After a break of a little more than a year, David’s tongue-in-cheek look at the most significant art offerings in Australian art auctions returns.
While looking at art online is nice, there is nothing quite like viewing it personally. We can’t wait to see the best and most interesting art that the major auction houses will be offering in 2023.
We do enjoy assisting our clients in the purchase of museum quality art so that they can build their own museum quality art collection at home. Our quality advice is just a phone call, email or Zoom meeting away.
And Menzies start the 2023 auction season with a sparkling selection of 147 offerings. Lots 25 to 49 come from the collection of the late Thomas and Eva Breuer, one of Sydney best-loved art dealers who had passed away in 2010.
Lot 31, William Robinson’s “Farm II”, is accorded pride of place as cover lot, and blends the artist’s gentle humour with his signature dizzying perspective.
Other treasures in the collection include an early incised woodblock flower painting by artist du jour Cressida Campbell (lot 35), a couple of immersive flower close-ups by Tim Maguire (lots 32 and lot 36), as well as a selection of Sidney Nolans, with lot 30, a 1966 “Landscape with Camel” from the Burke and Wills series, exhibiting stellar provenance from the artist’s estate.
You can enjoy the preview in Sydney from 16 to 19 March at 12 Todman Avenue, Kensington, and in Melbourne from 23 to 28 March at 1 Darling Street, South Yarra.
The auction will be held on Wednesday, 29 March, 6.30 pm, at 1 Darling Street, South Yarra.
You can preview all artworks online at the Menzies website.
We would be delighted to assist you with pre-sale due diligence and experienced bidding on the night. You can find out more about our art brokerage services here.
Dave’s Faves for the first Menzies fine art auction of 2023 are:
Lot 2, Albert Namatjira, Mount Hermannsburg and Finke River, watercolour, 26 x 36.5 cm. Est. $30,000-40,000. Mountain Magic
Lot 3, Margaret Olley, Columbines 1962, oil, 46 x 56 cm, est. $40,000-60,000. Spring into Autumn
Lot 10, Reko Rennie, Bora, 2010, polymer and spraypaint, 245 x 105 cm, est. $12,000-18,000. What’s up, Skip?
Lot 13, John Coburn, White Bird, c1974, polymer paint, 170 x 427.5 cm, est. $150,000-200,000. Could this monumental painting set a new auction record for Coburn?
Lot 15, Jeffrey Smart, Study for the Petrol Station, 1975, oil, 34.5 x 39.5 cm, est. $80,000-120,000. Petrol was 57 Cents a Litre in 1975
Lot 21, Inge King, Stellar Wheel, 2010, stainless steel, 72.5 x 65 x 25 cm, est. $50,000-70,000. Your Very Own Wheel of Fortune
Lot 30, Sidney Nolan, Landscape with Camel (Burke and Wills), 1966, oil, 124.5 x 124.5 cm, est. $180,000-250,000. Not the Time to Get the Hump
Lot 31, William Robinson, Farm II, 1982, oil, 131.5 x 193 cm, est. $200,000-300,000. Billy Boils
Lot 32, Tim Maguire, Untitled, 95.03, 1995, oil (diptych), 200 x 401 cm overall, est. $100,000-150,000. It’s Time to Acquire a Maguire
Lot 41, Salvatore Zofrea, Psalm 4, 1976, oil, 122 x 152 cm, est. $4,000-6,000. Very Stanley Spencer
Lot 51, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Yam Dreaming, polymer paint, 93 x 61.5 cm, est. $15,000-20,000. Dreamytime
Lot 60, Elaine Haxton, Tropical Garden (Pittwater from Clareville), 1957, oil, 49.5 x 77.5 cm, est. $6,000-8,000. Surreal Sojourn
Lot 61, Donald Friend, Mars and Venus, 1942, oil and pencil, 13.5 x 31 cm, est. $10,000-15,000. The Stars Align
Lot 73, Eveline Syme, The Castle Chapel, Amboise, c1923, ink and watercolour, 29 x 29 cm, est. $4,000-6,000. Simply Syme
Lot 94, Chris Langlois, Landscape (Bald Head) 1st Variation, 2006, oil, 122 x 228.5 cm, est. $8,000-10,000. Cloud Nine
Lot 103, Sally Gabori, My Father’s Country, 2008, polymer paint, 118.5 x 90 cm, est. $12,000-18,000. Gabori’s Story
Lot 116, Lynn Chadwick, Sitting Couple, 1980, bronze with silver patina, 5 x 11 x 11.5 cm, est. $10,000-15,000. Have a Chat with Chadwick
Lot 125, Noel McKenna, Now This is One Furry Beast, 2008, glazed ceramic tile, 31 x 31 cm, est. $3,000-5,000. More Than a Pipedream
Lot 131, James R. Jackson, The Rialto Bridge, Venice, 1907, oil, 50 x 60 cm, est. $5,000-8,000. No Bridge of Sighs
Lot 144, Julian Opie, Watching Suzanne (Front) No. 7, 2006, screenprint on panel, AP 3/7, 83 x 56.5 cm, est. $6,000-8,000. Whose Line Is It Anyway?
