Issue TWENTYNINE/ JUNE 2014
MELBOURNE / SYDNEY
Celebrating 5 years of new auction thinking
Leonard is published 10 times a year by Leonard Joel. If you have any questions regarding Leonard please contact 03 9826 4333
MAY WE INTRODUCE OURSELVES Whether you have a single item, a focused collection or a complete house contents Leonard Joel has a team of specialists that can help you identify, value and market your property with a genuine focus on very tailored and personalised selling solutions. Robert Williams of our Sydney office, a specialist valuer in his own right, can also arrange meetings with our specialists either at our rooms in Woollahra or your home or office.
leonardjoel.com.au
Cover John Albrecht Managing Director & National Head of Collections Leonard Joel Melbourne 333 Malvern Road South Yarra VIC 3141
Leonard Joel Specialists
NATIONAL HEAD OF collections
Jewellery & Pre–Owned Luxury
Art
SYDNEY REPRESENTATIVE
John Albrecht, Managing Director
John D’Agata, National Head of Jewellery
Sophie Ullin, Head of Art
Robert Williams, Sydney
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5619
& Sydney Office
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5609
Phone + 61 (0) 2 9362 9045
Email john.albrecht@leonardjoel.com.au
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5605
Email sophie.ullin@leonardjoel.com.au
Email robert.williams@leonardjoel.com.au
Email john.dagata@leonardjoel.com.au
Classic furniture & Objects
MODERN DESIGN & Collectables
VINTAGE interiors Auction
VINTAGE interiors Auction
single owner COLLECTIONS
Giles Moon, Head of Modern Design
Anna Grassham, Furniture & Interiors Manager
Chiara Curcio, Objects & Books
Guy Cairnduff, Head of Classic Furniture & Objects
Phone + 61(0) 3 8825 5635
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5614
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5604
& Head of The Specialist Collector
Email giles.moon@leonardjoel.com.au
Email anna.grassham@leonardjoel.com.au
Email chiara.curcio@leonardjoel.com.au
ASIAN WORKS OF ART
ACCOUNTS
ValuationS AND DIGITAL MEDIA
Photography
Designer
Liza Hallam, Specialist Asian Works of Art
Susan Saunders, Head of Finance & Administration
Monique Le Grand
Rick Merrie
Maria Rossi
Phone +61 (0) 3 8825 5626
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5603
Phone + 61 (0) 3 8825 5620
Email liza.hallam@leonardjoel.com.au
Email susan.saunders@leonardjoel.com.au
Email monique.legrand@leonardjoel.com.au
MELBOURNE
SYDNEY
CONNECT WITH US
Primary Salerooms
By Appointment
333 Malvern Road,
39 Queen Street,
South Yarra, Victoria 3141
Woollahra, New South Wales 2025
Australia
Australia
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FOReWord
NEW AUCTION THINKING
This month I celebrate, as both Managing by my team and I 5 years ago. New culture, auctions and selling events are all ways in of all the Australian auctioneers that enables Director and Proprietor, 5 years at the helm new categories, new auction formats and which Leonard Joel has expanded its auction buyers to bid on every lot, at every auction of Leonard Joel and I want to sincerely new technology have been the hallmark of offering for you the collector, the decorator and in real-time. Not only is this a wonderful thank every buyer and seller that has dealt our new auction thinking.
or the lover of beautiful things.
convenience for buyers it also ensures sellers
with us over this time for their custom and Once upon a time auction houses dictated And crucially, we recognise at Leonard Joel receive a global exposure and marketing for support as we moved Leonard Joel from the tastes and the way things should be sold. that the centuries old process of buying at their collections, great and small. traditional auction house it once was to the No longer! Today, a visit to Leonard Joel on auction – view, bid, collect – can for many be In this edition of LEONARD, our 29th, we grand contemporary one it now is.
a Wednesday (whether in person or online), far too time-consuming in a very busy world. look back on the exquisite, the unusual,
This year, our 95th year of operation, marks will reveal a world of fresh auction and Auctions are fun, viewings are fun but do we the bold, the playful, the extravagant, the many milestones in the company’s redirection selling themes for both the buyer and the really need to visit an auction house three important and the historical items and and complete reinvigoration. To begin with, seller - themes that reflect new tastes and times for one transaction? Well, only if you collections that have found their way to our commitment to enhancing every client’s contemporary buying habits. Photography, want to!
