Tony Fomison paintings go under the hammer for the first time
Some of the most recognisable artworks from one of Aotearoa’s most influential artists are up for auction tomorrow.
Bidders will be vying to join an exclusive club – people who own Tony Fomison works, which rarely go under the hammer.
Unlike other New Zealand art greats, Fomison died comparatively young and didn’t get to create vast quantities of art.
Charles Ninow, Director of Art at Webb’s auction house, said special circumstances fell together to allow the house to auction off six Fomison pieces at once, all from different collections.
Among them is his 1976 work: What shall we tell them? A dark painting of a jester, the work was the cover and namesake for a 1994 retrospective into his career at the City Gallery in Wellington.
It’s a big-ticket item, worth between $500,000 and $800,000. Ninow said it was one of Fomison’s best-known works.
That it was held in private collection all this time was extraordinary, he said.
‘‘The other wild thing is prior to being for sale at Webb’s it only left the owner’s house twice.’’
Once was for the City Gallery show, and the other was in 1979 at the Dowse Art Gallery’s Tony Fomison: A Survey of his Painting and Drawing from 1961 to 1979.
In September 2022, his 1982-83 work The Fugitive sold for $1.86 million – the highest price ever for a work by Fomison.
Ninow said in the past four years, his few paintings have shot up in value, more than any other New Zealand pieces, which have also been selling for two or three times their worth. ‘‘People are really looking at the market where they can find safe harbour from uncertain economic times. There are people out there who are immune from inflation and rising interest rates. The weirder the world gets, the more relevant art becomes.’’
Born in Christchurch, Fomison studied sculpture at the School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University, and spent time in Europe.
He moved to Auckland in 1973, where he became a close friend of fellow artist Colin McCahon.
He died aged 50 in 1990 during a Waitangi Day ceremony at Waitangi.
Over his career, Fomison held 39 solo exhibitions.
All well as six pieces by Fomison, Webb’s auction also includes works by Don Binney, Michael Smither, and Bill Hammond.