Select, February 2023

19.02.23 Select

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Auction Catalogue February 2023 Contemporary, Modern and Historical Art

Guy Ngan 135

Webb's

2023

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Programme

The Art of Collecting | Talk Series Wellington with Mark Hutchins-Pond

Thursday 9 February, 6pm

Auckland with Dr. Julian McKinnon

Thursday 16 February, 6pm

Please RSVP to registrar@webbs.co.nz

Wellington Preview Wednesday 8 February

6pm ­— 8pm

Wellington Viewing Thursday 9 — Friday 10 February

10am — 5pm

Saturday 11 February

11am — 3pm

Auckland Preview Tuesday 14 February

6pm ­— 8pm

Auckland Viewing Wednesday 15 — Friday 17 February

10am — 5pm

Saturday 18 February

10am — 4pm

Auckland Viewing Available on Request Sunday 19 February

10am — 12pm

Art to Date Auction Sunday 19 February

12pm

Select Auction Sunday 19 February Webb's

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We are delighted to present the first iteration of Select for 2023. This lineup of stand-out consignments from Art to Date has developed into a mainstay of our auction calendar, presenting increasingly sought-after artworks. The works featured in Select have been created by a mix of well-known market stalwarts and artists on the rise. They are arranged in interesting pairings and groups, and accompanied by brief texts that summarise their contextual framework.

Some of the enticing artworks in this catalogue include two works by Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa), one painting and one carving. Ropata-Tangahoe is an important artist, whose significance to Aotearoa art has previously been under-acknowledged.

Inclusion of two of her works in this catalogue is a sign of increasing market recognition.

We have an exciting pair of digital prints by contemporary artists Jess Johnson and Liz Maw. Johnson’s work features the distinctive fantastical imagery she is known for, including complex geometry and textual elements. Maw’s Lady Katherine and I is one of the highly accomplished artist’s best-known images.

Representing established modern artists, we have three prints from the highly-regarded Barry Lett Multiples series. These are the works Wave Invading Rock Pool by Michael Smither, Tawera by Michael Illingworth, and North Otago Landscape

by Colin McCahon.

We are thrilled to bring all of these artworks to market, and we look forward to seeing them delight their new owners. Get in touch with our team of specialists if you have any queries.

1

Peter Peryer Monkey Skull gelatin silver print 155 × 110mm est

$800 — $1,400

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Peter Peryer Piupiu 1984 gelatin silver print 280 × 200mm est

$1,200 — $1,800

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Peter Peryer Kiokio 1984 gelatin silver print 281 × 200mm est

$1,200 — $1,800

Peter Peryer was an inventive photographer who created a substantial body of work over the course of his life. Active from the 1970s until his death in 2018, Peryer had a unique ability to create captivating images that highlighted something specific to life in New Zealand. Stark landscapes, haunting portraits, botanical images, and striking architectural compositions are recurring themes that the artist explored. The three works presented here – Monkey Skull, Piupiu, and Kiokio – are excellent examples of the artist’s photographic practice. All three are gelatin silver prints — a medium that Peryer had entirely mastered and used to great effect. Monkey Skull is a stark frontal image of the titular skull, capturing fascinating details of the simian bone structure. Piupiu, and Kiokio are inventively composed botanical photographs, presenting native flora as fresh and compelling images.

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Bill Hammond untitled 1990 ink on paper signed and dated 250 × 185mm est

$2,000 — $4,000

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Bill Hammond Singer Songwriter 2001 lithograph on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 700 × 920mm est

The late Bill Hammond is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists. His iconic depictions of anthropomorphic birds are among the most recognisable motifs in New Zealand art.

Underpinning his great success as an artist was his exceptional skill in drawing and constructing images. This skill is plainly evident in these two works, Singer Songwriter I and an untitled Webb's

2023

$15,000 — $20,000

ink drawing. Singer Songwriter I is from one of Hammond’s best-known series of lithographs, presenting a complex entanglement of figures in stark black and white. The ink drawing is minimal

by Hammond’s standards, yet it captures a distinctive essence of his sophisticated compositional skills and artistic vision.