Leonard Joel in the last five years.
experience at Leonard Joel remains as strong contemporary art, street art, collectable For those who don’t have that sort of time we today as it did when this promise was made luxury items, modern design, petit thematic now boast the most advanced digital platform
John Albrecht MANAGING DIRECTOR & NATIONAL HEAD OF COLLECTIONS
LEONARD
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JUNE
cONTeNTs
THINKING OF sELLING?
JunE contEnts CaLENDaR
3
NEWS
4
THE EXQUISITE
6
FINE JEWELLERY
7
THE IMPORTaNT
8
uation and auction process. We can provide collections. We provide fiduciaries (lawyers,
FINE aRT
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no less than thirteen categories of auction to with a complete suite of services to manage
THE BOLD
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of catalogue auctions in Australia. Leon- of large and small estates. Our services are
THE UNUSUaL
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market valuations for the entire spectrum and dispersal of fine art, antiques, jewel-
FROM SINGLE ITEMS TO COLLECTIONS
TaILORED TRUST aND ESTaTE SERvICES
If you have a single item or collection you Leonard Joel has a long and distinguished wish to sell, the Leonard Joel team of spe- history of assisting both trust companies and cialists can guide you through the entire val- executors with the dispersal of important you with experts across all collecting fields, trust officers, accountants and executors) select from and the most expansive calendar accurately and successfully the dispersal ard Joel specialists conduct insurance and specially designed to aid in the appraisal of clients - private collectors, corporations, lery, objet d’art, collectables, books & manu-
CLaSSIC FURNITURE, OBJECTS &
museums, fiduciaries and government enti- scripts and general household contents. ties are advised by our valuers and special-
COLLECTaBLES
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THE PLaYFUL
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Our specialists are now sourcing single items and collections for the following categories:
COLLECTaBLES
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aUSTRaLIaN aND INTERNaTIONaL aRT
THE EXTRavaGaNT
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FINE JEWELLERY aND WRISTWaTCHES
PRE-OWNED LUXURY
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PRE-OWNED LUXURY
THE HISTORICaL
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MODERN DESIGN
19
MURRaY WaLKER
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vaULT
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TRADITIONAL, PERSIAN & CONTEMPORARY RUG SALE
ists on a daily basis.
CLaSSIC OBJECTS aND FURNITURE MODERN DESIGN SINGLE OWNER COLLECTIONS COLLECTaBLE TOYS aND SPORTING MEMORaBILIa MILITaRIa BOOKS aND MaNUSCRIPTS
AucTION THursDAY 21 juLY AT 2PM
WHERE CaN I FIND LEONaRD? If you have enjoyed Leonard and would like to stay up to date with our auctions and events you can collect a copy from our South Yarra and Woollahra offices at the start of every month. But don’t delay as copies run out quickly!
Leonard Joel is a proud supporter of Arts Project Australia
JUNE
2
leonarD
Calendar
Forthcoming Auctions The Vintage Interiors Auction Every Thursday Furniture & Interiors – 10am Jewellery & Wristwatches – 10.30am Art – 11.30am Books – 12pm Objects & Collectables – 12pm
BID LIVE ONLINE
333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Classic Furniture, Objects & Collectables Auction Sunday 1st June 2014 – 12pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Beatles & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Thursday 5th June 2014 – 12pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Pre-Owned Luxury Auction Thursday 5th June 2014 – 12pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
The Fine Jewellery Auction Monday 16th June 2014 – 6.30pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
The Fine Art Auction Tuesday 17th June 2014 – 6.30pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
The Modern Design Auction Thursday 26th June 2014 – 12pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Traditional, Persian & Contemporary Rug Auction Thursday 21st July 2014 – 2pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Specialist Print Auction Thursday 7th August 2014 – 11.30pm 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Arts Project Auction Monday 6th October 2014 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
CHARITY AUCTION
Aboriginal Art & Artefacts Auction Thursday 16th October 2014 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria
Classic Furniture, Objects & Collectables Auction Sunday 1 June 2014 at 12pm 259 A GILT BRONZE AND IVORY FIGURE OF A MEDIEVAL FEMALE LUTE PLAYER LATE 19TH CENTURY mounted on a marble base, 43cm high $6,000 - 8,000
LEONARD
Auctions and viewing times are subject to change.
3
JUNE
NEWS
AUSTRALIANA
CONTEMPORARY ART More than half a million dollars of art and sculpture changed hands at this auction, reaffirming Leonard Joel’s commitment to the development of a successful secondary market for contemporary art.
