This Month
A record-setting photo and a $2.5m number plate
The biggest auction of the year so far delivered $10 million in sales and a record price for an iconic image, while a small plate brings a big price.
March
130 years on, Australian art history comes out of the woodwork
An Arthur Streeton painting of a hallowed art location and a canvas that rocketed Brett Whiteley towards his eventual fame will be auctioned in April.
November 2024
National Gallery handed $15m in biggest-ever donation
Kerry Stokes’ $15 million donation is about one-quarter of what the Canberra institution needs to raise for a new sculpture garden.
August 2024
James Wolfensohn’s Australian classics lead $14m art sale
The canvases by Arthur Boyd and Fred Williams adorned the Australian former president of the World Bank’s Manhattan apartment and lead Smith & Singer’s big mid-year sale.
July 2024
Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and piece of Oscar party history
An overexcited incident with the actor’s Gladiator statuette created a piece of history that is now going to auction with other art from Sydney restaurant Darcy’s.
He was terrified of planes, but Boyd’s works could fly at auction
Seven paintings by celebrated Australian artist Arthur Boyd are going under the hammer in Melbourne on July 24.
June 2024
Big name Indigenous artists bring the love to Redfern
A high-end auction brings Indigenous art to the people, while Menzies hopes Kirk Douglas can be their hero.
May 2024
Brack bolts, Whiteley sinks on a tough night for art sales
A John Brack with a fabulous backstory was a rare highlight at Bonhams, as Leonard Joel wheels out the big contemporary names for its Centum sale.
December 2023
Art sales top $140m but it’s a buyers’ market now
Australian art auction houses largely defied inflation, interest rates and conflict, but the pandemic-era surge has run its course.
November 2023
Antipodeans old and new carry hopes at end-of-year sales
Smith & Singer is hoping to end the year with a bang to trump Deutscher and Hackett as the top-selling auction house of the year.
October 2023
Art blue bloods under the hammer in ANZ revamp
The ANZ Art Collection is selling 37 works by the likes of Boyd, Drysdale and Rees to make way for contemporary artists.
July 2023
Eager buyers snap up Perceval’s Williamstown tugboats
The two paintings by the artist closely bound up with the Boyd artistic dynasty smashed estimates even though they were done after the 1950s.
June 2023
Demand for modern South-East Asian artists hots up
A work by highly collectable Vietnamese artist Vu Cao Dam, who worked for years in France, is expected to be a high point for the art auction market in June.
May 2023
How Smith & Singer’s big Sydney sale failed to fire
The sale was meant to be one of the biggest of the year, but several of the most highly priced works failed to sell.
April 2023
Olsen, Arkley and other art stars headline $10m sale
How the market reacts to John Olsen’s death will be tested when he joins a who’s who of modern Australian art - and a few Lucian Freuds - in Smith & Singer’s sale.
November 2022
Groundbreaking miner’s art collection goes under the hammer
‘Force of nature’ Millie Phillips was a pioneer for women in the mining industry and a dedicated collector of blue-chip Australian artists.
August 2022
Art liquidation sale delivers Cbus bumper $8m return
Margaret Preston was among seven artists to set auction records in the first tranche of the super fund’s sale of its collection of Australian art.
July 2022
Cbus expects mixed returns in great Australian art sale
The top 100 works from the superannuation giant’s collection represent an A-Z of Australian art, and illustrate its varying fortunes as an investment class.
April 2022
Bridge to a sensory realm expands Arthur Boyd’s gift to the nation
An architectural installation at Bundanon lets visitors steep themselves in the world of one of Australia’s most revered artists.
Cressida Campbell leads way as living artists fly high
The work of living Australian artists was at the forefront of fierce bidding at two major auctions last week with Cressida Campbell leading the charge.