IMPORTANT JEWELS & WATCHES 

Financial Review  |  Elizabeth Fortescue

Wealthy art collectors have plenty of works to splash their money on in Smith & Singer’s auction of Important Australian and International Art, whose catalogue went online this week.

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.

IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN &
INTERNATIONAL ART

The digital catalogue for the upcoming Important Australian & International Art auction at Smith & Singer is now available to view online.

Among the highlights of the sale is Brett Whiteley’s magnificent The Paddock - Early Morning 1979 (lot 35, estimate $2,000,000–3,000,000, pictured above).

Brett Whiteley is widely and appropriately celebrated as one of Australia’s great cultural identities: both a charismatic artist pop star and a phenomenally gifted draughtsman and painter.  Versatile and expansive, his oeuvre encompasses a wide range of media and subjects – in 1978, the year before The Paddock – Early Morning was completed, Whiteley became the first and only artist ever to win all three of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ prestigious painting prizes; the Archibald (portraiture), the Wynne (landscape) and the Sulman (subject/genre).

In 1979 Whiteley stayed in a small cottage on the outskirts of Oberon, New South Wales, and created his most significant body of works devoted to the district, his focus being on a single paddock.  With its reductive and predominant palette of pale yellow hues, with touches of deeper yellows and blues, The Paddock – Early Morning is one of the most lyrical, elegant and eloquent on the theme that pulsates with an energy and radiance that, like Van Gogh, presents a landscape that seems alive, vital and quivering.  It is a scene that is both physical and metaphysical, real and imagined.  Saturated and bathed in a golden light, the canvas catapults the viewer to a heightened state of reality.  It is a subject known and experienced by Whiteley.  It is Whiteley making Van Gogh his own.

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.

Financial Review  |  Elizabeth Fortescue

Smith & Singer has unveiled a painting it believes will sell for between $1 million and $2 million at its May 2 auction in Sydney.

IMPORTANT JEWELS & WATCHES

Consign now to our next auction of Important Jewels & Watches, that will take place in Sydney on 9 May 2023.

Smith & Singer ended the year on a spectacular note with the final auction of 2022 achieving outstanding results for vendors of Important Jewels & Watches, with 88% of lots selling by volume to realise an auction total of $2,144,150, over 129% by value.  Large diamonds, coloured gemstones and pieces by international and Australian jewellery houses, including Bulgari, Cartier, Canturi and Paspaley, performed exceptionally well.  A highlight was a spectacular 18ct white gold, aquamarine, diamond and sapphire ‘Aqualina’ necklace, Stefano Canturi for Canturi, 2018 (estimate $80,000–120,000, sold for $130,000, pictured above).

Smith & Singer offer unique and unparalleled access to local and international collectors.  Contact our specialists now for a confidential appraisal.

You may also use our appraisal estimate form.

IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN &
INTERNATIONAL ART

Consign now to Smith & Singer’s forthcoming auction of Important Australian & International Art.

Building on the resounding success of our auctions of fewer works of higher value that combined excellent sold rates and performances against estimates, our carefully curated May 2023 auction will include significant examples of historical, modern and contemporary Australian art.

A number of exceptional works are already consigned, including John Olsen's spectacular Life on the Edge of the Pond 2003 (estimate $250,000–350,000, pictured above) – a superb example of the artist’s long fascination with and commitment to the iconography of inland Australia and in particular the lakes, rivers, dams and ponds of this unique and remarkable region. 

With its joyous and pulsating central life-force that radiates fecundity, Life on the Edge of the Pond represents a celebratory ode to the natural elements.  It is a tour de force of gestural mark-making from an Australian elder of European descent that provides a summation of Olsen’s unique vision and invention that has redefined our notion of seeing and feeling the Australian landscape.

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

You may also use our appraisal estimate form. 

IMPORTANT JEWELS & WATCHES

Consign now to our next auction of Important Jewels & Watches, that will take place in Sydney on 9 May 2023.

Smith & Singer ended the year on a spectacular note with the final auction of 2022 achieving outstanding results for vendors of Important Jewels & Watches, with 88% of lots selling by volume to realise an auction total of $2,144,150, over 129% by value.  Large diamonds, coloured gemstones and pieces by international and Australian jewellery houses, including Bulgari, Cartier, Canturi and Paspaley, performed exceptionally well.  A highlight was a magnificent 18ct gold, gem-set and diamond ‘Lucinda Colourburst’ necklace, Stefano Canturi for Canturi, 2015 (estimate $60,000–80,000, sold for $100,000, pictured above).

Smith & Singer offer unique and unparalleled access to local and international collectors.  Contact our specialists now for a confidential appraisal.

You may also use our appraisal estimate form.

IMPORTANT AUSTRALIAN &
INTERNATIONAL ART

Consign now to Smith & Singer’s forthcoming auction of Important Australian & International Art.

Building on the resounding success of our auctions of fewer works of higher value that combined excellent sold rates and performances against estimates, our carefully curated May 2023 auction will include significant examples of historical, modern and contemporary Australian art.

A number of exceptional works are already consigned, including Emily Kngwarreye's magnificent Alhalkere (1993) (estimate $60,000–80,000, pictured above) – a shimmering and luminous composition from one of Australia’s most renowned and internationally celebrated artists.

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

You may also use our  appraisal estimate form. 

IMPORTANT JEWELS & WATCHES

Consign now to our next auction of Important Jewels & Watches, that will take place in Sydney on 9 May 2023.

Smith & Singer ended the year on a spectacular note with the final auction of 2022 achieving outstanding results for vendors of Important Jewels & Watches, with 88% of lots selling by volume to realise an auction total of $2,144,150, over 129% by value.  Large diamonds, coloured gemstones and pieces by international and Australian jewellery houses, including Bulgari, Cartier, Canturi and Paspaley, performed exceptionally well.

Watches by leading international brands also performed strongly in 2022, a highlight was this spectacular Patek Philippe 18ct gold Celestial ref 5102J-001 automatic astronomical wristwatch (estimate $120,000–180,000, sold for $206,250, pictured above).

Smith & Singer offer unique and unparalleled access to local and international collectors.  Contact our specialists now for a confidential appraisal.

You may also use our appraisal estimate form.