Webb’s Auction House/Supplied
Curators from Webb’s Auction House have been going by means of John Perry’s treasure trove.
Art consultants are selecting their method by means of 1000’s of work, artefacts and pictures in a disused cinema in West Auckland, hoping to discover a hidden Picasso.
They are sifting by means of the treasure trove left behind by legendary art collector John Perry – a pop artist, trainer and former director of Rotorua Museum, amongst many different issues – who died on June 11, 2021.
Not solely did he depart behind a lasting impression on Aotearoa’s art world, however a mammoth assortment for art consultants to dig by means of.
Stowed in what used to be a cinema in west Auckland’s Helensville, Webb’s public sale home has undertaken the intricate activity of sorting by means of the items, which can go up on the market over the following few years in a sequence of auctions – beginning subsequent week.
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“It is such a large collection, that it’s impossible to know exactly what it contains at this stage, though I have no doubt that it contains some amazing treasures,” Ben Erren, director of ornamental arts at Webb’s mentioned.
“It is the largest collection of its kind ever presented at auction in New Zealand.”
This cinema turned storehouse has a footprint of over 700m² – the equal of 4 tennis courts – and is stuffed ground to ceiling with a mind-boggling array of gadgets.
Rani Timoti
John Perry has held exhibitions from his assortment at Art Centre Helensville.
Erren, one of Perry’s many buddies, has been digging by means of this creative wonderland for the previous 10 months.
“John Perry was somebody who had a lasting relationship with every auction house in the country,” he said.
“He wanted everyone in the art industry to curate good things and do better than we had in the past.”
Webb’s auction house and the Perry family share a close bond, and the family allowed Webb’s to sort through Perry’s collection, and eventually bring these rare items to auction.
Webb’s Auction House/Supplied
The pieces will be going under the auction throughout the next couple of years.
“They knew we would present the collection in a way John would be OK with, because we know if we altered them wrongly he’d turn over in his grave,” Erren laughed.
Erren said one of the other curators, Charles Ninow, told Erren the space was “not a cinema, but a laboratory where John makes sense of the world”.
“There is everything, photography, oceanic material culture, Polynesian and African artefacts, original paintings,” he said.
The Webb’s team are pretty certain Perry had a few extra rare pieces up his sleeve, like an original Pablo Picasso, or a piece from French artist Paul Gauguin.
“John let us in on little titbits on what he may release to us if we were to behave ourselves,” Erren said.
“There are things not only national significance but pieces that will surprise international audiences as well.
“We wanted this auction to be an auction for the people that knew John, a representation of who he was as a collector, not just all high-value things, and it’s a taste of what’s to come.”
Webb’s Auction House/Supplied
There are 700m² of items to sort through.
The auctioning process will begin at the end of January with 200 items to start, and thousands more to come over several years.
Among these first 200 are items such as New Zealand folk art figures, estimated to go for around $100, to multiple original pieces from Jack Dale or Paul Hartigan, which could go for $2000 to $5000.
The first auction will take place at Webb’s in Auckland on Tuesday, January 31, at 6pm.
Treasure trove of art goes under hammer, with rumours of a Picasso to come
Treasure trove of art goes under hammer, with rumours of a Picasso to come
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Treasure trove of art goes under hammer, with rumours of a Picasso to come