin McCahon. Both known for their engaging abstracted paintings of landscapes and cityscapes, these works present a different side of the artists’ work. Here McCahon’s well-used hill form is flattened into simple swathes of colour, emphasising the pared-back composition of the North Otago landscape. Robert Ellis’ graphic woodcut Te Rawhiti offers a more structured response to the artist’s usual sprawling motorway works, while still capturing Ellis’ relationship to his environment.

Another highlight is the delightful pairing of paintings by Kate Small and David Cauchi, who both capture everyday objects and scenes with a candy-coloured palette. Also captivating is the combination of two works by Séraphine Pick and Bill Hammond, noted members of the ‘Pencil Case Painters’. The two works here show both artists’ adeptness at creating beautiful, other-worldly scenes.

It has been a pleasure to put together this catalogue for you, and we hope you enjoy perusing these pages.

1

Robert Ellis Te Rawhiti 1975 woodcut on paper, 7/33 signed, dated and title inscribed 565 × 670mm est

$2,000 — $3,000

2

Colin McCahon North Otago Landscape screenprint on paper 440 × 545mm est

Webb’s

Colin McCahon and Robert Ellis are two artists who have made exceptional contributions to New Zealand art and left incredibly valuable artistic legacies. The two works featured here are both prints that show strong contrasts in style and technique. Te Rawhiti by Ellis is a detailed woodcut, demonstrating the excellent draftsmanship that he was well-known for.

On the other hand, McCahon’s untitled screenprint shows the incredibly effective reductionist approach he took to depicting landscape. Both prints capture the essence of what made these artists nationally significant.

$8,000 — $11,000

December

2

3

Ralph Hotere Drawing for a Black Remuera Painting 1980 watercolour and pastel on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 695 × 550mm est

$18,000 — $26,000

4 Ralph Hotere

Aramoana – Drawing for Ian Wedde’s Pathway to the Sea 1975 watercolour on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 560 × 750mm est Webb’s

Ralph Hotere was a pioneering artist of great stature, and he stands out as one of the most important artists in Aotearoa’s history. His paintings are often constrained, employing a modest range of painterly elements in a palette frequently dominated by black. Yet, while his works can be sparsely composed, they convey sophistication and gravitas. Hotere created many of his works from re-purposed industrial materials, inventing techniques to use such things as corrugated iron and automobile lacquer paint. Yet, he was also highly skilled in the use of conventional materials. This pair of watercolour works show signature Hotere flair, yet also the depth of his skill with a delicate, traditional medium.

$18,000 — $22,000 2022

3

5

Pat Hanly Summer Garden 1978 watercolour and pastel on paper signed and dated 503 × 640mm est

$14,000 — $20,000

6

Pat Hanly Dove over Mt Eden 1981 ink, watercolour and graphite on paper signed and dated 660 × 550mm est

Webb’s

In the history of New Zealand art, Pat Hanly’s work stands out as uniquely expressive and warm. He was active from the 1950s through to the 1990s, and produced vibrant, lavishly colourful paintings. This pair of works on paper demonstrate the vitality and expressiveness that the artist is so well-known for. Both are suburban landscapes, depicting views from around Mount Eden – the Auckland suburb that Hanly called home for many years. These works feature the energetic brushstrokes, rich palettes, and cheery exuberance that made Hanly one of New Zealand’s most loved painters.

$10,000 — $15,000

December

4

7

Simon Kaan untitled 2016 oil on board signed and dated 1570 × 890mm est

$7,000 — $10,000

8

Simon Kaan untitled 2016 oil on board signed and dated 1570 × 890mm est

Webb’s

Over the past three decades, Simon Kaan’s distinctive works have become well-known to collectors and art lovers throughout the country. The Dunedin-based artist creates layered landscapes that convey a sense of stillness and clam. This pair of oil on cedar paintings from 2016 characteristically feature layered depictions of sea, land, and sky, with gracefully floating waka in the foreground. The paintings beautifully evoke Aotearoa’s shorelines and open skies. Kaan is of Ngāi Tahu, Chinese, and Pākehā ancestry, and he skilfully intertwines elements of visual culture from these three cultural backgrounds to his work.

