Sotheby’s offer 67 tightly curated lots in their Sydney auction on 28 August, with several juicy, and indeed fruity offerings. They include lot 17, Grace Cossington Smith’s “Fruit in the Window, 1957 (unknown fruit – perhaps quinces?), lot 33 Julian Ashton’s “Picking Fruit”, 1914 (apples), lot 36 Norman Lindsay’s Bacchanalian Festival (apples again), lot 38 Justin O’Brien’s “Boy in Red Jacket in Landscape (pears) and lot 63 Margaret Olley’s “Basket of Oranges” (self-explanatory).

The stand-out prestige painting of the night would have to be lot 19, an immersive expansive view of Sydney harbour including the Bridge and Opera House by Brett Whiteley; it carries equally expansive estimates of $2 million to $3 million, a rare figure in the Australian auction room. The very next lot 20, Arthur Boyd’s “Drowned Bridegroom”, follows in the same vein, with estimates of $1.6 million to $1.9 million. And while we are at it, we must also mention lot 18, a fabulous Fred Williams, “Orange Hill”, estimated a bit below at $800,000 to $1 million.

Have a closer look at Dave’s Faves below for more beautiful paintings in lower price brackets. You can view them personally as well:

in Melbourne from 15 to 19 August, in Sotheby’s new exhibition space at 14-16 Collins Street (the Paris End of course)

in Sydney from 23 – 28 August, at 30 and 34 Queen Street, Woollahra.

And also online at the Sotheby’s website.

We would be delighted to assist you with advice and due diligence reports on any of the offerings, and act as your sounding board. This can be particularly helpful and reassuring of course when it comes to any major acquisition of art, at whatever level this may be for you.

The auction is held on 28 August at the Intercontinental, 117 Macquarie Street, starting at 6.30 pm. We’ll be there on the night and happy to help you before, during and after the auction.

And these are Dave’s Faves: