Buyers now have chance for virtual viewing of art works on home walls before purchase

Brett Whiteley’s Platypus – perhaps the most compelling image from his Zoo publication of 1979 – will be a major highlight for Lawson-Menzies first offerings for 2014.

The auction, from 6.30pm on Thursday February 27 at 12 Todman Avenue, Kensington in Sydney, will comprise 283 works.

Prior to the sale, works will be on view in Melbourne from 10am-5.30pm Thursday February 13 to Sunday February 16 at 1 Darling Street, South Yarra.

Another interesting painting is Maria Kozic I Woman (Maria) (self portrait) 1994, a striking, seminal painting from one of Australia’s most accomplished, yet underrated, contemporary artists.

Mark Schaller’s Still Life is a painting worthy of buyer examination. Later this year, Schaller will be come the sixth Australian artist to be immortalised by having an Art Series Hotel (Bendigo) named in his honour.

The whimsy and exuberance of the ROAR group is captured in three dimensions with this super-sized carving.

Joel Rae is a precocious talent who won the Australian National Line (ANL) Maritime Art Award in 2013 and is currently participating in a group exhibition, Based on Actual Events, at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York.

His painting Liberate is a hyper-realist gem from an artist who Lawson-Menzies head of art southern region, Cameron Menzies, fully expects to become a household name.

“While we continue to relish the opportunity to engage with prospective bidders in the conventional manner during our exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, there is no denying that internet catalogues and online bidding have changed the way in which people collect art,” Mr Menzies said.

“I would estimate that 25 per cent of our auction sales are now conducted on a ‘sight unseen’ basis, a remarkable statistic given the sensory nature of human beings, the limitations of online catalogues, and the vast sums of money involved in forming a collection.”

In an attempt to bridge the gap between cyberspace and reality Lawson-Menzies recently partnered with Walnut Art, which has created an application that allows prospective art buyers to realistically visualise how a catalogued work will appear on their wall.

“We have step-by-step instructions detailed on each web page on how to use the app in conjunction with our printed or online listings, but it really is as simple as taking a photograph of your intended hanging space, entering or scanning a unique code and then watching in amazement as the artwork in question can be viewed hanging ‘in-situ’ through your device,” Cameron Menzies said.

“We trialled this technology through our November 2013 auction and believe it to be an excellent, user friendly resource for anyone contemplating an art purchase – even if it just to see how compatible a prospective acquisition is with works already hanging in a space.”