Paintings, sculptures and works by Australian artists including Arthur Streeton, Brett Whiteley, Sidney Nolan, Margaret Olley, and Albert Namatjira were among 69 pieces sold at auction in Sydney fetching $8.96m.
At least four artworks broke price records at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, but perhaps the most anticipated, Arthur Streeton’s Sydney Harbour 1907, narrowly missed out, achieving the second highest price at auction for the artist at $2,074,000. The $2.52 record set at auction in 2012 by Streeton’s 1888 painting Settler’s Camp remains standing.
The 1.2m-wide oil on canvas, which depicts the view of Sydney harbour looking towards the city from Mosman, was painted by Streeton on his return to Australia after a decade in Europe. It had been expected to break the record.
The last time it changed hands was in 1999, when it went under the hammer for Christie’s Australia for $464,500.
In 1995, an early Streeton impressionist work, Golden Summer, Eaglemont, a key fetched $3.5m in a private sale to the National Gallery of Australia.
Namatjira’s Finke River Mission and Mount Hermannsburg sold for $122,000, exceeding the $100,000 reserve.
19th century Victorian artist Emma Minnie Boyd’s, A Lassie Yet, also received strong interest – eventually selling for $170,800, well above the $30-$50,000 pre-auction estimate.
A Sidney Nolan painting from his 1964 Ned Kelly series, which was on offer for between $800,000 and $1m, failed to sell despite high expectations.
The work was being offered for the first time by Sotheby’s Australia and had been part of Nolan’s personal collection until 1992.
