Conservative realism, high glamour and war-time brutality vied for attention at Gleneagles in September, while Aboriginal art sold for record prices in Australia

Apollo, Oct, 2004 by Susan Moore

In the event, there were records aplenty, not least the highest auction price for a piece of Aboriginal sculpture the AU$94,500 paid for a rare Western Australian figurative sculpture, Jijigarrgaly, spirit being of Lake Disappointment, carved by Pankalyirri and engraved by Nyankapiti in 1959. There were also over sixty records set for individual artists. Particularly compelling was Charlie Tararu Tjungurrayi's The trial of around 1972, depicting the trial under traditional law of a man condemned to death. He is represented awaiting judgement as the set of concentric circles at the centre of the painting. The elders sit along the top and bottom of the picture; the executioners either side of the central circle. The straight pink lines radiating towards the accused represent the fingers of the spirit of the dead pointing to the man, indicating to him that he is condemned to die. Expected to fetch AU$70,000-100,000, it made a record $215,200. The highest price was found for Emily Kame Kngwarreye's large-scale colour field Untitled of 1991--AU$286,750.

Both pictures were among the three top lots acquired by three different international private collectors. International buyers competed for four further top lots. There was significant buying by Australian institutions too, with works purchased by the National Museum of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the South Australian Museum. In all, seventy-one per cent was sold by lot, and seventy per cent sold by value. The total--AU$6.5m--was the second highest ever achieved for an Aboriginal art auction.