Leading Australian artists on show at Sydney grand home auction venue

Prince Albert House in the Sydney suburb of Mosman – a grand merchant’s house built about 1907 – is the imposing venue for a collection of paintings featuring some of the best known names in Australian art to go under the hammer through Mossgreen from 2pm Sunday August 21.

The home, at 13 Prince Albert Street, reflects the heritage and grandeur of its history and is a fitting auction location for a collection that also includes furniture and objects, decorative arts and fine wines acquired from some of Australia’s most iconic collections.

One of the more appealing paintings is Charles Blackman’s Matador circa 1972 – a subject conceived during the artist’s time in Portugal weaving the White Cat’s Garden series of tapestries at the Tapecarias Portalegre Workshop.

Arthur Boyd is represented with two works Child and White Dog by Pond and Potter and Wife in a Field with Cow circa 1969.

The first painting belongs to the early part of Boyd’s 20-year stint in London (where he moved with his family at age 39 and only meant to stay six months) during which time he was painting his Mythologies, which included the watershed series Love, Marriage and Death of a Half Caste Bride.

So popular was Boyd among the London art community that within six months he had secured his first one-man exhibition at the Zwemmer Galery – one of the city’s major dealerships handling modern British and international avant-garde artists.

The second painting belongs to a small but important group of works known as the Potter series, representing several key iconographic, autobiographic and thematic characteristics central to Boyd’s art.

Ray Crooke’s Islanders by the Shore is a great example by one of Australia’s most loved artists.

Crooke’s works tend to feature two distinct places and themes. First are the lush Pacific island scenes, which he initially came into contact in 1938 after joining the Second Australian Imperial Force, where he was stationed in Cape York and Borneo.

Second are the mostly arid and golden landscapes of northern Queensland – the result of living after World War II in Cairns and Thursday Island and travelling extensively throughout the State.

Other artists to feature in the sale include Sam Fullbrook, David Larwill and Philip Hunter.

The auction contains a comprehensive range of fine antique furniture and objects and decorative arts including a large 1720s Louis XIV walnut armoire and a 17^th century Spanish chestnut three-drawer serving table.

There also is a fine collection of luxury watches including such well-known names as Blancpain, Jaeger-Le Coultre, Cartier, Chopard and Panerai.

An interesting inclusion for exotic car buffs is the black 2011 Ferrari California with only 9000 kilometres on the clock.