Smith & Singer

Smith & Singer In the News

Private Auction Announcement - Brett Whiteley

21 September 2023

Smith & Singer are honoured to present Brett Whiteley’s exceptional masterpiece Yellow 1975 for private auction at 5.00 pm, Tuesday 10 October 2023.

Included in Brett Whiteley’s solo exhibition at Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney, in 1975, the work immediately received rapturous reviews:

‘The River is the third theme he explores and from this comes perhaps the most beautiful painting in the show.  Titled Yellow, it is the image of a curving white river splitting the space of a yellow background punctuated by tall blue cypress trees.  In the foreground a pond plays host to a white-necked crane and a timid brown rabbit.  The painting is one of Whiteley’s most lyric and poetic works to date.’ (Sandra McGrath, ‘Whiteley’s Homage to Matisse’, The Australian, Sydney, 25 October 1975, p. 26)

Yellow was acquired by the present owners from its initial exhibition in 1975 and has remained hidden from public view for almost half a century.  Reproduced here for the first time in colour and in its full glory, the re-emergence of Yellow is a cause for celebration. 

We are particularly delighted to be entrusted with the sale of Yellow, a masterpiece in Brett Whiteley’s oeuvre and a key composition within the history and development of landscape painting in Australia.

To arrange a private viewing in Melbourne or Sydney please contact us on the details below.

 

 
EXPLORE ONLINE

 

 

For more information, please contact:

Geoffrey Smith
Chairman
+61 (0)418 889 656
[email protected]


  

Gary Singer
Chief Executive Officer & Director
+61 (0)418 337 788
[email protected]

Pictured top and above 

BRETT WHITELEY 1939-1992  
Yellow 1975  
oil on canvas  
208 x 190 cm
Estimate $2,500,000–3,500,000
© Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency, 2023

VIEW LOT

Auction Results - SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine

20 September 2023

 SIDNEY NOLAN Property formerly from the collection of  Lord McAlpine

Smith & Singer’s auction, SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine, achieved the rare distinction of a ‘white glove sale’ with all of the 42 paintings successfully sold on the night for a total of $1,422,409, more than doubling the presale low estimate.

Determined bidding from Australian and international clients in the saleroom, on telephones, and online resulted in an exceptional sold rate of 225.8% by value and 100% by volume, showing the depth of demand for one of Australia’s most highly revered and collected artists.

Results were led by stellar performances by significant examples from Nolan’s African, Bathers, Eliza Fraser, Gallipoli, Ned Kelly, Oedipus, and Silk Road series.

 

  VIEW RESULTS  

Pictured top 

Lot 7

SIDNEY NOLAN 1917-1992 
Crocodile 1963 
synthetic polymer paint on composition board 
152.5 x 122 cm 
Estimate $15,000–25,000
Sold for $92,500 
 

© The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved,
DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023
 

VIEW LOT

Sydney Exhibition Continues - SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine

18 September 2023

The exhibition will be on view in Sydney today, Monday 18 September from 10 am – 5 pm, and on Tuesday 19 September from 10 am – 2 pm, at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

This remarkable collection of 42 paintings by Australia’s most internationally celebrated and collected artist, spans Sidney Nolan’s highly productive and inventive career from 1957 to 1987.  Significant examples from Nolan’s Eliza Fraser, Ned Kelly, African, Bathers, Oedipus, Gallipoli, and Silk Road series are represented by large-scale compositions in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas and composition board that reveal the artist as the truly extraordinary innovator and trailblazer for which he is justly renowned.

All works in the sale carry the same modest estimate of $15,000–25,000 and represent exceptional buying.

The auction will be held at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra at 6.30 pm on 19 September 2023.

   

 
  

© The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved, DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023

Sydney Exhibition Continues - SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine

16 September 2023

 SIDNEY NOLAN Property formerly from the collection of  Lord McAlpine

The exhibition will be on view in Sydney from Saturday 16 September – Monday 18 September from 10 am – 5 pm, and on Tuesday 19 September from 10 am – 2 pm, at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

This remarkable collection of 42 paintings by Australia’s most internationally celebrated and collected artist, spans Sidney Nolan’s highly productive and inventive career from 1957 to 1987.  Significant examples from Nolan’s Eliza Fraser, Ned Kelly, African, Bathers, Oedipus, Gallipoli, and Silk Road series are represented by large-scale compositions in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas and composition board that reveal the artist as the truly extraordinary innovator and trailblazer for which he is justly renowned.

