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When historians sit down at some future date to examine the impact that COVID-19 had on the world, they hopefully might find time to make a fleeting reference to the art auction industry.
While the colossal number of cases and massive loss of life is tragic in anyone’s language, the value attached to works of art during this period, both in Australia and overseas, just continues to climb.
This despite the fact that buyers ability to physically attend auctions...
While an oil painting on woven cotton entitled Two Nudes by Teng from the Thai School (lot 920) was not the highest priced item at Leski Auctions Melbourne Decorative Arts & Collectables sale on February 27 and 28, at $4302 (including buyer’s premium) it was a staggering more than 21 times its upper catalogue estimate of $200.
Obviously, no one at the auction house could have predicted such an unexpected result (otherwise no doubt the catalogue estimate...
A £2 Black and Rose block of four Australian kangaroo stamps (lot 101), which changed hands for $50,190 including buyer’s premium, scooped the auction pool at Leski Auctions Melbourne sale on February 7.
Many of the 1500-plus lots in the sale (900-plus of which were offered online in the days leading up to the auction) sold well within or above their catalogue estimates, with collector interest peaking for the 600-odd items proffered on the day.
Another top...
An attractive 20th century Huanghuali square waisted table from Fangzhou, China (lot 88) sold for $15,860 including buyer’s premium, slightly above catalogue estimate, at Gibson’s Auctions Melbourne-based Spring sale as 88 per cent by value of the listed items changed hands on Sunday November 29.
This is Gibson’s final live auction for 2020 in what has been an extremely difficult year as the world still struggles to overcome the rampant coronavirus...
Esteemed Prussian-born woodcarver and cabinetmaker Robert Prenzel (1866-1941), who migrated to Melbourne in November 1888 and was widely renowned for his Australian flora and fauna carvings, has stolen the limelight at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Australian & Historical sale on November 28-29, that paid tribute to enthusiastic collector and antique dealer the late Marvin Hurnall with 165 items from his collection on offer.
A spectacularly carved mirror by the...
Brett Whiteley created a new Australian art record on Thursday November 26 when his Henri’s Armchair 1974-75 sold for $6.125 million including buyer’s premium and GST at Menzies single lot auction in Sydney.
Well-known leading Sydney barrister the late Clive Evatt QC purchased the painting directly from the artist and kept it at his Turramurra home until his death in 2018, loaning it to various institutions during that time.
The painting eclipses...
The almost 12-month global COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns in Australia does not appear to have dampened buyer enthusiasm for art on the secondary market.
Deutscher and Hackett’s recent mid-November Melbourne sale where 88 per cent of paintings sold and Smith & Singer’s Sydney similar result by value at auction on November 18 augur well for a strong recovery from any potential long-term damage to the Australian art industry caused by the virulent...
Quirky contrasts can be quite stark when it comes to professional football – and none more so than for St Kilda Football Club which, after 124 years as a foundation member of the Victorian Football League which in 1990 became the Australian Football League competition, still has only one premiership to its credit.
Yet, any sporting memorabilia to do with the club is often enormously popular with auction goers – and so it proved at Leski Auctions Sporting Memorabilia...
Perhaps some art lovers might have been a little disappointed that a new milestone was not achieved – but at the end of the day Russell Drysdale’s Going to the Pictures, 1941 (lot 12) $2.4 million hammer price did equal the artist’s previous record for one of his works, set in 2017 for Grandma’s Sunday Walk, when Deutscher and Hackett finished its Melbourne sale and final auction for the year on Wednesday November 11.
With all bidding still over the...
Gibson’s Auctions is delighted with the results of its Australian, Maritime & Exploration sale on Sunday November 8 when 75 per cent of items sold realising 138 per cent of catalogue estimate value.
Even more telling was the fact that 94 per cent of the late Bob Munro’s maritime collection, which comprised the auction’s first 217 lots, realised 258 per cent of the estimated value – a positive portend for his forthcoming warehouse online auction on Sunday November...
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