IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN ART FROM THE SELWYN & RENATA LITTON COLLECTION

The digital catalogue for the upcoming Important Australian Art from the Selwyn & Renata Litton Collection auction at Smith & Singer is now available to view online, lots 1–13.

Among the highlights of the sale is Fred Williams’ remarkable Green Landscape (You Yangs) (1966) (lot 6, estimate $450,000–650,000, pictured above).

Since their creation in the 1960s, Williams’ You Yangs compositions have been acclaimed by critics, historians and collectors as representing a defining moment in the history and development of Australian art.  When they were initially shown in Williams’ solo exhibitions at Georges Gallery in Melbourne (April) and Rudy Komon Art Gallery in Sydney (May) in 1964, critics were unanimous in their praise that at times bordered on the reverential.

Created at a crucial moment in Williams’s career, Green Landscape (You Yangs) possesses the spareness and rhythm, elegance and poise, intelligence and pathos of his finest works; compositions that redefined – for his as well as successive generations – an appreciation for and an understanding of the local Australian landscape.

The exhibition will take place in Melbourne from Wednesday 19 April – Sunday 23 April, 10 am to 5 pm at 14-16 Collins Street, and in Sydney from Thursday 27 April – Tuesday 2 May, 10 am to 5 pm at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

The auction will be held at the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia, 111 Queen Street, Woollahra at 6.30 pm on 2 May 2023.