News & Video
Largest Single Work Ever Made by Cressida Campbell to Lead Series of Single-Lot Private Auction
17 April 2020
A Shared Vision
11 April 2020Wish Magazine, The Australian | David Meagher
Earlier this year, on a hot and steamy Sydney day, cosseted within the cool, hushed walls of the country’s newest fine art auction house in the well-heeled suburb of Woollahra were 25 exceptional works by the Australian artist Brett Whiteley. The paintings and sculptures had been gathered from various private collectors and many had not been on public display since they were acquired from the artist decades ago. It was one of the greatest assemblages of significant paintings by Whiteley to ever hit the market – prices for these works would be destined to break records for the artist. But there was a catch: there was no planned auction; the works are not actually for sale. That was never the intention of this particular auction house’s Whiteley exhibition.
The Photography of Carol Jerrems Boasts Australia's Highest-Priced Photo – In Pictures
27 February 2020The Guardian | Staff Writer
Carol Jerrems was a Melbourne-based photographer who died in 1980, at just 30 years old. Last November her work rocked the art world when a print of Vale Street (1975) sold for $122,000 ($1,00,000 hammer price) at a Sotheby’s Australia (now operating as Smith & Singer) auction. In her short and intense career she focused on figurative compositions that were intensely personal and informative of a life lived in Melbourne in the 70s.
Back in The Spotlight – The Most Valuable Australian Photo Ever Sold
22 February 2020Sydney Morning Herald | Nick Miller
Take a stab at what would be the most valuable Australian photograph ever sold. A Bill Henson? Max Dupain’s Sunbaker? As of November last year it is Vale Street, by Melburnian Carol Jerrems, taken in St Kilda in 1975. A print sold for $122,000 ($100,000 hammer price) at a Sotheby’s Australia auction – more than 10 times the previous record for the artist, and more than double the pre-auction estimate of $30,000–50,000.
ICYMI: The Week's Top News in the Arts
21 February 2020Arts Hub | Visual Arts Writer
Artists do their bit for bushfires, Opera Australia to present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,iconic street art festival returns to Benalla, plus more arts news.
Smith & Singer Presents a Major Exhibition Celebrating one of Australia’s Most Influential Artists
17 February 2020The Most Comprehensive & Fully Documented Commercial Exhibition of Carol Jerrems’ Work Ever Held
4 February 2020
Over the coming months, Smith & Singer – formerly Sotheby’s Australia – will host the most comprehensive and fully documented commercial exhibition of Carol Jerrems’ work ever held. Carol Jerrems: Portrait of a Decade will be presented in Smith & Singer’s Melbourne premises from 27 February – 20 March 2020, before touring to our Sydney galleries from 26 March – 17 April 2020. (455.00 KB)
Sotheby's All Finished In Australia But Auction House Far From Done
18 December 2019The Age | Meaghan Wilson Anastasios
International auction house Sotheby’s will cease to exist in Australia after nearly 50 years of operation when the married couple who run the business drop the famous name for their own. Following months of speculation, power couple Geoffrey Smith and Gary Singer confirmed they will relaunch their auction house at the same Melbourne and Sydney offices under the name Smith & Singer from January 1.