$7,000 — $10,000

2022

5

9

Julian Hooper untitled 2018 acrylic on canvas signed and dated 380 × 305mm est

$2,500 — $5,000

10

Julian Hooper untitled 2018 acrylic on canvas signed and dated 360 × 255mm est

Webb’s

Julian Hooper has forged a practice of thoughtful and inventive painting. Rather than adopting a specific ‘look’ or style, Hooper has retained an inventive and exploratory approach to image making that has included richly detailed landscape painting, surrealist portraiture, geometric abstraction, and works that bring together elements of all styles previously mentioned. The two works presented here seem to fit somewhere between surrealist portraiture and typeface design. Both feature stylised characters that could be read as either human faces or almost-decipherable lettering.

This playfully inventive approach to painting has earned Hooper a dedicated following and collector base in New Zealand and Australia.

$2,500 — $5,000

December

6

11

Louise Henderson untitled graphite and pastel on paper 520 × 725mm est

$3,000 — $6,000

12

Louise Henderson untitled 1955 lithograph on paper, 5/15 signed and dated 240 × 310mm est

Webb’s

Louise Henderson was born in France in 1902, and migrated to Aotearoa in her early twenties.

Her paintings often blur the distinction between abstraction and representation, and bring together intriguing influences – European modernism and mid-century New Zealand regionalist painting. The two works presented here demonstrate Henderson’s skill as a graphic artist and her interest in cubism – a theme she explored in depth through the 1950s. New Zealand collectors are increasingly aware of the singular quality of the Henderson’s work, and this is reflected in growing levels of demand. In coming years, it is likely that the artist’s star will continue to rise.

$1,000 — $2,000

2022

7

13

L S Lowry Church, street, and figures 1961 ink and graphite on paper signed and dated 240 × 175mm est

$20,000 — $30,000

14

Peter McIntyre Lambton Quay watercolour on paper signed 525 × 730mm est

Webb’s

This pairing brings together works by two artists from a similar period with very different takes on urban landscape. Laurence Stephen Lowry is an English artist, famous for his highly stylised paintings of industrial districts and workers. He was active from prior to 1920 through to the 1960s, and during World War II, he became an official war artist. More than twenty years younger, and born on the other side of the world in New Zealand, Peter McIntyre also became an official World War II artist, serving in the New Zealand Army in Africa and Europe. Both works here date from after the war, and they present very different artistic visions of urban environments.

$16,000 — $22,000

December

8

15

Andy Leleisi’uao untitled acrylic on canvas signed 450 × 355mm est

$3,000 — $6,000

16

Andy Leleisi’uao untitled acrylic on canvas signed 450 × 355mm est

Webb’s

Andy Leleisi’uao is an Auckland artist of Samoan heritage. His distinctive paintings bring together a wide range of visual references, including rock art, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Samoan tapa cloth, pop culture and comic books. These two untitled artworks both demonstrate Leleisi’uao’s signature style; a procession of black, silhouetted figures set against white negative space. Both works use similar compositional set-ups, with a single large figure alongside multiple smaller figures.

These two acrylic paintings are excellent examples of the artist’s acclaimed work.

$3,000 — $6,000

2022

9

17

Toss Woollaston untitled watercolour on paper signed 265 × 350mm est

$5,000 — $8,000

18

Toss Woollaston Tasman Bay 1985 watercolour on paper signed and dated 305 × 445mm est

Webb’s

Toss Woollaston is widely considered to be one of the key pioneers of New Zealand modernist painting. His paintings energetically depict landscape environments in an expressive way that just holds as representational, almost breaking down into abstraction. His paintings feature expressive brushwork and thick layers of paint. His paintwork is distinctively gestural, and when it comes to his oil paintings, show signs of vigorous application of paint. The two works presented here are watercolours, and they demonstrate that his gestural, almost-abstraction style of painting translated effectively into a more delicate medium.

$5,000 — $8,000

December

10

19

André Hemer Sky Painting #8 (Evening) 2018 acrylic on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 1000 × 550mm est

$8,000 — $12,000

20

André Hemer Big Node #25 2015 acrylic on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 800 × 600mm est

Webb’s

$7,000 — $10,000

2022

André Hemer coined the term ‘new representation’ to describe painting that explores the interface of digital technology with physical objects. He makes use of digital scanners and image editing software to create images that are combined with conventional painting materials. The resulting work is both abstract and representational, physical and digital.

Exemplifying Hemer’s unique approach to art making, this pair of works combine paint and print to beautiful effect. Hemer begins by scanning acrylic paint and found objects as source material for digital images. He then compiles these scans into dense compositions, which are worked over with densely applied paint. Each of the works encapsulates this hybrid practice that Hemer has devised and honed to perfection.

