Dave’s Faves for the Bonhams auction – April 21
If you missed out on a major work by Ben Quilty, as in the sale of a budgie at Menzies for a record $270,000, all is not lost. The chance to own one of his classic car series of paintings looms at Bonhams on Thursday evening: “Hill End Landscape #1”, 2005, is offered with what […]
Dave’s Faves for the Smith & Singer Auction – April 21
In their fine art auction on 20 April in Sydney, Smith and Singer offer just 61 lots. However, there are some serious big hitters in the sale, and foremost among them is without a doubt lot 26, Frederick McCubbin’s “What the Little Girl Saw in the Bush” from 1904. It commands not only eight pages […]
Dave’s Faves Deutscher + Hackett 21 April 2021
Deutscher + Hackett present a wonderful selection of 80 superb lots in their fine art auction on 21 April in Melbourne. In the international section, you’ll find international greats like Italian Lucio Fontana, British Indian Anish Kapoor and American Alex Katz, whose works have hardly ever appeared in the Australian auction room. In the Australian […]
Dave’s Faves for Menzies 31 March 2021
It always feels like a long time between auctions from the end of the year until March when the important sales of museum quality fine art begin again. The wait has been worth it, with auction houses like Menzies collecting an exciting array of beautiful paintings, watercolours, prints and sculpture by some of Australia’s greatest […]
Australian Art Auction Market 2020: Triumph Over Adversity
This year could have been a disastrous year for the visual arts market, given a pandemic leading to stay at home orders, lock-downs and closed borders, and auction houses specifically mentioned by the Prime Minister as one of the businesses that could no longer be open for personal visits. But art does matter it seems: […]
Menzies Sell Brett Whiteley Painting for New Auction Record
On 26 November 2020 in Sydney, Menzies offered the painting with the highest auction estimates for an Australian work ever: $5 million to $7 million. Brett Whiteley’s Henri’s Armchair, 1974-75, was presented in a stand-alone black tie event. It was attended by vendor Elizabeth Evatt and family members with front row seats and film crews […]
“Dumb” thieves steal Singo’s Boyd Artwork
The Australian, 24 November 2020, by David Murray Thieves have stolen an Arthur Boyd painting worth $120,000 from adman John Singleton’s home on the NSW Central Coast, but art auctioneers say they would have been off taking the TV. …. David Hulme, an art valuer from Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants, said the painting lost […]
Menzies Auction 19 November 2020
This time last year, in 2019, according to Australian Art Sales Digest, $71 million dollars worth of art were sold at auction in Australia. To date, it is $43 million. However, in something of a stupendous comeback from the difficulties of lockdowns and amidst great success in auction sales, the high estimates of the offerings […]
Smith and Singer Auction 18 November 2020
It has been an extraordinary year for the art market. Commercial art galleries have reported very good sales and even sell-out exhibitions. The auction room has been equally blessed by very strong results. This has culminated in perhaps the best end-of-year art sales in many years. Confidence in the market from both buyers and sellers […]
Dave’s Faves from the Deutscher + Hackett auction – Nov 20
The catalogue for the highly anticipated Deutscher + Hackett auction of Australian and International Fine Art titled “Twenty Classics of Australian Art” has created a lot of excitement for many art aficionados, including ourselves. We can’t wait to view the collection in person, and “Dave” had a lot of fun picking his favourite works from […]