All works in the sale carry the same modest estimate of $15,000–25,000 and represent exceptional buying.

The auction will be held at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra at 6.30 pm on 19 September 2023.

   

 
  

© The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved, DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023

Invitation to consign - Important Australian Art

14 September 2023

IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN ART

Consign now to our forthcoming auction of Important Australian Art.

In August, Smith & Singer achieved a sale total in excess of $14.5 million (including buyer’s premium) that combined excellent sold rates of 121% (by value) and 85% (by volume) combined with outstanding performances against estimates.

Smith & Singer continued its market leadership in the sales of art at auction in Australia and has established 5 of the 10 highest prices in Australia this year to date, including the auction record for Australian sculpture.

Building on the resounding success of our auctions of fewer works of higher value combined with unparalleled in-house scholarship, our carefully curated November 2023 auction will include significant examples of historical, modern and contemporary Australian art.

To participate in this momentous sale, please contact our highly experienced specialists for a confidential appraisal.

You may also use our appraisal estimate form

  

For more information, please contact:

Geoffrey Smith
Chairman
+61 (0)418 889 656 
[email protected]

Emily Walker 
Administrator, Art 
+61 (0)3 9508 9900 
[email protected]

Gary Singer
Chief Executive Officer & Director
+61 (0)418 337 788 
[email protected] 

David Mackay  
Manager, Sydney Gallery, Marketing & Media   
+61 (0)2 9302 2402
[email protected]

 

Pictured above 

JOEL ELENBERG 1948-1980  
Mask 1 (1978)  
black Belgium marble  
55 cm high (including base)   
Estimate $350,000–450,000 
Sold for $1,156,250 (including buyer’s premium) 
on 23 August 2023

AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
AUCTION RECORD FOR AN AUSTRALIAN SCULPTURE
  
  

© The Estate of Joel Elenberg

Sydney Exhibition Opens - SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine

13 September 2023

 SIDNEY NOLAN Property formerly from the collection of  Lord McAlpine

The exhibition will be on view in Sydney from Thursday 14 September – Monday 18 September from 10 am – 5 pm, and on Tuesday 19 September from 10 am – 2 pm, at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

This remarkable collection of 42 paintings by Australia’s most internationally celebrated and collected artist, spans Sidney Nolan’s highly productive and inventive career from 1957 to 1987.  Significant examples from Nolan’s Eliza Fraser, Ned Kelly, African, Bathers, Oedipus, Gallipoli, and Silk Road series are represented by large-scale compositions in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas and composition board that reveal the artist as the truly extraordinary innovator and trailblazer for which he is justly renowned.

All works in the sale carry the same modest estimate of $15,000–25,000 and represent exceptional buying.

The auction will be held at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra at 6.30 pm on 19 September 2023.

   

EXPLORE FLIPBOOK CATALOGUE EXPLORE EXHIBITION ONLINE

  

For more information please contact:

Geoffrey Smith
Chairman
+61 (0)418 889 656 
[email protected]


Emily Walker 
Administrator, Art
+61 (0)3 9508 9900
[email protected]

Gary Singer 
Chief Executive Officer & Director
+61 (0)418 337 788 
[email protected]


David Mackay  
Manager, Sydney Gallery, Marketing & Media   
+61 (0)2 9302 2402 
[email protected] 

    
 
Pictured above

SIDNEY NOLAN 1917-1992
Elephant and White Cliffs (1963)  
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
122 x 152.5 cm  
Estimate $15,000–25,000
© The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved,
DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023

VIEW LOT

Auction Tonight - Important Jewels & Watches

5 September 2023

IMPORTANT JEWELS & WATCHES 

The Sydney exhibition will continue until 2 pm this afternoon at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

The auction will commence at 6.30 pm tonight at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.   Register to bid now.

The September sale features a dazzling array of diamonds, coloured diamonds and precious gemstones along with signed jewels by highly sought-after jewellers, including impressive designs by Cartier, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Paspaley, and Seaman Schepps, complemented by watches by Chopard, Cartier, Panerai, and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

A highlight of the collection is this stunning 18ct gold and pearl necklace, Bulgari (lot 64, estimate $22,000–32,000, pictured above).  

