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.

Significantly, the trade reappeared but in very limited numbers.  Post financial crisis, a number of major dealers have closed their doors, many consultants have been inactive due to the exposure that their clients have suffered in the financial crash, but a small few have taken the opportunity to obtain superbly fresh, high quality works at prices substantially reduced from their recent highs.  Dealer Denis Savill, the backbone of Australia's secondary art market, secured some great buys during the week and underbid a whole lot more.  Consultant Jon Dwyer, ex-Christies, picked up the prize of the week, amongst other things, Fred Williams Evening Sky, Upwey, 1965 at Deutscher and Hackett for a price of $1,380,000 including BP (lot 14, estimate $700-900,000) after a fierce bidding battle with his previous employer Savill, but still paid substantially less than the $1.8m that an equivalent but larger work sold for in 2006.

As in August confidence was the key.  The difference this time was that the first offering from Sothebys was a plethora of fresh, quality material at reasonable prices.  According to the Art Sales Digest, 89 of the 106 lots found buyers, 70% of them selling for above top estimate.  There was a suggestion that this sale could be boosted by a large crowd present to witness the last auction to be held under the "Sothebys International" banner.  As it turned out the crowd was moderate and the telephone bidding panel was highly active.  The sale was full of strong Impressionist and Modern works with excellent provenance.  A few of the many highlights included Russell Drysdale Evening (lot 31, estimate $250-350,000) which sold at the top price for the night of $690,000 including BP to Jon Dwyer for a client; Sir Arthur Streeton Melba's Country (lot 14, estimate $90-120,000) sold for $312,000 incl BP; Norman Lindsay The Woman I am (lot 52, estimate $150-250,000) sold for $300,000 incl BP; and Charles Conder Centennial Choir at Sorrento (lot 28, $250-350,000) sold for $492,000 incl BP.

Tuesday night saw a small crowd gather at Bonhams and Goodman for the 67 lot auction.  The lotting of the auction in chronological order let to an interesting start to the sale.  The highest estimated lot was Lot 2, Von Guerard The Great Lake, Tasmania, 1875, which failed to find a buyer at an estimate of $800,000 - 1,200,000. This must be a particularly disappointing result for the vendor who purchased the painting from Sothebys less than 18months ago for $1.86m.  Not an auspicious start.  However, this was followed by fourteen lots of watercolours of native plants by Ellis Rowan (1848-1922), most estimated at $2,500-3,500 but all of which sold for at least double high estimate and three for over $25,000 each.  B&G's other drawcard, lot 33 Charles Blackman The Game of Chess, 1956, just crossed the low estimate line being hammered for $600,000 ($720,000 incl BP) against an estimate of $600-800,000.  The auction totalled $2,163,200 including buyers premium, a respectable 75% by value and 77.5% by volume.

The final cab off the rank was Deutscher and Hackett with a greater content of contemporary works in their 210 lot sale.  It was a worrying start when lot 1, Ex de Medici Terra, 1995 (estimate $18-24,000) failed to sell, but the following 8 lots sold well with a couple of stellar results including Yvonne Audette Construction in Colour, 1958 (lot 5, estimate $8-12,000) selling for $28,800 incl BP and Shaun Gladwell Apology to Roadkill, 2007, ed of 5 (lot 7, estimate $10-15,000) selling for $18,000 incl BP, a record for the artist's photographic work at auction, before the battle commenced for the Fred Williams oil.  In total Deutscher and Hackett achieved their strongest result for the year with a very solid $3,263,500 achieved with 78% sold by volume and 96% sold by value.  Not bad considering only 2 of the 210 lots sold for over $100,000.

Bring on the season's festivities, roll on 2010, and the hopes for a more prosperous New Year.