Dave’s Faves from the Dame Nellie Melba Collection
More than 80 years after her passing, opera singer Dame Nellie Melba is still famous – Australia’s first international megastar. Now, Sotheby’s offer 162 objects, jewellery and paintings from her personal collection, many of them personalised with Melba’s monogram, at an auction in Melbourne at the end of the month. Sotheby’s will be like a […]
Dave’s Faves for the first fine art auction of 2015
Menzies start off the 2015 fine art auction season on 26 March in Sydney, and 83 of the 282 lots are from the estate of renowned art dealer Eva Breuer. Expect to see some very special gems amongst lot numbers 62 to 145. David has picked quite a few from this distinguished offering for his […]
“Fake or Fortune” on the ABC
If you missed yesterday’s gripping art mystery, you can still catch up with art dealer Philip Mould, journalist Fiona Bruce and researcher Dr. Bendor Grosvenor delving into the work of John Constable whose popularity has made him a prime target of forgers. He’s considered the most widely faked British artist – and the most difficult […]
Record Price On Rare Window On Week Night At Sotheby’s Auction
Record Price for rare Window on weak night at Sotheby’s art auction By Michaela Boland, The Australian, 26 November 2014 One of the earliest and largest of Grace Cossington Smith’s much-acclaimed late interiors — and possibly the only one still in private hands — ignited a bidding frenzy at Sotheby’s Australia’s Important Australian and International […]
Dave’s Faves for Menzies Fine Art Auction December 2014
The last big fine art auction of 2014 offers almost 300 artworks before the long Christmas holiday break with sales then resuming in March 2015. Perhaps the last chance to find a special art gift for that special someone… so let’s start Dave’s Faves with a most appropriate subject: Lot 4 – John Perceval, Ecstatic […]
Dave’s Faves Trifecta with Bonhams, Sotheby’s & D + H
Be prepared for a serious top tier art auction round before the end of the year: from 24 to 26 November we will see Bonhams, Sotheby’s and Deutscher + Hackett offer their selections back to back, and on 10 December, Menzies will close 2014 with their last auction held in Melbourne. Today, David is looking […]
Did Edmund Capon find his true calling at Deutscher + Hackett?
The star of the show at Deutscher + Hackett’s auction of Australian and International fine art on 27 August 2014 was without a doubt the cover lot, Jeffrey Smart’s Self Portrait at Papini’s, 1984-85 (lot 11), selling for the artist’s record of $1.05 million hammer, but coming a very close second would have to be […]
Bottoms up – Menzies First Two Day Sale Gets Bums On Seats
A large number of nude and semi-nude figures dominated the Menzies offering of Australian and international fine art and sculpture in the evening sale of 151 lots, set off by four remarkably similar Whiteley nudes prominently displaying their bottoms to the viewer. Nude offerings also came from Garry Shead, John Brack, Auguste Rodin, Norman Lindsay […]
New York Style hits Sydney: Dave’s Faves for the Menzies Art Auction on 23/24 September
The Menzies auction of Australian and International Fine Art and Sculpture will be considerably different this time around: a two day affair – just like they do in New York. The sale will run in Sydney over the evening of 23rd September with 151 lots and the afternoon of 24th September offering 287 lots. The […]
Go birdwatching – Dave’s Faves from the Deutscher + Hackett auction 27 August 2014
From the very first lot, birds dominate in many of the paintings offered by Deutscher + Hackett in their 142 lot fine art auction held in Sydney on 27th August. They take off with Margaret Preston’s “For a little Girl”, 1929, to her lot 2 “Lorikeets”, 1925, and go on to a very large iconic […]