The Sun-Herald, 8 September 2013, by Andrew Taylor
“Blame it on the resale royalties scheme, changes to superannuation, the end of the mining boom or pre-election jitters – but most people believe the Australian art market is in the doldrums. However, auction results for this year suggest the market is healthier than the doomsayers claim. …
… Art consultant David Hulme said there had been a reduction in buyers in the past five years, with intense competition between auction houses for high-quality artworks. ”With less buyers around, it doesn’t matter how much you bring down the reserves and estimates,” he said. ”If there are still fewer buyers, paintings will still fail to sell.”
Mr Hulme said the year had started off well with the Laverty collection of mainly Aboriginal art and the Grundy collection of Australian art, both auctioned by Bonhams.
”We are close to $80 million so far for this year so it would, of course, be good to see another $30 million added to this by the end of 2013,” he said. ”Being realistic, we may be looking at another $100 million year, which is at least consistent and maintaining the status quo.”
Read the whole article in the Sun-Herald.