A 130-year-old painting, hidden from view for literally decades, catapulted out of the woodwork to score the highest bid at Smith & Singer’s first major Australian art auction of the year.

Arthur Streeton’s exquisite oil painting, Sunlight at the Camp, 1894, fetched a hammer price of $1.5 million after auctioneer Martin Gallon started the bidding at a cool $1 million.