Scotch College

Fine Art Exhibition and Auction to break new ground

The Scotch College Fine Art Exhibition and Auction will be held in the Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn, from 12-14 November 2004. An informative cocktail party, which will focus on the works to be exhibited and sold, will be held at Scotch College on Wednesday 1 September in the Boykett Room from 6.30 - 8.30 pm. Further information will be sent nearer the date to those who are interested. If you would like to receive information about the cocktail party, please contact the Development Office on 9810 4300 or email alan.watkinson@scotch.vic.edu.au

In November, Scotch will embark upon another exciting venture - a development from the Ken Field Exhibition held in 2003. with the assistance of Artpreciation, Scotch is running a fine art exhibition and auction in the Hawthorn Town Hall. The following comments by Anita Archer, Senior auctioneer at Deutsche Menzies, give some idea of what value can be gained from such an event:

Right: 'Hawthorn Schoolgirl' by Charles Blackman.

"There has been much discussion in financial circles recently regarding the wisdom of investing in fine art. With international issues causing volatility on the stockmarket, and the ever rising prices of property, many financial advisers are suggesting to clients that they diversify their portfolios to spread financial risk. There is now a plethora of data available from highly respected local and international economic sources, which shows that fine art has an established trend of providing capital appreciation over the longer term.

Purchasing a work of fine art can definitely be a financial as well as an aesthetic investment for your home. It can be an object of pleasure as well as an 'investable' asset. In my opinion, the most important criteria to define and establish value when purchasing a work of art for investment purposes are: Who is the artist? What is the subject matter? What is the medium? These criteria are relative and can be compared across the range of Australian and international fine art to define value within the marketplace".

The Scotch College Fine Art Exhibition and Auction will offer a diverse range of art works in terms of artist, subject matter and price range. All of the works to be displayed are being carefully chosen to give potential buyers the opportunity to select paintings that offer both aesthetic appeal and appreciating asset value. The two paintings illustrated are very good examples of this.

The first work by the immigrant Austrian artist Eugene von Guerard has great aesthetic appeal accompanied by significant historical importance, and is by a major artist in Australian art history. This painting has an extensive history of ownership, including the collection of Sweeney Reed (son of Albert Tucker and Joy Hester, adopted son of John and Sunday Reed).

Right: 'Melbourne' by Eugene von Guerard.

It is noted in the major literature on the artist, and was recently included in The Artist's Journey: Discovering the Victorian Coastline 18401910 exhibition at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. This exquisite oil painting is signed, inscribed "Melbourne" and dated 1853. The great majority of von Guerard's paintings that document the early days of the state of Victoria are held in the collections of the national, state and regional galleries of this country. However, paintings do come onto the market occasionally, including A View of Geelong, which sold in Melbourne to British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1996 for $1.98 million.

The second work is by highly regarded "Australian Modern" artist Charles Blackman. Entitled Hawthorn Schoolgirl and painted circa 1953, his enamel on composition board is closely related in subject matter, medium, date and size to Blackman's major work There Was, which featured in the seminal National Gallery of Victoria exhibition Charles Blackman Schoolgirls and Angels, in 1993. Hawthorn Schoolgirl appears to depict early morning, with gentle sunlight catching the spire and the young girl's hat. His painting was recently exhibited at the Town Hall Gallery in Hawthorn alongside art works from the Boroondara Civic Collection.

Charles Blackman has enjoyed a solid reputation since early in his career, and is recognised as a major contributor to the history of twentieth century Australian art, particularly through his works of the '50s to the '70s. In the words of the Australian Art Market Movements Handbook:"The artist is now firmly established as a blue-chip investment".

Alan Watkinson
Director of Development