Smith & Singer

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Lawyers Weekly  |  Staff Reporter

The jewels of Minter Ellison’s contemporary art collection will go under the hammer next week as the firm prepares to move into a new office space.

Law firm set to strike it rich  |  James Cockington

Syndicated: The Age, The Brisbane Times, The Canberra Times, WA Today

Fourteen years after it assembled its collection of contemporary art, Minter Ellison is moving offices — and selling it all.

Property from the Minter Ellison Collection, Sydney

2 July 2015

Comprising 56 lots The Minter Ellison Collection, Sydney, is an impressive selection of Australian Photography and Contemporary Art, artists include Adam Cullen, Max Dupain, Bill Henson, Akio Makigawa, Rosemary Laing, Robert MacPherson, Tracey Moffatt, Patricia Piccinini and Imants Tillers.

When discussing the collection Geoffrey Smith, Chairman of Sotheby’s Australia commented ‘The Minter Ellison Collection, Sydney has been thoughtfully curated and provides a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire significant examples of contemporary Australian art.’ 

Most of the Sydney collection was assembled in 2001 when Minter Ellison moved into Aurora Place, Sydney.  Part of the collection guidelines were to include contemporary Australian artists at various points of their career.  Katrina Groshinski, Partner at Minter Ellison revealed ‘The Collection played an integral part in fostering the creative and contemporary environment we wanted to work in with our clients.  A move to our new offices, which are largely open plan, with fewer walls, required a reassessment of our collection.’

A highly significant sculpture from the collection is Akio Makigawa’s Wisdom of Water (1995) the genesis of inspiration being bottled drinking water.  In describing the work, Makigawa said ‘it’s an idea of a water container, with a cloud, moisture, condensing and going back into the container.’  Elaborating further ‘there was a spring in front of our studio [in Italy] and everyone came there to fill up…the water is deep in the mountain, an image of wisdom.’

Established in 1827, Minter Ellison is one of the Asia Pacific’s leading law firms.   

The auction will be held at the InterContinental Sydney, 117 Macquarie Street, Sydney on 21 July from 6 pm.

The Collection will be exhibited at 30, 32 & 38 Queen Street, Woollahra 16-21 July, 10 am to 5 pm.

>View e-Catalogue

Illustrated
AKIO MAKIGAWA 1948-1999
Wisdom of Water (1995)
Statuario marble and Carrara white marble
240 x 100 x 50 cm
Estimate $60,000-80,000
© The Estate of Akio Makigawa

Australian Financial Review  |  Jane O'Sullivan

It was last offered for sale in 1919 for 100 guineas, but Arthur Streeton's Point Piper is set to make considerably more when it goes under the hammer with Sotheby's Australia in Sydney on August 25.

Business Insider Australia  |  Simon Thomsen

The late, expatriate Australian painter Jeffrey Smart described his 1969 work Morning Practice, Baia, as “one of my best paintings ever”. It’s also a popular one, with his estate producing 499 giclée prints of the image following the artist’s death two years ago, aged 91.

The Daily Telegraph  |  Robyn Ironside

A SYDNEY hotel that reopened just six months ago has been the only one in Australia to make a prestigious list of the world’s top 100 hotels.

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