Usual suspects turn out to bid at Davidson’s fine art auction
Robert Davidson’s reputation for honesty and integrity in a sometimes shadowy auction market is perhaps one thing that keeps his regular clientele coming back for more – even on a particularly bleak and rainy day. Another might be Davidson’s keen estimates, which regularly see him trouncing the competition with his clearance rates. Davidson’s affable and […]
Join the Search for Australian Art in British Auctions
A strong Aussie dollar means hunting and bidding for Australian art at auction overseas has never been more alluring. The internet is constantly providing new tools to enable anyone to track down the specific art that they are looking for – not just in domestic art markets, but also overseas. Most reputable fine art auction […]
Unknown painting confirmed to be by 7x Archibald Winnder WB McInnes
It started with an email from an Australian in London to David Hulme of Manly-based Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants. The gentleman explained he owned a portrait of his mother, painted in 1928 in Melbourne when she was just a girl of 16 – but the painting was not signed. Could David Hulme help in […]
A slow and painful death for Donald Friend mural?
Donald Friend’s relationship with Bali is well known to most Australians. Less well known are the five years that Friend spent in Sri Lanka from 1957 to 1962 as house guest of Bevis Bawa at the remote ‘Brief’ estate near Bentota Beach in southwestern Sri Lanka. Bevis Bawa was the brother of Sri Lanka’s famous […]
A Tale of two Rigis
Three small paintings, hardly larger than an A4 sized sheet, are among the most valuable watercolours in the world – and one of them is at home in Australia, on display for the public no less. J.M.W. Turner’s views of Mount Rigi and a recent visit to Switzerland’s Queen of the Mountains inspired me to […]
If Rembrandt had taken photographs…
A new contemporary art gallery has opened in Zurich end of August focusing on international contemporary photography. Australian photographer Bill Henson is strongly represented in this new push by gallerist Christophe Guye. Guye’s previous venture was Scalo-Guye Gallery in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, which closed in 2008. The opening night was buzzy with the usual […]
First Official Day at Art Basel 41. More Australian Connections
Some of the big names for sale at Art Basel are the German masters of the early 20th century, such as Egon Schiele, Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner and Gustav Klimt – and they are famously presented by London-based Australian art dealer Richard Nagy. He has been able to exhibit in Basel since 2005, although he says: ‘It […]
Art Basel 41: Two Antipodean Premieres
The galleries holding up the Anzac flag are only two, and both of them are first-timers among the 303 international galleries represented and this year’s Art Basel, chosen from over 1,100 applications. Yet both Art Basel rookies – Anna Schwartz Gallery of Melbourne and Sydney, and Michael Lett from Auckland – are already very happy […]
World record price set at Phillips de Pury’s New York auction
The third of the big art nights in New York was also a big night for Australian art: Mark Newson’s Prototype Lockheed Lounge from 1988, with an estimate of US $ 1 million to US $ 1.5 million, sold for US $ 2.098 million, beating the previous record from April 2009 by US $ 485,000. […]
Sothebys Auction: Iconic Warhol Self Portrait doubles its estimate
The first such large Andy Warhol self portrait to come on to the market in ten years was consigned by fashion designer Tom Ford. It promptly doubled the high estimate with intensive competition from six bidders, finally selling for US $ 32.562 million. The bounce back of the contemporary art market continued throughout the evening: […]