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Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe Te Ira Tipu 2020-2022 acrylic on canvas signed and dated 900 × 750mm est Webb's

$8,000 — $14,000 February

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Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa) has sustained an art practice over many decades. Well-known for her paintings, which often feature auto-biographical content, Ropata-Tangahoe has generated a distinctive body of artwork. Her paintings often feature simplified figures and flattened perspective, referencing a naive style. Te Ira Tipu is a characteristic painting

in this regard. It depicts a central figure clutching a book to her chest. Three additional figures surround the primary subject, perhaps they are relatives or ancestors. Hinemoa, a mermaid figure carved in totara, has a similarly stylised figure style to those seen in the artist’s paintings.

Together, these works present a compelling view of Ropata-Tangahoe’s practice.

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Hariata Ropata-Tangahoe Hinemoa carved Totara 160 × 550 × 130mm (widest points) est $4,000 — $6,000 Webb's

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Giovanni Intra untitled c1992 acrylic on paper 2110 × 1500mm (overall) est

$10,000 — $15,000

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Giovanni Intra untitled c1992 acrylic on paper 2110 × 1500mm (overall) est Webb's

$10,000 — $15,000 February

Giovanni Intra was a precocious artist and writer who left an indelible mark on New Zealand art and culture. A dynamic art-world figure, Intra operated as an artist, writer, and gallerist. He was central to Auckland’s influential Teststrip Gallery, and co-founded China Art Objects Galleries in Los Angeles. While the body of work he created in his lifetime is not vast, he created an important artistic legacy.

The two works presented here are rare examples of Intra’s painting practice. Combining text and image, the works explore pharmacological themes and include references to literature and music.

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Ans Westra Ruatoria 1964 gelatin silver print, 25/25 390 × 390mm est

$3,000 — $5,000

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Ans Westra Ruatoria 1964 gelatin silver print, 22/25 391 × 390mm est Webb's

$3,000 — $5,000 2023

Ans Westra is one of New Zealand’s best-known photographers. Her distinctive black and white documentation of New Zealand life in the 1960s brought her work to national attention.

These works are both from her significant 1964 photographic series Washday at the Pā.

This series of photographs of a rural Māori community were published in a school bulletin by the Department of Education. The publication was subsequently withdrawn from schools after it caused controversy for its depiction of substandard living conditions. On this subject, Westra stated, “The booklet was never meant to portray a typical Māori family. It is just a story of a happy family living in the country. It shows the warmth of family relationships”. These images are now considered an important part of the photographic and cultural history of Aotearoa.

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Flora Scales and John Weeks are two notable New Zealand modernist painters who have been underrecognised for their contribution to the development of New Zealand art. Scales was born in 1887, and pursued art from an early age. She travelled to Europe to study painting in 1908, and again in the early 1930s, when she studied under Hans Hofmann. On her return to New Zealand in 1934, she met and artistically influenced Toss Woollaston.

Weeks was a lecturer at Elam from the 1930s through to the 1950s. Among many other students, he taught important modernist painter Louise Henderson. These examples of the two artist’s work demonstrate the aesthetic and technical qualities that make them both important to New Zealand art history.

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Flora Scales untitled 1968 oil on canvasboard signed and dated 310 × 235mm est

$8,000 — $12,000

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John Weeks untitled oil on board signed 490 × 620mm est

$8,000 — $12,000 8

The work of A. Lois White is notable for its distinctive graphic style and strong design sensibility. White was active in art making from the 1920s through to the 1970s, creating a rich body of paintings, drawings, and prints. She created portraiture and landscape work, which often explored biblical and political themes. White’s art fell out of fashion in the 1950s, though she continued to work diligently until the later stages of her life. In the 1970s, art dealer Peter McLeavey presented a show of her paintings, that brought her back to national attention. The two works presented here, a graphite drawing and a woodcut, are demonstrative of White’s compositional finesse.