11

21

Alan Pearson Leonardo Pagliara 1970 oil on canvas 897 × 740mm est

$5,000 — $8,000

22

Alan Pearson untitled 2008 oil on canvas signed and dated 1000 × 1300mm est

Webb’s

Alan Pearson was a notable New Zealand painter. Born in England in 1929, he trained at Ilam in the late 1950s, and his work is held in public collections throughout the country. The two works presented here are from very different periods of this practice, and are strikingly different in appearance.

Leonardo Pagliara from 1970 is vividly colourful and demonstrates Pearson’s skill in expressive portraiture. By contrast, the untitled work from 2008 features an abstract composition in a muted palette.

$20,000 — $30,000

December

12

23

Theo Schoon untitled 1960 ink and watercolour on paper signed and dated 235 × 170mm est

$1,000 — $2,000

24

Theo Schoon untitled linocut on satin signed 700 × 700mm est

Webb’s

Born in Java in 1915 (then known as the Dutch East-Indies), Theo Schoon studied in the Netherlands, before migrating to New Zealand at the onset of World War II. Schoon is notable for creating graphic art that engaged with Javanese, European, and Māori influences.

The two works presented here, a linocut and a watercolour, are indicative of his strength as a graphic artist. The works appear to be indebted to Māori imagery and Javanese batik respectively, and demonstrate his adaptive visual style and technical inventiveness.

$5,000 — $10,000

2022

13

Nicola Farquhar’s painting practice operates at the edges of representational image making.

Her paintings clearly reference people, plants, and environments. Yet, they also appear more engaged with mark-making, pattern, and exploration of colour than with depiction.

Her paintings feature vibrant colour and inventive paint application that pushes pictorial representation to its limits.

Jan Nigro’s paintings are similarly explorative, though at the same time, they are

Webb’s

December

more directly representational than Farquhar’s.

Having trained at Elam in the 1930s, Nigro was schooled in traditional figurative painting. Her many decades of art-making saw her develop unique ways of both employing and breaking with traditional modes of painting the figure. Her use of colour is vibrant and rich.

These two paintings capture the essence of the two artists’ work. Both are engaging and inventive, portraying figures with exploratory paint work.

14

25

Nicola Farquhar untitled acrylic on canvas 600 × 600mm est

$3,000 — $6,000

26

Jan Nigro untitled 1995 acrylic on canvas signed and dated 690 × 1070mm est

Webb’s

2022

$5,000 — $10,000

15

Kate Small’s art practice renders domestic activities, at times banal, into subject matter for stunningly beautiful paintings. Her vividly colourful scenes of domestic interiors are often occupied by idle inhabitants. White Cross is an excellent example of this subtly nuanced practice. David Cauchi’s work is often comprised of symbolic content, touching

Webb’s

December

on esoteric or occult themes, though is sometimes more restrained and domestic — as is the case with this untitled painting. These two paintings are representational, though also interpretive.

The colour choices and treatment of paint give these paintings, ostensibly of humble domestic content, a sense of the uncanny.

16

27

Kate Small White Cross 2009 oil on board signed and dated 700 × 700mm est Webb’s

28

David Cauchi untitled acrylic on canvas 400 × 300mm est

$2,000 — $4,000

$6,500 — $8,500 2022

17

29

Graham Fletcher The Games Room 2012 acrylic on canvas 402 × 605mm est

$6,000 — $12,000

30

Don Driver Crossing Planes 1997 plastic and enamel on Perspex signed, dated and title inscribed 1240 × 760mm est

Webb’s

In some ways, the work of Graham Fletcher and Don Driver couldn’t be more different; Fletcher’s practice of meticulously crafted representational painting stands in stark contrast to Driver’s process of found object assemblage.

Yet, these two works share playful themes, and a similar colour palette. Fletcher’s The Games Room captures a domestic recreation space.

Like many of his paintings of interiors, no one is in the room. Don Driver’s Crossing Planes is a colourful assemblage, evidently constructed from a Toyworld sign. Both works have a feel that is simultaneously convivial and eerie.

