BOXER MILNER TJAMPITJIN

Collectors have long recognised that the art from the country around Balgo Hills in remote Western Australia is amongst the most visually distinctive of all Aboriginal painting. The region has revealed some truly innovative and exciting artists since art materials were first supplied there in the mid 1980’s. None more so than Boxer Milner whose incredible sense of composition, innate ability as a colourist, and supreme confidence in the medium has resulted in paintings that could, quite easily, is exhibited internationally without any cultural reference whatsoever.

However while demand for is painting far outstrips supply in the primary market, his fortunes have been mixed at auction where, other than a single work which first appeared for sale in 1995 his works were unavailable until 2001.In that year only one sold of three offered and since that time his fortunes have been mixed, and about as many sold as passed until 2007 when all three of those works offered entered his ten highest results.

Mossgreen established the artist’s current record in 2007, for what was undoubtedly the finest work by Boxer that has appeared at auction to date. The work, Purkitji 2003, from the Elizabeth Jones collection was featured on the front cover of its Australian Aboriginal Art catalogue an was offered with an estimate of $25,000-30,000 (Lot 18). Measuring 180 x 120 cm. it sold after spirited bidding for $38,864, a figure more than $10,000 higher than the previous record set by Sotheby’s in 2004. Another work that sold in 2007 was created in 2003 and carrying an estimate of $6,000-8,000. It sold in June at Joel Fine Art for $15,600 (Lot 48), while an unusually figurative work with plain white woomeras and boomerangs depicted in a field of coloured dotting sold in the Mossgreen sale for $10,950 (Lot 32). As a result of this favourable activity in 2007 Boxer’s clearance rate jumped by 4% with total sales for the year topping $64,000, his best ever to date. However this fine result was offset the following year when only 3 works of the 8 offered sold and this depressed his career clearance rate once more, this time from 54% to 51%, despite his average sale price increasing by almost $1000. The favourable hike in average price was due in part to the success of Rainbow Serpent at Sturt Creek 1999, a 180 x 120 cm painting which sold for more than $10,000 above its high estimate in Sotheby's October sale (Lot No. 134).

Boxer Milner has not tended to paint small pictures, preferring canvases larger than 60 x 90 cm., and as a result he has a disproportionably high number of results in excess of $5000 compared to his overall offerings. 9 of 23 successful sales have exceeded $10,000 with the majority of these sold by Sotheby’s who have sold 9 paintings for a total value of $115,470 since they first appeared. Yet while they have averaged in excess of $10,000 per sale and Mosgreen have averaged $20,000 for each of their 3 successful offerings, Lawson~Menzies have averaged just $6000 with 5 sold for a total of $30,480.

Overall, apart from a poor clearance rate, which is likely to improve steadily as good works come in to the market, Boxer’s paintings have performed well in the short time they have been offered at auction. His works have been exhibited widely in group shows since the early 1990’s and have been acquired by many public collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. His two solo shows with Gabrielle Pizzi in Melbourne in 2000, and with Coo-ee Aboriginal Art in 2003 both sold out.

Not all of his works are popular however. Boxer began painting at the beginning of the 1990’s and works created prior to 1995 are definitely less accomplished than those that have followed. A good example of an early career work was The Artist’s Birthplace at Sturt Creek 1993, offered for sale by Sotheby’s in November 2005. While the unusual use of turquoise to highlight several tributaries and billabongs adjacent to the river system was a harbinger of things to come, the painting overall is not stylistically dissimilar to more conventional Balgo paintings by lesser artists of the time. It was offered with a presale estimate of just $2,000-4,000 and sold for $3,120 (Lot 402).

There is no doubt that Boxer Milner’s finest and most distinctive works were created between 1997 and 2005. Collectors should closely monitor the primary market to note both the quality of his current works and their prices. They now appear only rarely and it is likely that his best work is now behind him. It is therefore likely that in order to acquire a fine example at the right price at auction collectors will need to study his oeuvre carefully and be prepared to pay significantly more than was the case in the past for works of good size and quality.

© Adrian Newstead