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Auction Reports

Aspire Art Auctions

Auction Info

Sale Name: 20th Century and Contemporary Art
Auction Date: 06/07/2023 - 06/07/2023
Year of Sale: 2023
Sale Number: #60723
Total Lots: 22
Sold Lots: 17
Lots Sold: 77.3%
Unsold Lots: 5
Price Unknown: 0

Total Sales (AUD): 3,884,360.00
Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD): 2,170,000.00
High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD): 3,095,000.00
Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD): 3,360,000.00
High Estimate of All Lots (AUD): 4,765,000.00
Total Sales as a % of High Est.: 81.52%
Currency: AUD
Inflation Adjusted Price in U.S. Dollars: 2,524,470.00

Top twenty five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
48	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Blue Head	1993 - 1998	AUD 1,000,000.00 - 1,500,000.00	2,058,750.00
53	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Universal Archive (Six Birds)		AUD 180,000.00 - 240,000.00	411,750.00
51	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Levitation		AUD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	194,438.00
10	Aida Muluneh (Ethiopia 1974-)	99 Series (part seven)	2013	AUD 150,000.00 - 200,000.00	171,562.00
9	Aida Muluneh (Ethiopia 1974-)	99 Series (part two)	2013	AUD 150,000.00 - 200,000.00	171,562.00
58	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Resist The Hour	2011	AUD 120,000.00 - 150,000.00	137,250.00
52	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Untitled (Baedecker Portfolio), three	1999	AUD 90,000.00 - 130,000.00	108,656.00
8	Wim Botha (South Africa 1974-)	Blast Wave I – IV	2005	AUD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	91,500.00
7	Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef (South Africa 1886-1957)	Bosveld, N. Transvaal	1930	AUD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00	91,500.00
50	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	I Am Still Learning	1986	AUD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	91,500.00
6	Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef (South Africa 1886-1957)	Okahandjaberg, Suidwes-Afrika	1930	AUD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00	68,625.00
55	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Scribe		AUD 50,000.00 - 70,000.00	58,625.00
56	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Landscape with trees		AUD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	52,762.00
2	Alf Kumalo (South Africa 1930-2012)	Winnie Mandela in a traditional outfit posing for a picture that was sent to her husband Nelson Mandela, 1960	c.1960, printed in 2023	AUD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	46,900.00
49	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	Untitled (Artist Bending)		AUD 35,000.00 - 50,000.00	44,555.00
5	Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef (South Africa 1886-1957)	Boerehuis, Tulbagh	1930	AUD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00	44,555.00
57	William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)	The Head and the Load are the Troubles of the Neck	1995	AUD 35,000.00 - 45,000.00	39,865.00
12	Ernest Cole (South Africa 1940-1990)	Twelve work from House of Bondage	c.1965, printed in 2023	AUD 500,000.00 - 700,000.00	Not Sold
15	Daniel Naudé (South Africa 1984-)	Group of Ankole cattle. Kiruhura district, Western Region, Uganda	2012	AUD 70,000.00 - 90,000.00	Not Sold
21	Zanele Muholi (South Africa 1972-)	Sine II, Melbourne, Australia	2020	AUD 500,000.00 - 700,000.00	Not Sold
54	William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx (South Africa 1955-)	Fire Walker (Deluxe Edition)	2011	AUD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	Not Sold
1	Alf Kumalo (South Africa 1930-2012)	Winnie Mandela reading a letter from her husband Nelson Mandela in 1964.	1964, printed in 2023	AUD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	Not Sold

View All Auction Lots.

Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.

Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.