$15,000 — $20,000

December

18

31

Evelyn Page Living Room 1986 oil on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 600 × 400mm est

$40,000 — $70,000

32

Gretchen Albrecht untitled 1968 watercolour on paper signed and dated 390 × 280mm est

Webb’s

Evelyn Page and Gretchen Albrecht are both widely-celebrated painters. Page’s work is often rigorously composed still life and portraiture, with notable use of gestural paint work, whereas Albrecht is known for sumptuous colour-field abstract paintings. In this pairing, Page’s Living Room is a distinctive example of her work — featuring a characteristically well-composed and fluently painted arrangement of domestic objects.

Yet, Albrecht’s untitled watercolour is surprising.

This work, from 1968, is from very early on in the artist’s career, and in its paint work, palette and subject matter appears to show the influence of earlier artists — perhaps including Page.

$6,500 — $12,500

2022

19

In many ways, Michael Stevenson and Dick Lyne make for an unlikely pairing. Richard (Dick) Lyne (1927-2014) was a self-taught artist who turned his hand to painting in his retirement years. After a life-long career as a forestry worker, he began to bring his bush experiences to life through paint.

Michael Stevenson, on the other hand, trained at Elam, lives in Berlin, and has exhibited in major galleries around the world.

Webb’s

December

Yet, for all the differences of the two artists, these works create an intriguing pair. Lyne’s Kauri Logging Scene Nth Auckland presents a forest scene with a group of loggers hard at work.

Michael Stevenson’s J Fraser Cooper depicts a set of stag’s horns hung on a wall — a hunting trophy.

The mutual theme of back country working lifestyles is evident, though the painting styles differ significantly.

20

33

Dick Lyne Kauri Logging Scene Nth Auckland 2011 oil on board signed, dated and title inscribed 540 × 730mm

34

Michael Stevenson J Fraser Cooper 1992 oil on board 900 × 700mm est

est

Webb’s

$6,000 — $9,000

$2,000 — $3,000

2022

21

Richard Killeen and Gordon Walters are two notable artists who have both made enduring contributions to the history of New Zealand art.

Walters, who died in 1995, is best-known for his striking abstract painting work that riffs on the koru form. Killeen continues to create art

Webb’s

December

to this day. He is well-known for his inventive combinations of geometric shapes and imagery, and his ‘cutout’ works. Both artists produced superb prints, and the two works presented here are excellent examples of their respective iconic art practices.

22

35

Richard Killeen Triangle Warp 2020 screenprint on paper, 1/1 signed, dated and title inscribed 315 × 297mm

36

est

est

Webb’s

$3,000 — $5,000

2022

Gordon Walters Arahura 1982 screenprint on paper, 11/125 signed, dated and title inscribed 760 × 560mm $12,000 — $16,000

23

Bill Hammond and Séraphine Pick are two of New Zealand’s best-known painters. Both have created extraordinary bodies of work, and achieved significant critical and market acclaim. The two artists are considered members of the ‘Pencil Case Painters’, a group of artists who trained at Ilam and rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. They are known for including quirky, self-referential material in their art. Hammond, who died last year, is especially known for the distinctive bird figures that grace his paintings. Pick lives and works in

Webb’s

December

Wellington where she continues to produce and exhibit exceptional paintings.

The two works included in this paring demonstrate the qualities that have made these artists famous. Ash Urn: Cornwall Road is a work on paper that depicts an urn, illustrated with Hammond’s bird figures. Pick’s untitled painting from 2010 shows a woman holding a puppet against a backdrop of foliage. The masterful paint touches of both artists are fully evident in this stunning pair of paintings.

24

37

Bill Hammond Ash Urn: Cornwall Road 2011 acrylic on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 295 × 210mm

38

est

est

Webb’s

$12,000 — $18,000

2022

Séraphine Pick untitled 2010 oil on linen signed and dated 400 × 300mm $12,000 — $18,000

25

While it can seem to have very specific parameters, abstract image making can encompass wildly differing practices. Imogen Taylor’s Impatiens is painted in acrylic, with string applied to the surface.

The title suggests floral content that a viewer might seek to find, and the layered combination of bright colours could almost read as an abstracted view of a flower bed. Yet, the image resists literal interpretation. Martin Thompson’s untitled ink Webb’s

December

on paper work has no such suggestive title, and presents a fastidiously rendered mathematical pattern. While on the surface these works are quite different, a relationship can be detected in the way both artists have created visually compelling works that diverge from their source material: Taylor’s work is, arguably, abstracted from nature, whereas Thompson’s is a pattern generated from a nonvisual, abstract discipline.