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A. Lois White Allegorical Compostion graphite on paper signed 170 × 100mm est

$2,500 — $3,500

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A. Lois White untitled woodcut on paper 140 × 105mm est Webb's

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$2,500 — $3,500 9

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Peter Gibson-Smith untitled acrylic and ink on wood, metal 770 × 890mm (widest points) Peter Gibson-Smith often combines cutting-edge approaches to art making with traditional themes and mediums. His combination of contemporary and traditional practice has proven highly effective, resulting in works that link contemporary art to its deep historical roots. Gibson-Smith was awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship in 1993, and he won the Wallace Art Award in 2001. These prestigious awards are testament to the quality of his work. While he is best-known for his egg tempera paintings and detailed graph-plotter drawings, the three works presented here demonstrate his inventiveness and adaptability. Part paintings, part works of assemblage, they present the viewer with satisfying complexity of colour and structure. Each of the works are carefully constructed from bolted together wood and metal, which has been skilfully painted in acrylic and ink.

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est

$1,000 — $2,000

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Peter Gibson-Smith untitled acrylic and ink on wood, metal 1270 × 700mm (widest points)

est

$1,000 — $2,000

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Peter Gibson-Smith untitled acrylic and ink on wood, metal 950 × 1150mm (widest points) est

$1,000 — $2,000 10

The work of English-born painter Allen Maddox is instantly recognisable. Expressively painted and richly layered, the majority of paintings feature his signature ‘X’ motif. This distinctive mark is sometimes singular, sometimes repeated. Both of the works in this catalogue feature Maddox’s X, in the case of the oil painting it recurs, in part or in whole, in several locations of the canvas. With

the acrylic wash painting, it appears in a single instance. The two paintings both demonstrate the artist’s gestural approach to mark making and unhindered way of working paint. Maddox is one of New Zealand’s most important exponents of abstract expressionism. Now, more than two decades after his death, his work continues to rise in critical and commercial esteem.

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Allen Maddox untitled 1984 oil on canvas 1235 × 1235mm

Allen Maddox untitled acrylic on paper 415 × 300mm est

est

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$4,000 — $6,000

$20,000 — $30,000

2023

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Pat Hanly’s uniquely vibrant paintings offer a charming counterpoint to the moody themes and palettes of many of his New Zealand modernist contemporaries. His paintings often feature expressive paint application and the use of bright, summery colours. The two works featured in this catalogue, Hope of Paradise and Summer Garden, capture the essence of Hanly’s distinctive painting practice. They are richly expressive paintings, that give weight to the artist’s status as a painter of historical importance. Although comprised of simple imagery, the nuanced paint layering and deft use of colour give rise to a satisfying sense of complexity. Hanly’s work has enduring appeal, and will continue to find admirers for decades to come.

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Pat Hanly Hope of Paradise 1960 oil on board signed, dated and title inscribed 610 × 800mm

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$60,000 — $80,000

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Pat Hanly Summer Garden 1973 watercolour on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 460 × 590mm $14,000 — $18,000

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Rata Lovell-Smith and Adele Younghusband were two important pioneering New Zealand artists.

Lovell-Smith hailed from Christchurch, and she trained at the Canterbury College School of Arts (which later became known as Ilam). She took up a teaching position at the same institution in 1924, remaining there for over 20 years. She produced her distinctive landscape paintings en plein air, working outdoors in the very environment she was painting. Adele Younghusband was a remarkably inventive artist, who worked in a broad range of mediums and was central to the development of a number of art societies. Active from the early 1900s through to the 1960s, Younghusband created a fascinating body of historically significant work. The two paintings presented here are excellent examples, showcasing the skill and vision of these two notable 20th century artists.

