[Right: 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe; What If I Drive? Mustang (2), Tim Silver. Photograph courtesy Christie's.]

Auction houses, owing to their high profile, are in a position to influence collecting tastes and hence play a role in the development of artists' reputations and their success. This influential position is of particular importance in the case of living, contemporary artists.

It is generally thought that only well-established artists can achieve any degree of success in the saleroom and that for contemporary artists with little exposure the experience could be irrevocably damaging to their burgeoning careers. John Marion, of Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, observed in an interview in Arts Magazine in 1972 that art by living artists would not be easy to sell at auction and that they first needed to achieve a certain level of critical acclaim and be exhibited and collected before they could successfully compete in this arena.

Some contemporary artists have achieved good prices at auction in recent years and some have also received promotion within the auction system. Paintings by John Kelly (b.1965), which were selling at auction for as little as $15,000 early in 2002, were selling for over $100,000 in 2003. His highest auction price is for the bronze, Three Stacked Cows 2001, which sold at Deutscher-Menzies in September 2004 for $188,750 (estimate $120,000-$160,000). More recently, Philip Wolfhagen's (b.1963) Fifth Illumination 1996 realised a remarkable $43,200 (estimate $20,000-$25,000) at Deutscher-Menzies' June 2005 auction.

Young and emerging artists, who are often bundled together and represent a subcategory of contemporary artists, are in a more precarious position in the Australian art auction market than their better-established counterparts. There are varying definitions of what constitutes an 'emerging artist'. I have broadly adopted the Australia Council's definition of emerging artists as those in the early stages of their career, usually within the first five years of their professional practice, and the more general definition of a young artist as one aged 30 or under.

According to Annette Larkin, head of contemporary art at Christie's, which holds specialist contemporary art sales, Christie's does not actively encourage the sale of works by young and emerging artists at auction, but will assist insistent vendors to sell these works, especially if the artists have already achieved some level of public recognition, otherwise the market will not exist and the works will obtain low prices. Christie's prefers to focus on more established contemporary artists, such as Howard Arkley, Susan Norrie and Imants Tillers. Larkin commented that "I don't think that auctions are the place where artists' careers should be launched"; that is something that should occur in the commercial gallery system, where reputations can be nurtured.

Two Untitled metallic paper and plastic works by Sangeeta Sandrasegar (b.1977) were sold at Christie's May 2005 contemporary art sale for a respectable $1,195 each (estimates $1,000-$1,500). These works were the first by this artist to appear at auction and the setting of realistic estimates was thus of crucial importance in protecting the artist's reputation and her future success, as auctions set the public benchmark for prices.

Sandrasegar was identified in a 2005 list of 50 of Australia's most collectable artists and her inaugural saleroom foray followed shortly thereafter. Sandrasegar's gallery prices range from $200 to $10,000 and she began to obtain international attention after her work was included in the 2nd Auckland Triennial in 2004 and the Museum of Contemporary Art's Primavera 2004, an annual exhibition of the work of emerging Australian artists under the age of 35. She had achieved a certain level of recognition, which made the time ripe to test her works in the saleroom.

Similarly, Tim Silver's (b.1974) first appearance in the saleroom was at Christie's May 2005 contemporary art sale, after he was cited as one of Australia's most collectable artists. However, in this instance, all three of his works - 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe; What If I Drive? Mustang (2) (estimate $2,000-$3,000); Untitled (What If I Drive?) (estimate $1,500-$1,800); and Untitled (Baby I Wrote a Song for You) (estimate $2,800-$3,500) - failed to sell.

Indigenous artist Rosella Namok (b.1979), has exhibited extensively and is represented in major collections, such as the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Her works made their auction debut in 2004, where her seven paintings sold for between $1,020 and $14,400 and a screenprint for $360. Of these eight works, two sold for less than their low estimates, two exceeded their high estimates and the rest sold comfortably within estimates. However, Namok's beautiful acrylic on canvas New House: Para House 2001 (estimate $20,000-$25,000) failed to sell at Bonhams & Goodman's generic Australian and European Pictures, Aboriginal Art and Artefacts auction in November 2005.

Bonhams & Goodman placed a slightly different slant on the word 'emerging' when it held a specialised Emerging Aboriginal Art sale in March 2005, where it was interpreted in terms of artists new to the auction market. This auction witnessed some phenomenal results, including Patrick Olodoodi Tjungurrayi's Untitled acrylic on canvas, which was painted while the Kiwirrkurra community was effectively in exile at Morapoi in 2001, owing to floods. It sold for $4,700, against an estimate of only $400-$600, and was resold at Bonhams & Goodman's November 2005 fine art sale for $8,365.

Art auctions have arguably become the most visible and effective barometer for defining a work's monetary and aesthetic value. Therefore, a critical caveat where the sale of art by young or emerging artists at auction is concerned is that auction houses do not develop sustainable reputations for artists. This can, therefore, be problematic for artists' long-term careers, particularly if their works have not achieved high prices at auction.

Larkin observed that auctions often attract a different clientele from that of commercial galleries; that is, people with an eye to investment. Investing in works by young and emerging artists could be challenging, as it is hard to predict which works or artists will withstand the test of time.

On the other hand, collecting the works of young and emerging artists, engaging with new ideas and contributing to a promising artist's career, through supporting and appreciating their work, can be eminently rewarding.