It was very exciting to be in the room when the hammer came down on a stunning Fred Williams’ (1927 – 1982) painting “Waterpond in a Landscape II” from the Ted Lustig Collection. With $ 1.4 million including buyer’s premium this was the second highest price for the artist – and more than three times the estimate. Rumour has it that the work was bought by a member of the Packer family.
There was equal anticipation for the sale of Charles Blackman’s “Alice’s Journey” from 1957 – it sold for $ 1.02 million including buyer’s premium, an Australian record for this artist.
And a painting by John Peter Russell (1858 – 1930) which had been languishing in a French farmhouse for the last hundred years also set a record for the artist. The work “Gros Temps a Belle-Ile” from 1904 sold for $ 810,000 including buyer’s premium. J.P. Russell is the only Australian artist considered to be part of the group of French impressionists, and counted Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh amongst his friends.
Two exquisite early works by Elioth Gruner (1862 – 1939) from a Perth collection were very popular: “Fisherman, Coogee Beach” achieved $ 78,000 including buyer’s premium, and “Bondi” sold for $ 72,000 including buyer’s premium.
A collection of 13 Brett Whiteley works on paper went considerably over their estimates to realise a total of $ 180,600 including buyer’s premium. These works were from a private London collection after coming from the estate of the late Arkie Whiteley, Brett’s daughter.
One of our clients was also thrilled with his purchase: an iconic photograph of Manly Beach by Max Dupain, presumably taken from the shark tower in 1938, for $ 8,400 including buyer’s premium. And two Max Dupain nudes sold for $ 3,600 and $ 3,360 including buyer’s premium which seemed very good buying to us and achievable for many more people….