March
From £450 to $1m: Early Whiteleys emerge with a rich backstory
In 1961 the young Australian artist paid close attention to the pretty Californian art student who bought two of his works in London.
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.
Whiteley, Quilty among artists collected by crime syndicate
Forget Lamborghinis or brass knuckles. This Melbourne drug syndicate preferred Australian paintings such as Ben Quilty’s Mazda 121, which has now made $73,621 for the Commonwealth.
November 2024
Student caps row; Alan Jones arrested; Markets ‘dangerously bullish’
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Ben Quilty to sell part of his personal collection for superannuation
Among lots for sale is his Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Margaret Olley, and paintings done over the past 25 years that haven’t been shown before.
April 2024
Streeton stuns at $10m art auction
Arthur Streeton’s historic scene took top honours, but works by Bronwyn Oliver and Nicholas Harding were the big surprises.
Family art collection left behind as PwC partner leaves Australia
The Caddy collection contains many lovely examples of paintings and works on paper by distinguished Australian artists at tempting estimates.
August 2023
Impressionist Russell’s Souvenir tops $11m-plus sale
A work by the Australian painter who taught Impressionism to Matisse tops Deutscher and Hackett’s August sale, which could prove the biggest of the year so far.
May 2023
Revered artist John Olsen showed ‘a different world was possible’
Australia’s art community paid tribute to the painter with Wendy Whiteley, Ken Done and Ben Quilty joined by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese among those at a state memorial service in Sydney.
April 2023
Bought for $100, this Banksy could sell for $650,000
A Sydney vendor who bought a print of the street artist’s infamous Girl with Balloon in London could be floating on air if expectations are on the money.
March 2023
Rosalie Gascoigne works cheap at half the price?
Months after Rosalie Gascoigne’s art joined the millionaires club, two works are on the market with estimates half what they previously sold for.
November 2022
Will buyers pay a premium for Melissa Caddick’s lavish jewellery?
Smith & Singer have taken the unusual step of publishing the eye watering prices the fraudster paid, and the much lower estimates.
October 2022
26 paintings sell to one bidder as Cbus sale winds up
An entire exhibition of desert art works from 1990 was the last tranche from Cbus’s collection.
March 2022
Brack, Smart and Quilty to test market strength
Menzies hopes the hot art auction market will deliver up buyers for several big-name works that have failed to sell in recent years.
February 2022
Inside NAB’s star-studded sale of ’70s art
Next week’s first two sales from the bank’s 2000-work collection feature a who’s who of 1970s Australian art and prices starting at $1000.
December 2021
In a $2.4b spree, nine major arts museums are opening nationwide
A big cash splash is revitalising our cultural scene, with ambitious new centres launched, under construction or planned from coast to coast.
October 2021
Ben Quilty’s vision creates an art gallery for all
A long-awaited gallery in the NSW Southern Highlands has a Millennial at the helm and big plans to nurture the region’s next generation of artists.
September 2021
Family sells 70 years of accumulated artworks
Melbourne businessman Harry Oviss didn’t sell a single item in his vast collection; that job has fallen to his children.
July 2021
Charles Dresser toast rack sets new sales record
An 1878 silver-plated toast rack by Scottish industrial designer Charles Dresser sold for $12,000 in a week of competitive bidding at local auction houses.
June 2021
Ben Quilty’s savage van painting to test market resolve
Contemporary artist du jour Ben Quilty’s menacing, anthropomorphic mini-van and another two high-priced Banksy prints are the ones to watch at Menzies upcoming sale.