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23 Rata Lovell-Smith

Mountains Near the Wilberforce River, Canterbury oil on canvasboard signed 285 × 435mm est

$7,000 — $10,000

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Adele Younghusband untitled 1927 watercolour on paper signed and dated 320 × 235mm est

$3,000 — $6,000 14

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Jess Johnson Outer Like the Inner digital print on paper, 5/6 signed 545 × 405mm

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$1,200 — $2,200

Digital printmaking is a relatively new art form, though in some ways it follows similar principles to traditional print techniques. Images that are well composed and thoughtfully coloured make for strong prints, as the two works presented here amply demonstrate.

Jess Johnson and Liz Maw are two of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists. Both have created uniquely aesthetic image-making practices

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Liz Maw Lady Katherine and I 2011 digital print on paper, 8/10 signed, dated and title inscribed 800 × 600mm $1,600 — $2,600

that are effective in multiple mediums.

Jess Johnson’s strikingly graphic images are otherworldly, often featuring fantastical imagery with complex geometry and textual elements.

Liz Maw most often works in paint, creating fascinatingly detailed and technically finessed artworks, often in hyperreal colour and resolution.

This pair of prints demonstrate the sophisticated image-making skills of these two brilliant artists.

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Banksy Have a Nice Day 2003 screenprint on paper, 432/500 350 × 980mm est

$50,000 — $70,000

note Accompanied by Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity.

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Street art is often created as part social critique and part act of rebellion. It is also usually impermanent, lasting only as long as it takes for municipal authorities to remove it. British street artist Banksy has become famous for his distinctive stencilled artworks that touch on anti-consumerist and anti-authoritarian themes. Although his identity remains mysterious and the subject of speculation, Banksy has become the world’s most well-known street artist, and his art has become highly sought after in the marketplace.

Banksy has produced various limited edition print runs in a similar visual style to his street art stencil works. Have a Nice Day ironically depicts an imposing line up of heavily armed military police with cartoonish smiley faces. The smiling faces and pleasant sentiment of the title starkly contrasting the lurking authoritarian threat of the armed officers.

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Gretchen Albrecht Tear 1998 lithograph on paper, 10/30 signed, dated and title inscribed 600 × 800mm est

$4,000 — $6,000

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Gretchen Albrecht Changes 1984 lithograph on paper, 4/30 signed, dated and title inscribed 1050 × 600mm est

$7,000 — $1,000

Gretchen Albrecht is a distinguished artist, and New Zealand’s foremost exponent of colour field painting. As the name suggests, colour is central to this kind of abstract painting, which often relies on subtle variations in tone and paint density to achieve optical effects. Albrecht has shaped a career through painting immersive abstract works that make full use of the potential of colour. These works are well-known and widely collected, and they have made the artist a household name in Aotearoa. Albrecht is an excellent printmaker.

These two lithographs, both from editions of 30, explore similar themes to her paintings, combining simple forms and subtle colour variations to stunning effect.

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Francis Upritchard untitled 2018 watercolour on paper signed and dated 190 × 140mm est

$1,500 — $2,500

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Francis Upritchard untitled 2009 graphite and watercolour on paper signed and dated 560 × 375mm est Webb's

$2,000 — $3,000 2023

A graduate of Ilam School of Fine Arts, Francis Upritchard is a highly accomplished contemporary artist. She represented New Zealand at the Venice Biennale in 2009, after winning the Walters Prize three years earlier in 2006. Upritchard is perhaps best-known for her sculptural work, though she works in a wide range of mediums. The two works included in this catalogue are both untitled depictions of figures. Each captures a distinctive character that is immediately recognisable as Upritchard’s. Figures such as these two recur throughout her practice in a variety of mediums.

Often quirky, always inventive, Upritchard’s work continues to enchant audiences in New Zealand and abroad.

