Art auction a "breath of fresh air" for first time buyers

With major Australian art auction houses currently enticing both Australian and overseas art lovers to invest in expensive and significant works, Leonard Joel’s forthcoming Fine Art sale is a breath of fresh air for those auction goers looking to enter the market for the first time or simply searching for more modest purchases.

The auction will be held from 6.30pm Tuesday November 27 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

Plenty of Australian name artists appear in the catalogue – Charles Blackman, James Gleeson, Ben Quilty, Pro Hart, Tim Storrier, Septimus Power and David Boyd to name but a few – and buyers can readily purchase without worrying about their works dropping in value after they walk out the door.

Several of the paintings immediately catch the eye – Ben Quilty’s Untitled 2016 oil on canvas (lot 36) a case in point, along with Pro Hart’s Christmas Miner (lot 40A), Tim Storrier’s Night Fire (lot 25) and Charles Blackman’s The Vision (lot 23).

One of the more expensive auction lots is John Brack’s Portrait of (his wife) Helen 1959 (lot 104), a conte on paper with a catalogue estimate of $40,000-$50,000.

Another is Sidney Nolan’s Ayers Rock and Kelly 1968 oil on paper (lot 103 - $20,000-$30,000) and David Boyd’s Children Playing by the River oil on board (lot 40B - $14,000-$20,000).

Sculptor Robert Klippel is represented with his Untitled #0772 1989 wood assemblage (lot 32) and plenty of Australian landscape painters like Ernest Buckmaster and Rubery Bennett get a guernsey alongside British counterparts such as George Cole, Robert Cleminson and William Shayer.

Norman Lindsay devotees also will not be disappointed as several of his works (like lot 56 – Garden Party c1920 watercolour) are up for grabs, while Donald Friend (lot 59 – Jazz at the Winter Palace 1989) is another solid potential along with Arthur Boyd’s The Stoat 1990 (lot 61) and John Olsen’s The Coorong 2006 (lot 65 – estimate $70,000-$90,000)