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Charles Blackman

June 2024

Among three major Brett Whiteley artworks owned by the late Melbourne businessman Ron Walker is Her, 1967. In oil and mixed media on plywood, and measuring 183 x 237.5 cm, the work is estimated at between $1.8 million and $2.4 million in Smith + Singer’s July 24 sale catalogue.

Fine art collection of late Ron Walker to fetch up to $8m

He helped build modern Melbourne but the works that hung in his Toorak mansion, and are now for sale, had a very Sydney flavour.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

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.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

May 2024

John Peter Russell’s Cruach en Mahr, Matin, Belle-Île-en-Mer, c.1905 carries a pre-sale estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million in Deutscher and Hackett’s 24 April sale of Important Australian and International Fine Art in Melbourne.

Australia’s best art auction result in 17 years

Bullish bidders dropped $17 million on Impressionists, Whiteleys and others at the strongest result for a mixed vendor sale since the heady pre-GFC days of 2007.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

April 2024

Cressida Campbell’s Burley Griffin House, Avalon, 1999, is a unique colour woodblock print on paper. It is estimated to fetch between $140,000 and $180,000 in Smith & Singer’s 17 April Important Australian Art auction in Sydney.

Streeton, Campbell works promise hefty returns in $12m art sale

An Arthur Streeton painting bought for £7 has hopes of $1.5 million at the year’s first big sale.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

December 2023

John Peter Russell’s Souvenir de Belle-Île, (Marianna Russell with Goats, Goulphar, Belle-Île), 1897, was the year’s top lot.

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.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue
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November 2023

Different Directions, 1964, by Yvonne Audette, carries an estimate of $120,000 to $160,000 in the catalogue for Deutscher and Hackett’s November 22, 2023 auction in Sydney. A diptych, the work measures 128 x 161.5 cm overall. 

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.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

September 2023

Lyonel Feininger’s drawings in Fred Werner’s sketchbook dated 1889.

Sketchbook found behind a bookshelf expected to clean up

Works by Lyonel Feininger have sold for up to $36.2 million, so a book with his works discovered in a Sydney retirement village is set to attract plenty of interest.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

May 2023

This exquisite portrait by New Zealand master Charles Frederick Goldie was passed in at $1.35 million at the Smith & Singer’s Important Australian and International Art auction in Sydney on May 2, 2023. The painting’s estimate was $1.4 million to $1.6 million. Its title is Reverie: Ena te Papatahi, a Ngapuhi Chieftainess (Ina Te Papatahi, Ngā Puhi), 1916. The consignor was veteran Sydney art dealer Denis Savill.

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.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

April 2023

Psychedelic Head, 1990, by the late Melbourne artist Howard Arkley sold for a mere $7150 in 1992. Its estimate in Smith & Singer’s May 2, 2023 auction is $250,000 to $350,000. The large work, measuring 175cm by 135cm, is from the Selwyn and Renata Litton collection.

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.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

March 2022

Auguste Rodin, Jean D’Aire, conceived c. 1895, cast 1966, ($110,000), from The Hirst Collection of Australian and International Art, being sold at Philip Bacon Galleries next month.

Brisbane set for biggest art sale in decades

The collection of Jewish refugees Doc and Fritzi Hirst includes works by a who’s who of Australian modern art.

  • Gabriella Coslovich

November 2021

NAB to sell 2500-work corporate art collection

The bank expects to make $10 million from its vast collection of mainly 1970s Australian art and will put the money into climate resilience programs.

  • Gabriella Coslovich

May 2021

Banksy print bought for $300 selling for over $100k

As another Smith & Singer specialist exits, one small-time collector is hoping for a tidy return from a print bought at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art store.

  • Gabriella Coslovich

April 2021

David Leggatt, left, solicitor for Alex Stanowitsch, with some of the art found to be basically worthless during his winning court case.

Guilty verdict in Melbourne fake art scam

One of the associates of “notorious” Melbourne art dealer Peter Gant has been found guilty of misleading or deceptive conduct in a failed investment scheme that used a cache of fake art as security.

  • Gabriella Coslovich
Alexander Stanowitsch with six of the fake paintings that were in the courtroom, and his lawyer David Leggatt. Pictured outside the Melbourne County Court. Picture by Wayne Taylor 30th March 2021. AFR

He said, ‘You should invest, I’ll help you out’

When a friend suggested an art investment scheme that returned 20 per cent a year, it seemed an ideal opportunity. But seven years later the claims, like the art, have failed to deliver.

  • Gabriella Coslovich

March 2021

Lucio dishes up 40 years of art morsels

For decades restaurateur Lucio Galletto shared a love of food, art and conviviality with some of Australia’s most famous artists. On Sunday he’s selling their gifts.

  • Gabriella Coslovich
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December 2019

Antony Gormley’s Small Yield sold for $549,000, including premium, on expectations of $350,000 to $450,000.

Magic millions pay off for art auctioneers

Million-dollar sales like John Brack’s Yellow Legs are increasingly keeping auction houses in clover.

  • Peter Fish

June 2019

Howard Arkley’s Deluxe Setting will be auctioned at Menzies on June 27 with expectations of $800,000 to $1.2 million. saleroom

Arkley interior set to kickstart auction season

A typically bright Howard Arkley painting of a living room is set to test the artist's record price when it kicks of the winter auction season at Menzies.

  • Peter Fish

May 2019

Sotheby's was hoping for $1 million to $1.2 million for Charles Blackman’s Dreaming Alice but it went unsold on the night.

Blackman's Dreaming Alice finds a buyer

A bargain hunter has managed to secure Charles Blackman’s Dreaming Alice after it was unsold at the big art auctions last month in Sydney.

  • Peter Fish

March 2019

Ian Fairweather’s Barbecue will be auctioned at Deutscher and Hackett with expectations between , $800,000 and $1.2 million.

'Museum quality’ Fairweather heads for $1m

A rare painting from Ian Fairweather will be one of the top lots at Deutscher and Hackett's April sale of Australian art.

  • Peter Fish
Sotheby's is hoping for $1 million to $1.2 million for Charles Blackman’s Dreaming Alice.

Alices go head to head in battle of the Blackmans

Sotheby's joins Deutscher and Hackett in offering a John Blackman with million-dollar expectations at April's auctions of Australian art.

  • Peter Fish

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/charles-blackman-2ed