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Shane Cotton Closed Neighbourhood 2014 acrylic on Steinbach on linen signed, dated and title inscribed 1000 × 700mm

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$7,000 — $14,000

February

Shane Cotton Zero 2008 acrylic on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 357 × 406mm $5,000 — $9,000

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Shane Cotton (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Hine, Te Urí Taniwha) is a highly distinguished New Zealand artist, widely known for his painting practice. Consistently producing art since the 1980s, Cotton is acknowledged as one of the foremost practitioners of contemporary Māori art. His work often explores Māori and Pākehā cultural histories, engaging discourse around the biculturalism and statehood.

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The works included in this catalogue are pared back, elemental paintings. Closed Neighbourhood from 2014 makes use of text, a diamond shape and a sketch-like figure — all of which are recurrent motifs in his work. In Zero from 2008, Cotton positions a single, visually textured form on a stark background, creating a striking contrast in colour in detail.

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John Drawbridge Still Life with Malevich (Red) 1993 mezzotint and drypoint on paper, 17/100 signed, dated and title inscribed 250 × 160mm est

$1,200 — $2,200

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John Drawbridge untitled 1989 watercolour, pastel and graphite on paper signed and dated 580 × 760mm est

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$9,000 — $12,000

February

John Drawbridge created a substantial body of work over the course of his life. He was well-known as a painter and muralist, and as a superb printmaker. His work often explored formalist themes, and thoughtfully engaged with international ideas of modernism. The two works included in this catalogue share a similar palette. One is a watercolour and pastel work on paper from 1989. The image is satisfying balanced, composed of interlocking geometric segments. The still life referred to in the title, perhaps underlying the image, has been abstracted beyond recognition. Still Life with Malevich (Red) follows a similar theme, though the still life aspect is more identifiable — even if comprised of geometric shapes that appear to acknowledge the work of Russian Suprematist maestro Kazimir Malevich.

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Toss Woollaston is rightly remembered as a central figure in the development of modern art in New Zealand. A formative painter of post-war New Zealand art, his name is often mentioned in the same breath as Colin McCahon’s.

Woollaston’s highly expressive paintings capture the essence of South Island landscape without consistantly referencing a specific place. He was a master of creating paintings that hovered between landscape and abstraction — often with just enough suggestion of a hilly horizon or a river valley to hold together. A few tweaks or different brushstrokes would see his paintings read as abstract gestural scrawls, rather than landscapes.

These two paintings, both watercolours, walk that delicate line to perfection.

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Toss Woollaston Tasman Bay watercolour on paper signed 485 × 490mm est

$6,000 — $9,000

37 Toss Woollaston

View of the Taramakau River, from Dillmanstown, West Coast 1961 watercolour on paper signed 265 × 350mm est Webb's

$4,000 — $6,000 2023

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Colin McCahon North Otago Landscape 1968 screenprint on paper 470 × 590mm est

$5,000 — $8,000

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Michael Smither Wave Invading Rock Pool 1968 screenprint on paper 750 × 550mm est

$1,200 — $1,500

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Michael Illingworth Tawera 1968 screenprint on paper 560 × 760mm est Webb's

$3,000 — $5,000 February

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In 1968, art dealer Barry Lett published a set of 12 prints by some of the leading artists of the time. This set, known as the Barry Lett Multiplies, was designed to make modern art accessible to a broad audience. It proved wildly popular, and today is one of the most collectible series of prints circulating in the market. These works by Michael Illingworth, Colin McCahon, and Michael Smither are from the series. Illingworth’s Tawera, McCahon’s North Otago Landscape, and Smither’s Wave Invading Rock Pool have each become highly sought-after collector’s pieces. The images remain crisp, succinctly capturing the tone and style of these three important New Zealand artists.

