Paintings by Jeffrey Smart, Robert Dickerson and Danila Vassilieff tap into Australian urban life in Sotheby’s auction on 26 August in of Important Australian and International Art.
The 95 lots provide a beautiful selection of some of the best art on offer. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Dave’s Faves start with the trifecta of lots 1, 2 and 3.
Lot 1 – Arthur Boyd, Aboriginal Children and Windmill (1960), est. $8,000-$12,000. Outback Boyd is brill
Lot 2 – Russell Drysdale, Study for Bushfire (1944), est. $7,000-$10,000. Eat your heart out, Rick Amor
Lot 3 – Danila Vassilieff, Study in Fitzroy (1938), est. $15,000-$20,000. A real neat street
Lot 8 – Fred Williams, You Yangs Landscape (1978), est. $280,000-$320,000. A Williams with wallop
Lot 11 – Albert Tucker, Where To? 1957, est. $70,000-$90,000. I’ll go where you go!
Lot 21 – John Russell, Belle Isle 1910, est. $7,000-$10,000. It’s Russell, it’s Belle Isle – need I say more?
Lot 26 – Dorrit Black, A Dorset Farmyard (1944), est. $30,000-$40,000. Thoroughly modernist madam
Lot 31 – Jeffrey Smart, Radial Road (1972), est. $500,000-$700,000. Is that Dame Edna?
Lot 39 – John Brack, Reclining Nude 1981, est. $35,000-$45,000. Wish I could draw like this
Lot 43 – Beatrix Colquhoun, (Aboriginal Mother and Child in Landscape) (circa 1880s), est. $8,000-$12,000. A serene and sensitive portrayal
Lot 44 – F.C. Terry, Sydney Harbour from Watson’s Bay 1854, est. $12,000-$18,000. A terrific historical view of the world’s most beautiful harbour
Lot 48 – Elioth Gruner, The Evening Bathe (1917), est. $30,000-$40,000. A rare great Gruner
Lot 53 – Brett Whiteley, Interior with Still Life and Nude and Chair 1985, est. $25,000-$35,000. A nude and a still life – two for the price of one
Lot 55 – Robert Dickerson, The Bottle (1954), est. $80,000-$100,000. The best painting to appear on the market by Dickerson in a seriously long time
Lot 66 – Brett Whiteley, Untitled 1961, est. $45,000-$65,000. These 60s Whiteley abstracts still seem crazily inexpensive
Lot 73 – Margaret Olley, Mandarins (1975), est. $50,000-$70,000. Fruitilicious
Lot 75 – Ray Crooke, (North Queensland), est. $8,000-$12,000. Understated
Lot 95 – Clement Meadmore, Hob Nob 1992, est. $15,000-$20,000. We all need Meadmore
Personal viewing in Melbourne is from 14 to 17 August, at 41 Exhibition Street, level 9.
In Sydney, you can view from 21 to 26 August at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.
For viewing the offerings online, visit Sotheby’s Australia.
The auction is held on Tuesday, 26 August, 6.30 pm, at The Intercontinental in Sydney.
For due diligence, pre-purchase reports and advice and bidding on any lot, contact David Hulme either by email david@bhfineart.com or by phone on 02 9977 7764.
We will be attending the auction on the night.