26

39

Imogen Taylor Impatiens 2011 acrylic and string on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 490 × 390mm est

Webb’s

40

Martin Thompson untitled ink on paper 490 × 970mm est

$3,800 — $4,800

$4,000 — $6,000

2022

27

While using different mediums, Yvonne Todd’s Yellow Dress, and Peter Stichbury’s Glister both explore and disrupt the discipline of portraiture.

Todd’s award-winning photographic work engages with some of the conventions of fashion photography, while also undermining them. Her photographic subjects are neatly presented and posed, yet something is off-kilter. With Yellow

Webb’s

December

Dress, one can sense something acerbic in the expression of the sitter. Stichbury’s ‘psychological’ portrait paintings similarly depict subjects that are somehow ill-at-ease. Often wide-eyed and cartoonish, the figures in his portraits are always immaculately rendered. Though a screenprint, Glister features all of the qualities that Stichbury is known for.

28

41

Peter Stichbury Glister 2008 screenprint on paper, 93/100 signed and dated 270 × 230mm

42

Yvonne Todd Yellow Dress 2021 C-type print, 1/5 700 × 466mm est

est

Webb’s

$6,000 — $9,000

$3,000 — $6,000

2022

29

43

Tony Fomison #142 1976 oil on canvasboard title inscribed 315 × 230mm est

$25,000 — $35,000

44

E Mervyn Taylor Kakanui Bay 1955 signed and dated 300 × 390mm est

Webb’s

This pairing brings together works by two artists that both created startlingly unique art. Tony Fomison is one of the nation’s most celebrated painters, having created a rich body of highly distinctive artwork. As an engraver and printmaker, E Mervyn Taylor had an exceptional craft that is seeing increasing recognition for its singular quality. This pair of works show Fomison’s characteristic representation of the figure alongside an atypical aspect of Taylor’s practice. Taylor’s watercolour landscape is highly accomplished and beautifully balanced.

$1,500 — $3,000

December

30

45

Terry Stringer Men to Me 2018 bronze, 7/20 signed, dated and title inscribed 150 × 70 × 50mm (widest points) est

$2,500 — $4,500

46

Terry Stringer untitled 2001

England born and New Zealand trained, Terry Stringer is a highly accomplished sculptor. He has been producing his distinctive figurative sculptural art since the late 1960s, and has won numerous accolades and awards in the process. Stringer is noted for his inventive approach to the figure, taking the human subject in an off-beat direction.

These two bronze works are excellent examples of his mature practice, having been produced in 2001 and 2018 respectively. Stringer’s unique treatment of the human face is clearly evident in both works, presenting the viewer with something familiar and yet unexpected.

bronze signed and dated 320 × 60 × 70mm (widest points) est

Webb’s

$6,000 — $8,000

2022

31

Milan Mrkusich and Darryn George are painters of different generations and different sets of artistic concerns, though their respective practices converge in interesting ways. Mrkusich was one of the leading pioneers of abstract painting in New Zealand, creating exquisitely restrained paintings exploring the essence of the artform: line, colour, tone, paint application, geometry. George has a practice that engages in similar considerations, yet also incorporates aspects of his Ngāpuhi heritage, and the distinctions between photographic reproduction and painting object. The two paintings presented here are pristine examples that demonstrate both the convergence and distinction in the work of two important New Zealand artists.

Webb’s

December

47

Milan Mrkusich Achromatic, Dark Grey 1977 acrylic on card signed, dated and title inscribed 600 × 450mm est

$10,000 — $15,000

48

Darryn George Study for Nepukaneha 2004 oil on canvas 400 × 400mm est

$2,500 — $5,000

32

Charles Ninow Director of Art charles@webbs.co.nz +64 21 053 6504

Adrienne (AD) Schierning Head of Art ad@webbs.co.nz +64 27 929 5609

Tasha Jenkins Specialist, Art tasha@webbs.co.nz +64 22 595 5610

Julian McKinnon Content & Research julian@webbs.co.nz +64 21 113 5001

Charles Tongue Valuations Specialist valuations@webbs.co.nz +64 22 406 5514

Hannah Crichton Registrar, Art registrar@webbs.co.nz +64 9 529 5609

Jo Bragg Administrator, Art art@webbs.co.nz +64 9 529 5609

wellington Mark Hutchins-Pond Specialist, Art mark@webbs.co.nz +64 4 555 6001

33a Normanby Road Mount Eden Auckland 1024 23 Marion Street Te Aro Wellington 6011 webbs.co.nz