Auction Results

Artist records abound at Melbourne Aboriginal art auction

On a night when iconic indigenous artists Rover Thomas (Joolama) ((c1926-1998) and Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) dominated proceedings at Deutscher and Hackett’s Important Australian Aboriginal Art in Melbourne on March 30, a much-loved compatriot Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) achieved an artist auction record for his watercolour entitled Glen Helen Gorge (lot 2), changing hands for $122,727 including buyer’s premium – more than twice its high catalogue estimate....

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New and old furniture mix in Melbourne auction result

The comparatively modern blended with furniture several hundreds of years old to comprise the top 10 sale items at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions Autumn Auction Series on Sunday March 27.

On one hand, there was Austro-Hungarian furniture designer and cabinetmaker Schulim Krimper’s (1893-1971) circa 1954 blackbean dining suite(lot 167) holding centre stage with a $17,080 (including buyer’s premium) result – while on the other a circa 1760 George III oak...

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Massive Australian auction result for lowly estimated ceramic creations

For some reason, Melbourne-based Leski Auctions estimated lot 610 – an attractive pair of Chinese ceramic peanut ornaments and 20^th century Persian-style censer, part of its two-day Decorative Arts & Collectables March 26-27 sale – at only $120-$200.

The final price could only be regarded as an auctioneer’s masterstroke as spirited bidding saw the items sell for $50,190 including the buyer’s premium.

A stunning, signed early 20^th...

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Elenberg sculpture sells at Melbourne auction for massive price

The late Martin Sachs would have been pleased that his good artist friend Joel Elenberg’s (1948-1980) Untitled marble sculpture (lot 46) achieved such a massive result at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions sale on Tuesday March 8.

The sculpture was listed in the catalogue at $15,000-$25,000 but spirited bidding saw it eventually sell for $292,775 including buyer’s premium.

A Polish Jew who migrated to Australia in 1948 and became a successful builder and...

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Gibson's Auctions staff happy at first live auction result for 2022

Staff at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions were over the moon with the 131 per cent by value result of their first live auction for 2022 – the Interiors sale on Sunday February 6.

While the top selling lot was a 19^th century Anglo-Colonial Padouk centre table (lot 385), that sold for $19,520 (including buyer’s premium) on an $8000-$12,000 catalogue estimate, the two major collections of the late Claude Ullin AM and the Bloomfield/Taylor family also exceeded...

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Australia's top artists high flyers in NAB auction results

Jeffrey Smart’s (1921-2013) The Footbridge, 1975 (lot 6) – showing his trademark ability to evoke the classical stillness, geometry and light of Italian Renaissance paintings – fetched the top hammer price of $800,000 ($981,818 including buyer’s premium) at Deutscher and Hackett’s Melbourne National Australia Bank art auction on February 22.

The auction totalled $10,555,772 including buyers’ premiums, with 99 per cent sold by volume and 192 per cent by value...

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Sidney Nolan can pull any art auction crowd

Even Sidney Nolan’s (1917-1992) lesser works triple estimates when auction buyers get the bug. And so it proved at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions Summer Art sale on February 23 when an oil on paper work entitled Greece (lot 55) changed hands for $3904 (including buyer’s premium) against a catalogue estimate of $800-$1200.

Aboriginal artist Freddie Timms (circa 1944-2017) was another popular target and both his Owl Dreaming 1998 (lot 47) and ...

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Stamps, coins and postal history continue to entice auction goers

Most of the items in Melbourne-based Leski Auctions stamps, coins and postal history auction on December 9 – its last for 2021 – found a new home when 758 lots were offered for sale.

The top selling lot was complete collection of sovereigns struck at the Perth Mint from 1899 to 1931 (lot 52), which went under the hammer for $24,000.

A flight cover dated 17 February 1934 (lot 389) flown at the time by Australian pioneer aviator Charles Ulm from New Zealand...

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Jeffrey Smart painting meets Australian auction expectations

It probably came as no surprise that Jeffrey Smart’s (1921-2013) The Arezzo Turn-off II, 1973 (lot 5) scooped the auction pool at Deutscher and Hackett’s Melbourne sale on December 8.

It carried the highest catalogue estimate and reflected his love of Italy – to which he emigrated in 1963 acquiring the rustic farmhouse ‘Posticcia Nuova’ in central Tuscany – and sold for $1,350,000 including buyer’s premium.

The surrounding countryside became the venue...

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Australiana collection brings strong auction result

A John Kendrick Blogg wooden panel depicting a eucalyptus branch (lot 169) brought the top price of a more than double its estimate $135,000 at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions December 7 sale of Gary and Genevieve Morgan’s – of Morgan Gallup Poll fame – extensive Australiana collection.

The Morgans are an important part of Australia’s heritage with Gary’s father Roy, who was educated at Brighton and Melbourne Grammars, establishing the best known market research...

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