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Visual art

This Month

David Rowe cartoons for May 2025

David Rowe is a multiple Walkley award-winning cartoonist. He draws a daily political cartoon and one for the Chanticleer column.

A detail of Packing Room Prize winner Abdul Abdullah’s portrait of friend and fellow artists Jason Phu.

Art Gallery of NSW gives its ‘kiss of death’ award

The Packing Room Prize has been awarded ahead of next week’s Archibald, and there is speculation they could have the same winner for the first time.

April

Rumah (Home), 2013, by Yudi Sulistyo, is on consignment from The Mainland Collection. Measuring 180cm in height, it carries a pre-sale estimate of $7000 to $9000 in Leonard Joel’s Centum auction of contemporary art in Melbourne on May 5.

20 business types + a $1m super investment = an unusual art collective

Twenty top-tier business and legal names invested $1 million in art from Asia and the Pacific. Now they are selling.

David Rowe cartoons for April 2025

David Rowe is a multiple Walkley award-winning cartoonist. He draws a daily political cartoon and one for the Chanticleer column.

Uyghur artist Aniwar Mamat and former diplomat Geoff Raby, who curated Aniwar’s exhibition at Vermilion Art in Dawes Point, Sydney.

First Uyghur art show attempts to tell a different Chinese story

Former ambassador to China Geoff Raby has curated the work of Uyghur artist Aniwar Mamat to show a side of Chinese contemporary art not seen in Australia until now.

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Daniel Besen in the new wing of TarraWarra Museum of Art in Healesville, Victoria.

‘Quite emotional’: Rich Lister sees parents’ art legacy brought to life

The new Eva and Marc Besen Centre, says son Daniel, completes the circle on what his mum and dad wanted to achieve at their TarraWarra Museum.

 Opera stars Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis.

From Les Mis to an absurdist play: the shows you must see in May

Opera Australia is in a church and overlooked female modernists are on a top gallery’s wall. There is plenty around the country to enjoy.

Uli Sigg is offloading his Howard Arkley. Asking price, $1m-plus

One of the world’s biggest art collectors is selling a brash work by one of Australia’s most in-demand artists. It could add up to a record price.

Painter Zinaida Serebriakova’s 1909 self-portrait At the Dressing-Table.

What Russia can still teach us

From Tolstoy to Shostakovich, Russian culture helped shape the world. We must not lose it.

Brett Whiteley’s Untitled Red Painting III, 1961, in oil on board, was estimated at $450,000 to $650,000 at Menzies’ but sold for $950,000.

Why this early Whiteley went from £200 to $1.2m

Two paintings were brought from the young artist in 1961. Last week one sold for almost four times the other.

Glenn Morgan with Artwork on display at the Deutsche Bank.

Inside the art collections of our investment banks

Bulge-bracket finance firms are defying global trends and investing in fine artwork. How do their Australian offices look?

Carol Jerrems’ Vale Street, 1975, the image for which the late Australian photographer is best known, blew through its estimate to set a record for an Australian photograph.

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.

NGA director Nick Mitzevich with Edvard Munch’s Man With Horse (1918), which has been purchased for the gallery by Geoff Ainsworth.

Biggest gift completes ‘unfinished business’ at National Gallery

The Canberra institution finally has a work by one of the 20th century’s most influential painters, Edvard Munch of The Scream fame, thanks to philanthropist Geoff Ainsworth.

Former AGNSW director Michael Brand and his deputy turned replacement Maud Page, pictured together in 2017.

Senior staff depart Art Gallery of NSW amid tension at the top

The chief operating officer and chief of staff have both left the institution following a change of directors.

Cryptocurrencies are gaining traction among even the most conservative art auctioneers.

Why the art market has an eye for crypto

Everyone wins: buyers avoid taxes, and auction houses make money.

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Yayoi Kusama’s retrospective at the NGV is set to become the biggest-selling art show in Australian history.

NGV’s ‘Kusama’ to become biggest-selling art show

The 96-year-old Japanese woman, whom few Australians had heard of four months ago, is set to be responsible for the country’s most popular ticketed art exhibition ever.

March

Daddy Warbucks (Anthony Warlow) and Annie (Lucille Le Meledo) in rehearsal for John Frost’s 2025 production.

From Annie to Zimmer: the must-see shows to catch in April

Take a break from the hard-knock life with our monthly selection of the best live entertainment around the country.

Artist Khaled Sabsabi; Creative Australia chairman Robert Morgan (left) and CEO Adrian Collette.

‘Shouted into submission’: Monash Uni stops Sabsabi show

The cancelled artist’s gallerist has blasted Creative Australia for not having his client’s back.

Brett Whiteley’s Untitled Red Painting III, 1961, in oil on board, is estimated at $450,000 to $650,000 in Menzies’ Important Australian and International Art auction in Sydney on April 9.

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.

Chateau La Coste.

How to make the most of the south of France’s best art

From land art in the mountains to pop art on sun-soaked islands, here’s your guide to following the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur art route.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/visual-art-1msv