Art Deco sculpture reaches $23,180 at including buyer’s premium at Gibson’s 20th Century Design auction in Melbourne.

No one really batted an eye when Claire-Jeanne Roberte Colinet’s (1880-1950) Theban Dancer (Lot 58 ) sold for $23,180 (including buyer’s premium) at Gibson’s 20th century Design auction on September 22 in Melbourne. The sculpture carried the top estimate ($20,000-$30,000) of any item before the auction and during her lifetime Colinet built an enviable reputation as a Belgian-French sculptor whose best known works were art deco Arab dancers. These days, collectors find her works highly desirable and they increasingly sell for large sums.

Theban Dancer had the added attraction of remaining in the one family since its initial purchase in 1950.

Austrian painter, sculptor and printmaker Kiki Kogelnik (1935-1997) Recycled No. 1, 1996 changed hands for $20,740 (Lot 141 ) while another of her works Tete en L’air (Lot 140 ) from the same year brought $17,080.

Engaged at one point to Austrian abstract expressionist Arnulf Rainer, and close to another – American artist Sam Francis – in 1962 Kogelnik moved to New York where she joined a close-knit group of artists that included Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

Pop was a way of life and she became known for wearing extravagant hats and outfits. At the same time she was heavily influenced by pop art colours and materials of the time.

During the 1970s, Kogelnik’s focus shifted to what later became known as her Women works, specifically the female role portrayed in commercial advertising.

Tragically, she died of cancer on February 1, 1997 and is buried in Bleiburg, Austria. That same year, Vienna’s Belvedere Museum held a large retrospective of her work and in 1998 Kogelnik was posthumously awarded Austria’s highest arts medal – the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art.

After her death, a United States non-profit organisation, The Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, was established with offices in Vienna and New York.

Another Austrian creation – a 1920s amphora gilded lotus form vase (Lot 11 ) – sold for $6100, while Austrian sculptor Gustav Gurschner’s (1873-1971) bronze figural centrepiece (Lot 10 ) changed hands for $4392.

Among the furniture lot 39 – a circa 1900 French gilt bronze mounted mahogany and burr elm art nouveau dining room suite – sold for $3904, a circa 1920 Deutsche Werkstatte birdseye beech bedroom suite (Lot 44 ) for $2928, and a French art nouveau carved walnut mirror attributed to Eugene Gaillard (Lot 40 ) for $1952.

Strong results also were achieved for Adolf Joseph Pol’s (1872-1930) sculpture Riding Amazon (lot 57 - $2928) and lot 207 – an Omega Speedmaster stainless steel automatic chronograph ($2196).