On the 15th May Leonard Joel offered a curated collection of Australiana as part of its thematic auction calendar. The sale realised in excess of $54,000 (IBP) and of the 135 lot auction a rare bronze sculpture by William Wallace Anderson (illustrated) more than tripled its estimate to sell for $7,930 (IBP).
MICHAEL ZAVROS (born 1974) Springfall White 2006 acrylic on canvas 150 x 110cm
Sold $24,400 IBP
On May 19th Leonard Joel offered an important collection of contemporary art from a single owner. The catalogue marked both a subtle shift in format, with an emphasis on illustrating more lots at a larger scale, but it also indicated LARGE BRONZE SCULPTURE OF AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER, “LONDON LEAVE”, BY WILLIAM WALLACE ANDERSON, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
and represented a conscious shift by Sophie Ullin, Head of Art, to more closely embrace art of our time. The catalogue front cover, Shaun Gladwell’s Approach to Mundi Mundi: Silverton Road 2007 achieved the second highest price at
Sold $7,930 IBP
auction for a photograph by the artist and Rex Dupain’s Bondi Sleep set a new record for the artist. The sale witnessed Tim McMonagle’s The Crack of Dawn, equalise his auction record and Sally Smart’s Cross Cutting (Fox Sisters Series) fetched a top 3 price for the artist. A number of other artists also achieved top 10 results including Michael Zavros (illustrated) and Stephen Bush with Dale Frank not too far behind.
Enquiries Sophie Ullin | Head of Art (03) 8825 5609 sophie.ullin@leonardjoel.com.au
JUNE
4
LEONARD
NEWS
MOVE OVER MILAN...
FEATH E RS T O N C OLLE C T I O N
AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE EXHIBITION Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne 11 – 13 July 2014
AUCTION THURSDAY 26 JUNE AT 12Pm
Leonard Joel is proud to announce that it has secured for sale 10 lots of Featherston furniture from a private Melbourne collection.
FRIDAY 13, SATURDAY 14, SUNDAY 15, JUNE 2014 - 10am to 5pm Thursday 26 June. HISTORIC COMO HOUSE BALLROOM These pieces will be offered in the Modern Design Sale
FRIDAY Cnr of Williams 14, Rd & Lechlade Ave South Yarra (Tram 8, Stop No 34, Williams Road) FRIDAY 13, 13, SATURDAY SATURDAY 14, GRANT FEATHERSTON SUNDAY to 5pm Grant Featherston 67 (1922-1995) SUNDAY 15, 15, JUNE JUNE 2014 2014 -- A 10am 10am to Expo 5pm Mark II Talking Chair A B210 ARMCHAIR, STAMPED HISTORIC BALLROOM HISTORIC COMO COMO HOUSE HOUSE$12,000-15,000 BALLROOM
Cnr of Williams Rd & Lechlade Ave South Yarra (Tram 8, Stop No 34, Williams Road) Cnr of Williams Rd & Lechlade Ave South Yarra (Tram 8, Stop No 34, Williams Road)
New Vin tatransform The City of Melbourne will into and features important key pieces from ge S tock the lifestyle capital of AccAustralia this July Federation until present day. The lineage esso es as the inaugural AustralianriInternational of Australian design and manufacturing
Enquiries Giles Moon Head of Modern Design & Collectables (03) 8825 5635 / 0439 493 038 giles.moon@leonardjoel.com.au
$25 $10
Furniture Exhibition comes to town.
New New Vin Vintage tage Sto Stocck Acc k Accesso essories ries
will be presented with influential works
Reminiscent of the international furniture from Aristoc Industries, Tessa, Parker and salons this world class event will showcase Featherston interiors including a prototype
$$225 5 $$110 0
the very best of Australian furniture design Mark 1 Talking Chair. Featured designers and manufacturing trends – Then. Now. include Next.
classics
such
as
Meadmore,
Lowen, Rosando Brothers through to
HAWKEYE VINTAGE DESIGNER SALE
Comprising of three distinct elements, the contemporaries like Charles Wilson and
13 - 15 June 2014 - 10am to 5pm Historic Como House Ballroom
nominated pieces.
