Auction Results

Did social media following have a hand in Australian art auction result?

Her massive social media following (almost 600,000 Instagram devotees) might have had some bearing on the result – but when contemporary Australian ‘instafamous’ artist Catherine Jenna Hendry’s (CJ Hendry) first work to appear at auction, listed as lot 17 and entitled Red Paint Swatch (Small) and Blue Paint Swatch (Small), went under the hammer on December 1 in Sydney at Menzies Important and International art sale it sold for $63,818.18 (including buyer’s premium),...

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Art leads the way in Melbourne auction results

Vendors would have been delighted with Melbourne-based Leski Auctions two-day sale on November 27-28 as plenty of the more than 1300 lots on offer went under the hammer for more than their catalogue estimates.

Top price was Althea Mary (Thea) Procotor’s (1879-1966) The Rose, 1927 (lot 1055) – a colourful hand coloured woodcut that, at $33,460 including buyer’s premium, sold for three times its catalogue estimate.

Well-known Melbourne ceramic artist...

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Collections prove a to be a bonus in Melbourne auctions

Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions final two live auctions for 2021 – the Interiors and Spring Auction Series – on November 20 and 21 were a bonanza for vendors, with a busy and vibrant saleroom after six COVID-19 lockdowns since March last year.

The Interiors auction featured the collections of Melbourne socialite the late Shirley Strauss and interior designer Geoffrey Stewardson.

The former collection sold at 220 per cent of its value, while the latter was 166...

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Australian women artists achieve massive auction results in Melbourne

An Australian art auction devoted to important women artists, with selected Australian and international fine art thrown in for good measure, undoubtedly would have been a major disappointment if the works by said women painters had not attracted much buyer interest.

However, despite a market bedevilled for the past two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, major art auction house Deutscher and Hackett was prepared to chance its arm on solid buyer support for paintings by...

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Rover Thomas achieves top billing at Melbourne art auction

One of Australia’s leading Aboriginal artists Rover Thomas (circa 1926-1998) achieved top billing at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions Australian & International Art sale on October 24 when his painting entitled Old Bedford Station circa 1985 (lot 90) sold for $61,000.

Born on the Canning Stock Route in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert, from age 10 until he settled at the Aboriginal community Warmun near Turkey Creek, Thomas followed his tribal...

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Melbourne comprehensive collection brings almost double its estimate

Almost everything in the comprehensive collection of late Melbourne businessman Harry Oviss sold at Gibson’s Auctions three-day sale from October 3-5 at nearly twice its total estimated catalogue value.

A native of Palestine, Harry migrated in 1924 to Australia while still a baby – with his parents, who became successful business people, searching for a better life.

Harry, too, was destined to become a business success – first as a clothing and fashion magnate...

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David Hockney shows his class at Australian print auction

Of the international artists featuring in Menzies first timed online only auction finishing on September 23 and dedicated to prints and multiples, English painter David Hockney – considered one of the most influential artists of the 20^th century – was the one with the most appeal.

His Untitled No. 20 from the Yosemite Suite 2010 (of which the total number of editions was just 25) and listed as lot 16 doubled its high catalogue estimate to be...

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Australian Hall of Fame inductee premiership medals achieve top auction result

Three premiership medals (lot 426) won in 1939, 1940 and 1941 by Melbourne Football Club’s Australian Hall of Fame inductee Percy Beames (1911-2004) beat all comers at Leski Auctions Sporting Memorabilia auction on Monday September 20 when they sold for $54,970 (including buyer’s premium).

Joining Melbourne in 1931, Beames soon established himself as the club’s rover and was part of the hat-trick of premierships the club won from 1939-41 and then captain-coached for...

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Arthur Boyd an Australian auction winner

One of iconic Australian artist Arthur Boyd’s (1920-1999) Wimmera Series paintings from the 1950s (lot 126) was the big winner at Leski Auctions Foster Collection sale from the family’s Mount Eliza mansion Dendron House on Sunday September 5.

The painting was knocked down for $110,000 – almost twice its catalogue estimate – or $131,450 when the buyer’s premium is taken into account.

All the auction items sold for a total of $362,228 (including buyers’...

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George III library bookcase doubles estimate in Melbourne socialite auction sale

A circa 1790 George III mahogany library breakfront bookcase (lot 11) belonging to leading Melbourne socialite the late Billie Tyrrell beat all comers at Gibson’s Auctions August 22-23 Melbourne sale to go under the hammer for $12,000 – twice its high catalogue estimate.

Married to former Naval lieutenant Harry Tyrrell, who founded National Can Industries, Billie was born in 1924 in Malvern and spent most of her early life at Kanga, an elegant home designed by famous...

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