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Comparatively high Interest rates and increases in the cost of living might be impacting Australian home buyers at the moment, but the secondary art market is still booming – if Deutscher and Hackett’s latest sale results are any guide.
The auction house’s Melbourne-based April Australian and International Fine Arts auction saw the offered 55 paintings scream past their collective high $14,872,000 catalogue estimate to realise $16,689,682 including buyers’ premiums....
Charles Blackman’s (1928-2018) Day Dream 1958 (lot 33) brought the highest price of $270,000 (including buyer’s premium) at Menzies Melbourne auction on March 27 in a sale that just tipped over the $4.025 million mark (bp included) when 82 per cent of the works on offer changed hands.
The painting is a key element of the artist’s Faces and Flowers series, completed when Blackman was at the peak of his early recognition.
Buyer enthusiasm for such a rare...
Collectors of Australian indigenous art wanting to ensure their investment is safe and increasing in value need not look further than the iconic Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910-1996) – one of Australia’s greatest Aboriginal artists.
Four of her paintings featured among the top 10 results at Deutscher and Hackett’s Important Australian Indigenous Art auction on March 26 in Melbourne – led by Untitled (Endunga) 1990 (lot 7) which topped the sale at $331,364 (...
The final part – part III – of Melbourne’s iconic Michael family camera museum was wrapped up on March 26 by Leski Auctions with all but 70 of the 651 lots (89 per cent) selling mainly within or above catalogue estimates.
Although many of the items changed hands for several hundred dollars, it was a magic moment for collectors as it marked the end of an era in Australian photographic history.
Situated on the corner Melbourne’s CBD Elizabeth and Lonsdale Streets...
Personal collections built up over many years often attract a strong following when auctioned and so it proved for ageing Australian couple Michael and Valerie Gregg’s lifetime assembly of silver, Australian furniture, ceramics, jewellery and pottery unrivalled anywhere in the world sold on March 24 by Melbourne-based Leski Auctions.
The entire collection of 797 lots was sold with many of the items attracting bids well above their catalogue estimates.
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A bit like Australia’s 1930 Penny which was never meant to be placed in circulation, most people have heard of Great Britain’s 1840 Penny Black stamp.
So, it was no surprise when examples of each fetched the top results at Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions February sale – featuring Australian and overseas stamps, coins and banknotes, postal history and picture postcards, militaria, sporting memorabilia and other collectables – resulting in a hammer price of $1,304,226...
Gold ingots and clocks were the order of the day at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions February decorative arts sale with examples of each bringing the top result of $20,000.
This price was paid for four 24-carat gold ingots (lot 216a) and a circa 1775 London-based Henry Kemp clock with a fine scarlet lacquered bell top and spring table (lot 586).
While the ingots were right on catalogue estimate, the clock easily beat its $12,000-$15,000 figure.
A vintage...
An extremely rare Australian One Pound chestnut and bright blue Kangaroo stamp (lot 644) was the top selling item at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Stamps, Coins & Banknotes auction on December 18 and 19, bringing $52,500 – comfortably within its catalogue estimate.
The sale, the company’s last for 2023, was notable for several valuable postal history items, which proved extremely popular with collectors.
A 1919 Ross Smith flight...
Postal history relating to significant places or events both in Australia and overseas is always popular among collectors.
So it proved for memorabilia relating to the former Australian penal colony of Norfolk Island and Pitcairn Island, home to survivors of the infamous 1789 mutiny on the British ship HMAV Bounty and their descendants, that went under the hammer during Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions three-day sale of stamps, coins, banknotes, postal history, medals...
Camera buffs flocked to Part II of Melbourne’s Michael camera museum collection sale on December 12 to snap up all 652 items offered by Leski Auctions at 727-729 High Street, Armadale.
There is no doubt the collection’s historical significance played an important part in the result.
Michaels Cameras, which had started trading more than 100 years ago as a pawnbroker and gunsmith business before morphing into a chemist shop that sold photographic equipment, was a...
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