Hunter's gathering value
Sunday Telegraph 18 May 2008, p36.
Jo Liston
Last week, 50 of his works were offered for sale at a Sydney gallery and every one of them sold, netting $927,000.
Buyers tried to gazump each other to secure one of his distinctive landscapes. 'We actually had a situtation, which has never happened in the 15 years I've worked at the gallery, of someone offering more that the ticket price on a sold painting,' Tim Olsen Gallery general manager Katrina Arent said.
Such impressive sales, particularly in the current tough economic climate, affirm Hunter's growing reputation as an important artist. And the smart money, as usual, is getting in early. 'There are some very serious collectors among his buyers,' gallery owner Tim Olsen said.
Selling out is nothing new for the Melbourne-based artist known for his paintings of the Wimmera region in western Victoria where he grew up. Hunter's last eight solo exhibitions have all sold out, but he never takes his success for granted. 'This is another level and it's serious dollars,' Hunter said. 'But I just think you have to try to take it in your stride. You can't start thinking this is how it's going to be forever because it's not. 'It's a bit of a feast-or famine industry and you can't rely on sales always being as strong as that.'
Revered landscape artist John Olsen was so impressed by Hunter's current work, featuring arid landscapes shaped by receding water, he offered to open the exhibition at his son's Woollahra gallery. 'I've been watching Philip for some years and (with these pictures) it's like the big river has arrived, Olsen Sr said. 'There's a sense of maturity and technical assurance that only age can give. Philip is right at the top of the tree, no doubt about it.'
Hunter said of Olsen's comments: 'It was a real surprise. I found what he had to say extremely humbling.'