Deutscher and Hackett

Australian art Gallery to sell works donated by Dame Elisabeth.

Whenever an art museum sells some of the objects from its permanent collection, a fuss is rarely far behind – particularly when the objects were gifts from a private donor and could fetch as much as half a million dollars apiece at auction.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch gifted two beautiful canvases to the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Langwarrin, not far from her home, Cruden Farm, in regional Victoria.

The canvases are among seven works of art recently earmarked as no longer fitting the not-for-profit gallery’s vision, and they now headline one of the biggest art auctions of the Australian calendar.

Lot 2 in the auction is Vanity, c.1912, by Emanuel Phillips Fox, which carries an estimated value of $350,000 to $550,000.

Vanity graces the cover of Deutscher and Hackett’s lavish catalogue for its Important Australian and International Fine Art auction in Melbourne on August 28.

The lyrical painting of a young woman regarding her own beauty in a hand mirror was acquired by Sir Keith Murdoch in 1952, the year of his death. In 1979, Dame Elisabeth gave the painting to the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery where she was a foundational supporter and philanthropist.

Lot 7 is Frederick McCubbin’s Rainbow over Burnley, 1910, a smallish picture (25 x 35.5 centimetres) in oil on wood, which has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. Dame Elisabeth acquired the McCubbin in 1949 and gifted it to the McClelland Collection in 1989.

The question is, what would Dame Elisabeth, who died in 2012, think about her gifts being sold to the highest bidder?

McClelland’s artistic and executive director Lisa Byrne told Saleroom that Murdoch family members directly connected with McClelland were aware of the sale of works.

‘‘The family understands the context for the deaccession [permanently removing works from a collection],’’ Ms Byrne said.

Saleroom asked about the potential for future philanthropists to worry that their works could one day be sold off. Ms Byrne said all responsible public collecting museums and galleries audit and review their collections in the light of ‘‘their collection focus, strengths, priorities and resourcing’’.

‘‘This reflects due care and considered regard for artworks over time,’’ she said. ‘‘Although it can be difficult for a collection to pass on a work to a new owner, it provides opportunities for these works to be revitalised in new contexts under the care of a new custodian.’’

Damian Hackett, Sydney executive director of the auction company, told Saleroom that funds raised by the auction would help McClelland to pursue its focus on modernist and contemporary sculpture, which was ‘‘quite an expensive pursuit’’.

Dame Elisabeth, mother of media owner Rupert Murdoch, was one of McClelland’s first and most important supporters and benefactors. There is a picture of her in stout shoes touring the site when the original building was extended in the late 1980s. She was chair of the McClelland board of trustees for a time.

Among the other five artworks being deaccessioned by the McClelland is another former gift. Lot 3, Rupert Bunny’s The Telegram, c.1908, in oil on canvas carries an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The Telegram was gifted to the McClelland collection by Mrs Jean Rowell and Mrs Ackland in memory of the artist John Rowell in 1977.

Lot 1 was also a donation to McClelland. Clarice Beckett’s Boats at Sunset, estimate $40,000 to $60,000, was a gift from artist John Farmer in 1971.

The late former Art Gallery of NSW director Edmund Capon weathered the deaccessioning storm when he sold two Ian Fairweather paintings donated to it, one by writer Patrick White, to fund a different Fairweather deemed more desirable.

White had hung his Fairweather above his desk at home in the affluent Sydney suburb of Centennial Park.

As the late Terry Ingram pointed out in this column in 2010, Mr Capon’s decision was controversial because ‘‘donors can be wary of gifting works to institutions if there is a good chance they will be sold off after their lifetime’’.

McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery is a private museum and relies on donations and philanthropic support to fund acquisitions.

Press material issued by the McClelland said the sale of the seven artworks from its collection is expected to raise more than $1 million, ‘‘revenue from which will be applied to further McClelland’s focus on modernist and contemporary sculpture and spatial practice’’.

‘‘Following a thorough audit of our total collection some outstanding works have been identified as best celebrated in other collections,’’ Ms Byrne said in the statement.

The McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, set on 16 hectares at Langwarrin, opened in 1971. The foundational bequest was from Annie May McClelland on behalf of herself and her brother Harry who had settled in the area in 1912.

Today, McClelland showcases 100 sculptures outdoors, including work by major figures such as Inge King, Clement Meadmore, Robert Owen, Lisa Roet and Ken Unsworth.

The McClelland’s current gallery exhibition is titled Visionary: Recent Donations to the McClelland Collection. It includes works by numerous prominent artists including Rick Amor, Lauren Berkowitz and Erwin Fabian.

Moving away from the focus on the McClelland works, Deutscher and Hackett’s catalogue of 60 lots carries a total estimates range of $5.1 million to $7.3 million and includes a Rupert Bunny painting, The Swing, c.1913, which comes about as close to French Impressionism as Australian painting ever got.

The Swing carries the highest estimate in the sale, at $450,000 to $650,000.

Brett Whiteley’s The Dead Rabbit, 1979, is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.

Characteristically for the experimental artist, the painting is made of oil, Liquitex, gouache, charcoal, collage and hair on card on composition board.

Bronwyn Oliver’s graceful copper sculpture, Flow, 2002, was installed in the garden of the Glenn Murcuttdesigned Jamberoo House on the NSW South Coast. It’s now in the D+H sale with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.

Three international artworks feature in the sale, all from one Sydney collection. They are by British artist William Scott (New Still Life Study, 1983, estimate $300,000 to $400,000), American artist Ross Bleckner (Molecular Basis, 1998, $60,000 to $80,000) and American Marilyn Minter (Quail’s Egg, 2003, $80,000 to $120,000).

Viewings are in Sydney until Sunday, August 18, and in Melbourne from August 22 to 27, before the auction on the 28th.

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