RUGBY CATALOGUE ONLINE NOW

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Important Paintings and Contemporary Art: Final Entries Invited

Entries for our final major art sale of 2011 close on October 25th.
Image: Andy Warhol, Flowers (1972). Aetna screenprint in colours from an edition of 250 with 26 artist's proofs.

The Pycroft Collection: An Extraordinary Library

In a two day sale to be held on November 3rd and 4th, A+O will offer the entire Arthur T Pycroft Collection of Rare New Zealand, Australian and Pacific, Books, Manuscripts and Photographs.

Arthur Pycroft (1875-1971) was the “essential gentleman amateur”. Like many other untrained enthusiasts, he made considerable contributions as a naturalist, scholar, historian and conservationist. Pycroft was extremely well informed and on friendly terms with the leading New Zealand men of science, naturalists and museum directors of his era. From an early age he developed a “hands on” approach to all his interests. He corresponded with the famous ornithologist Sir Walter Buller regarding his re discovery of the Little Black Shag in the Bay of Islands and other species later included in Buller’s 1905 Supplement. He learnt the art of taxidermy and practised it “on the side” to supplement his then modest income. He liked to tell the story of how he had eaten a Huia, New Zealand’s rare and extinct bird; one had been sent to him for mounting and after extracting the body he handed it to his land lady with the request that she cook it for him.

New Zealand’s many off shore islands also fascinated him. In the summer of 1903-04 he spent nearly six weeks on Taranga (Hen Island), the first of several visits. In 1928 he went to Little Barrier, in 1929 to the Kermadecs with Guthrie Smith, and in 1932 he was in Melanesia. When Sir Robert Falla named a newly discovered species of petrel ( Pterodroma pycrofti) it was in recognition of Pycroft’s long service to ornithology and the fact he had organised the expedition to Hen Island on which the birds had been discovered. He was also a member of the “Moa Searching Committee” whose objectives included to seek evidence that moas of one species or another had been killed and eaten by the Polynesian invaders. The quest for Moa skeletons took him from Doubtless Bay to the limestone caves of the King Country and Waikaremoana.
Another special area of study lay mostly in Auckland city and to the far north whose history and development he observed closely for more than eight decades.

Arthur Pycroft and his wife Minna, herself a recognised ornithological and botanical artist, spent four years in England in the 1930s. This English sojourn was a halcyon time in which the New Zealander frequented second hand book shops in search of rare books. The sheer scope of the collection is a reflection of the depth of all these interests in combination with a dedicated and acutely sensitivity to acquisitions. The hitherto untouched library is rich in rare books, pamphlets, manuscripts and photographs. Many of the more notable items have a unique association with personalities who helped shape early New Zealand and Pacific history.

ART+OBJECT Favoured with Major Valuation Commission

ART+OBJECT have just been appointed to value the entire collection of Te Wananga O Aotearoa. Te Wananga is the largest tertiary educational provider in the country and hold an extensive collection of art and taonga across multiple campuses around New Zealand.

New Collectors Art - December 6th: Entries Now Invited

We will be holding our third and final New Collectors' art sale for 2011 on December 6th. The catalogue will be limited to around 100 entries and consignments are now invited.
(Image: Shane Cotton, Prayer Tiki)

Important Paintings and Contemporary Art Brochure for November 22nd Online Now

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ART+OBJECT Broker Sale of Major Colin McCahon Painting

We've never been big on brandying around the 'private treaty' sale thing but today we are celebrating successfully concluding the brokering of a sale of a very important Colin McCahon work. One year in the making, the deal involved the passing from one private collector to another one of the more important McCahon paintings left in private hands. Details of the deal remain confidential but we can confirm a seven figure sale price. Following on from the public sale of the Elias painting in April for $570 000, it has been a great year for art sales at A+O as well as for the market of New Zealand's most important and widely-respected artist which had been somewhat depressed in previous years...

The Departed

Sold in a negotiated sale today was John Pule's Kavaka which graced the cover of our last art catalogue, for $34 875.

Ross Morrison Collection Exceeds All Expectations

Last night's sale surpassed all expectaions with nearly every lot selling, and most well beyond their lower estimates proving that the market's insatiable appetite for quality single vendor catalogues and collections remains strong. A brief list of preliminary highlights follows:

Lot 4, French Empire Chair $2695

Lot 10, PH 5 Pendant Lamp $1640

Lot 12, Borge Morgensen Cabinet $7970

Lot 13 Atollo Lamp $2695

Lot 17, Rosewood Sideboard $8440

Lot 32, 1970s German Writing Desk $3750

Lot 37, C/Iron Bath $2345

Lot 38, Chrystable Aitken Plaster Relief $4690

Lot 41, 6 William IV Chairs $2580

Lot 46, Bruno Matheson Chair $2345

Lot 58, Italian Commode $1990

Lot 59, French Armoire $3810

Lot 66, Plycraft Chair and Ottoman $5040

Lot 68, Arne Vodder Office Chair $3165

Lot 81, Paliser Rosewood Wall Unit $4805

Lot 82, Borge Morgensen Sleigh Chairs $5510

Lot 85, Jorgen Gammelard Pendant Lights $3515

Lot 102, Hans Wegner Rocking Chair $2815

Lot 109.1, Pair of Louis XVI Style Fauteils 3750

Lot 121, English Library Table $2815

Lot 138 and 139, Dieter Rams Modular Sofas $4395 and $4105

Lot 141.1, T Chair $3635

Lot 144 and 145, Ernst Plishke Pendant Lights $4570 each

Lot 148 and 149, Sergio Rodriguez Chairs $7505 and $6565

Lot 153, Eero Saarinen Tulip Suite $8440

Lot 160, German Tramp Art Cabinet $4690

Lot 186, Morgen Hansen Lounge Chair $4220

Lot 207, Hans Wegner Pair of Chairs $2815

AUCTION TONIGHT - 6:30pm

The Ross Morrison Collecton auction is tonight at 6:30pm. If you can't make it feel free to log onto the live auctioneers site and stream the auction www.liveauctioneers.com.

Video Preview: The Ross Morrison Collection

You can watch ART+OBJECT Director James Parkinson together with the vendor Ross Morrison, discussing some of their favourite items and the history behind them in the above video. Alternatively you can click on the below link to watch a higher res version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0aUOQe0RXs

Wellington Art Appraisals: 8th and 9th of September

Next Thursday and Friday the 8th and 9th of September Director of Art, Ben Plumbly will be in Wellington conducting appraisals for the final major art sale of 2011, Important Paintings and Contemporary Art scheduled for November 22nd. To make an appointment contact him at ben@artandobject.co.nz or 021 222 8183.