Auction week, and the auction year, closed in Melbourne on a high note. Forthe first time in eighteen months it appears that vendor and buyer expectations have met to such a degree that a depth of bidding was apparent at all three auction houses: Sotheby's, Bonhams and Goodman and Deutscher and Hackett.  Sales rates by volume and value were the best they have been for a long time and reflected the depth of the market that appears to be peppered with a lot of new faces.

A strong attendance during the viewing and a good crowd at the auction augured well for the start of Deutscher and Hackett's second auction of aboriginal art, put together by ex-Sothebys expert Crispin Gutteridge and held on Wednesday night, 14th October.  However, the passing-in of the first two lots indicated that a different direction may be taken.  Three hours later a sale rate of 61% by volume resulted in a $1.1m turnover for the sale.

There is a maxim in the art market that in troubled times there is a flight to quality.  The August round of auctions which included sales at Sothebys, Bonhams and Goodman and Deutscher and Hackett certainly had a good smattering of quality offerings.  However, with the limited availability of stock to sell due to nervous or reluctant vendors, the auction houses needed to be bullish in their estimates in order to persuade owners to part with their artworks.  Consequently the issue in this round of sales was The Price.