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41 Ralph Hotere

Depression Night and Day (Te Whiti series) 1972 acrylic on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 510 × 3890mm

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$25,000 — $30,000 February

Ralph Hotere Window in Spain, Madrid 1978 graphite and coloured pencil on paper signed, dated and title inscibed 315 × 230mm

$6,000 — $9,000 26

On one level, Ralph Hotere (Te Aupōuri) is one of the most famous artists New Zealand has ever produced. On another, he is an enigma. Hotere was notably reticent when it came to speaking about his work, preferring to leave interpretation to the viewer. These two works, both from the 1970s, present a compelling view of a remarkable and versatile artist. Window in Spain, Madrid is a

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layered graphite drawing that features Hotere’s distinctively expressive hatching, worked back in areas with an eraser. Depression Night and Day (Te Whiti series) is a striking acrylic painting.

The paint work has similarities to the graphite in Window in Spain, Madrid, with evocative gestural marks, layered up to achieve a sense of movement, energy and space.

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At first glance, Andrew McLeod and the late Guy Ngan make for an unlikely pairing. Both are highly accomplished artists, though they are of different eras and are primarily known for work in differing mediums — Ngan in sculpture and McLeod in painting. Yet, on closer inspection, there are some notable similarities. Both have inventively explored some of the central tenets of modernist formalism

to create unique work. McLeod’s Plate 7, 6, 5, 4 recasts a dining plate as a painting support. Though it is painted sparingly, presented stripped back geometric forms in a glossy black. Ngan’s 135 is a small-scale bronze sculpture with a wooden base.

It employs similar geometric forms to his larger works, though on a restrained scale. Both works make optimal use of tightly parsed materials.

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Andrew McLeod Plate 7, 6, 5, 4 2007 acrylic on ceramic 280mm (diameter) est Webb's

$1,500 — $2,500 February

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Guy Ngan 135 1986 bronze and wood signed, dated and title inscribed 190 × 110 × 110mm (widest points) est Webb's

$15,000 — $20,000 2023

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Frances Hodgkins Still Life – Arrangement of Jugs 1938 lithograph on paper signed and dated 450 × 600mm est

$20,000 — $25,000

note Published by Contemporary Lithographs Ltd, London.

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Eileen Mayo Black Swans 1983 lithograph on paper, 24/44 signed 330 × 435mm est Webb's

$2,000 — $3,000 2023

Frances Hodgkins and Eileen Mayo are two greats of 20th century art. Hodgkins was born in New Zealand and migrated to England, where she created most of her work. Mayo’s life journey was in some ways the inverse. Born in England, she migrated first to Australia, then to New Zealand. Both were highly sophisticated artists, with mastery of many mediums. Mayo is perhaps best-known for her printmaking. Her Black Swan lithograph demonstrates the graphic skills that made her so effective in printed media. Hodgkins, by contrast, is best-known for her painting and drawing. She rarely produced prints, though Still Life – Arrangement of Jugs demonstrates that she had great ability in the medium.

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The late Robert Ellis was born in England in 1929, and he trained at London’s Royal College of Art in the early 1950s. He migrated to Aotearoa in 1957 and took up a teaching position at Elam. He taught there for decades, influencing many of the significant artists that emerged from the esteemed art school.

In his art practice, Ellis created a unique artistic language that sits somewhere between abstraction and representational painting. It includes elements of the traditional drafting and image production techniques he had learned in England, along with fresh approaches to gestural painting and scumbling.

The two works included in this catalogue, Rakaumangamanga and 24 Mei, were made in 1982 and 1992 respectively. They demonstrate the core elements of Ellis’s practice, showing the combination of skill and vision that made him an artist of enduring significance.

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Robert Ellis 24 Mei 1992 oil on canvas signed, dated and title inscribed 945 × 850mm est

$20,000 — $27,000

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Robert Ellis Rakaumangamanga 1982 ink and acrylic on paper signed, dated and title inscribed 400 × 280mm est

$4,000 — $6,000 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 Manager, 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 wellington

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

2023

Georgina Brett Cataloguer, Art cataloguer@webbs.co.nz +64 9 529 5609

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

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

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