AUCTION IN SYDNEY
5 SEPTEMBER 2023 l 6.30 PM
SMITH & SINGER 
30 QUEEN STREET, WOOLLAHRA

 

EXPLORE FLIPBOOK CATALOGUE   EXPLORE SALE ONLINE

 

For more information, please contact: 

MELBOURNE

Rebecca Sheahan 
Specialist, Jewels & Watches  
+61 (0)3 9508 9900
[email protected]   

SYDNEY

Emma Finn  
Specialist, Jewels & Watches    
+61 (0)2 9302 2402  
[email protected]

Pictured top

Lot 64

18ct gold and pearl necklace, Bulgari

The articulated collar composed of polished gold stations supporting a fringe of 50 round cultured pearls measuring approximately 7 to 8mm, alternating with polished rondel spacers and completed by a concealed clasp, gross weight approximately 156 grams, inner circumference approximately 410mm, signed Bulgari, Italian maker's marks.
Accompanied by a Bulgari presentation case.
 
Estimate $22,000–32,000  

VIEW LOT

Melbourne Exhibition Opens - SIDNEY NOLAN: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine

5 September 2023

 SIDNEY NOLAN Property formerly from the collection of  Lord McAlpine

The exhibition will be on view in Melbourne from Wednesday 6 September – Sunday 10 September, 10 am to 5 pm, at 14-16 Collins Street.

This remarkable collection of 42 paintings by Australia’s most internationally celebrated and collected artist, spans Sidney Nolan’s highly productive and inventive career from 1957 to 1987.  Significant examples from Nolan’s Eliza Fraser, Ned Kelly, African, Bathers, Oedipus, Gallipoli, and Silk Road series are represented by large-scale compositions in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas and composition board that reveal the artist as the truly extraordinary innovator and trailblazer for which he is justly renowned.

All works in the sale carry the same modest estimate of $15,000–25,000 and represent exceptional buying.

Following Melbourne, the Sydney exhibition will take place from Thursday 14 September – Monday 18 September from 10 am – 5 pm, and on Tuesday 19 September from 10 am – 2 pm, at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra.

The auction will be held at Smith & Singer, 30 Queen Street, Woollahra at 6.30 pm on 19 September 2023.

   

EXPLORE FLIPBOOK CATALOGUE EXPLORE EXHIBITION ONLINE
  

For more information please contact:

Geoffrey Smith
Chairman
+61 (0)418 889 656 
[email protected]  


Emily Walker 
Administrator, Art
+61 (0)3 9508 9900
[email protected]

Gary Singer 
Chief Executive Officer & Director
+61 (0)418 337 788 
[email protected]


David Mackay  
Manager, Sydney Gallery, Marketing & Media   
+61 (0)2 9302 2402
[email protected] 

    
 
Pictured above

SIDNEY NOLAN 1917-1992
Ned Kelly (Cover Design) (1961) 
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
152.5 x 122 cm 
Estimate $15,000–25,000
© The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved, DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023

VIEW LOT

Important Australian Art for Private Sale - Sidney Nolan

4 September 2023

SIDNEY NOLAN

Smith & Singer are delighted to offer Sidney Nolan's Convict in Landscape 1962 for private sale.

Convict in Landscape represents an exceptional image within Nolan’s brilliant iconography from this crucial period that possess an intelligence, inventiveness and audaciousness that changed the course of Australian painting.  With these compositions Nolan transformed the genre of historical subjects from the retrograde to the avant garde.  Convict in Landscape exemplifies Nolan’s ability to synthesise the mythic and the vernacular, a confident nineteenth century past with a devastated post-war twentieth century present, and through that synthesis to identify and acknowledge an underlying restlessness and uncertainty apparent in modern Australia’s identity.

Convict in Landscape bears a distinguished history to match its high quality.  The work formed part of the personal collection of Cynthia Nolan and was subsequently sold from her estate to Lord McAlpine of West Green, who over the course of three decades formed the most comprehensive collection of paintings by Sidney Nolan.

 

For more information, please contact:

Geoffrey Smith
Chairman
+61 (0)418 889 656 
[email protected]


Emily Walker 
Administrator, Art 
+61 (0)3 9508 9900 
[email protected]

Gary Singer 
Chief Executive Officer & Director 
+61 (0)418 337 788  
[email protected] 


David Mackay  
Manager, Sydney Gallery, Marketing & Media   
+61 (0)2 9302 2402   
[email protected]


  
 
  
Pictured above 

SIDNEY NOLAN 1917-1992  
Convict in Landscape 1962    
synthetic polymer paint on composition board 
122.2 x 91.4 cm   
For private sale
©  The Sidney Nolan Trust. All rights reserved, DACS/Copyright Agency, 2023

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