Fragmentary reports from the Melbourne Art Fair have photography sales down and galleries still organizing sales reports. The Biannual event peaked in 2008 with a$12.1m. 2010 saw a brisk recovery to A$11m but a slow taper to 2010’s A$8m which is the projected tally for this year too:
An official attendance numbers puts 2014 at 19,800 (paid) visitors compared to about 22,000 in 2012, although Pappas said that a new counting method was introduced this year so that that a repeat visitor was only counted once. […] Pappas said photography did not do so well this year. “Sales could have been better, but photography is not very expensive so you have to sell high volume.” […]
Pappas said getting the Hong Kong based, international dealer Pearl Lam to sell at the Fair this year was important.
Earlier this Summer, Artnet’s news site had these sales:
- Sullivan+Strumpf: Large paintings by Sam Leach sold for just under AUD$50,000, with smaller pieces between AUD$20,000 and $30,000.
- Sophie Gannon also sold four pieces by Cressida Campbell, the largest at AUD$55,000
- Beaver Galleries sold Thornton Walker’s chillingly beautiful painting Three figures in a glade for AUD$28,000.
- Watters Gallery: Ken Whisson’s 1975 work Two Aeroplanes and One or Two Birds sold for AUD$55,000
- William Mora Galleries had huge success with Brian Martin’s Methexical Countryscapes, selling seven of the large-scale charcoal drawings of trees for just under AUD$11,000 each.
- Greenaway Art Gallery in Adelaide and GAGPROJECTS in Berlin, placed an impressive large-scale Juz Kitson installation with a new collector for AUD$11,000.
- Martin Browne Contemporary’s exhibition of Peter Cooley’s earthenware kangaroos have been immensely popular. At the end of the first day, the Sydney dealer had sold all but one of the 16 pieces, with the larger works selling around the AUD$8,500 mark; Fiona Lowry, two large canvases, one for AUD$28,000. Baden Pailthorpe, the young video artist in the Browne stable, sold a double-channel work for AUD$18,000
- Gallerysmith sold seven of Lucas Grogan’s nine circular, spinning paintings, each AUD$4,500.
A ‘happy’ Melbourne Art Fair but still waiting for final figures (Daily Review)
Melbourne Art Fair Delivers Buoyant Sales and Attendance (artnet News)