Co r n e r o f W i l l i am s R d & Le c hl ade Av e Sout h Yar r a
renowned furniture brands, will highlight Purchase your EARLY BIRD TICKETS
Enquiries Media Alison Waters The Waters Group (03) 9820 1723 alison@the watersgroup.com.au
Exhibition will feature a series of showcase Adam Goodrum. rooms comprising of modern Australian The Modern Icons Gallery is a must see for furnishings, the Modern Icons Gallery and lovers of beautifully designed and crafted a show stopping precinct filled with 2014 furniture with an eye for and passion for Australian
LEONARD
Industry
Awards the works of past masters and the narrative of our nation’s design and manufacturing
The Modern Icons Gallery, a collection heritage. of furniture pieces from Australia’s most Melways ref 58 G2 the undeniable beauty and value of for the Australian International Furniture Australian design and manufacturing that is Exhibition at internationally recognised.
www.australianfurniture.org.au
Media Alison The Waters Group Curated by Waters the Australian Furniture Phone 9820 Association’s Scott Lewis and 1723 presented Don’t miss this spectacle of Australian email: alison@thewatersgroup.com.au
10% of Sales to National Trust
in conjunction with Leonard Joel Auction furniture for every room in the world! House, the showcase spans over 100 years
Melways ref 58 G2 Melways ref 58 G2
10% of Sales to National Trust 10% of Sales to National Trust
Furniture
Media Alison Waters The Waters Group Media Alison Waters The Waters Group Phone 9820 1723 Phone 9820 1723 email: alison@thewatersgroup.com.au email: alison@thewatersgroup.com.au
5
JUNE
THE EXQUISITE
LINDSAY BERNARD HALL (1859-1935) Andante circa 1887-1888 oil on canvas signed ‘B. Hall’ lower left 30.5 x 69cm
Sold $18,910 IBP
The Exquisite This extraordinarily rare antique natural pearl sold for an Australian auction record.
Sold $146,000 (IBP)
AN ART NOUVEAU STERLING SILVER AND SILVER GILT COFFEE POT MOUNTED WITH BAROQUE PEARLS AND JADE MAKER’S MARK TIFFANY & CO, CIRCA 1900
Sold $15,800 IBP
An impressive yellow diamond ring
Sold $91,500 IBP
JUNE
6
LEONARD
FINE JEWELLERY
113 AN IMPRESSIVE SOLITAIRE DIAMOND RING $50,000-60,000
59 AN ART DECO NATURAL PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE $4,000-6,000
152 A FANCY INTENSE YELLOW DIAMOND RING $60,000-70,000
FINE JEWELLERY PREVIEW 116 A FRENCH SNUFF BOX BY CHRISTIAN PETSCHLER $8,000-12,000
The Fine Jewellery Auction Monday 16 June 2014, 6.30pm
LEONARD
Preview in Sydney 39 Queen Street, Woollahra Friday 6 June 10am-4pm Saturday 7 June 10am-4pm Sunday 8 June 10am-4pm
Preview in Melbourne Wednesday 11 June 2013 9am - 8pm Thursday 12 June 2013 10am - 4pm Friday 13 June 2013 10am - 4pm Saturday 14 June 2013 10am - 5pm Sunday 15 June 2013 10am - 5pm
7
Enquiries John D’Agata Head of Jewellery (03) 8825 5605 / 0408 355 339 john.dagata@leonardjoel.com.au
JUNE
THE IMPORTANT
Highly Important group of medals awarded to WW1 flying ace and QANTAS co-founder Lt. Paul Joseph McGinness
Sold $252,000 IBP
A FINE LLOYD’S PATRIOTIC FUND SWORD OF 50 POUND VALUE TO LIEUTENANT CHARLES MENZIES OF H.M.S. MINERVA / 1806*
Sold $91,500 IBP
The IMPORTANT THE HIGHLY IMPORTANT GALLIPOLI D.S.O. GROUP OF SIX AND DIARY OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT RANKINE 14 BN. A.I.F.
Sold $36,600 IBP
JUNE
8
LEONARD
FINE ART
FINE ART
93 JASON BENJAMIN (born 1971) There’s So Much to Find (Il Cucco, Sicily) 2004-2005 oil on canvas, 183 x 245cm $24,000-34,000
18 ALBERT TUCKER (1914-1999) Parrot, Bush Scene oil on board, 51 x 71.5cm $22,000-26,000
64 CHARLES BLACKMAN (born 1928) Blue Blossom oil on board, 49 x 74cm $28,000-32,000
©reproduced with the permission of Barbara Tucker
© reproduced with the permission of VISCOPY Ltd
The Fine Art Auction Tuesday 17 June 2014, 6.30pm
LEONARD
Enquiries Sophie Ullin Head of Art (03) 8825 5609 / 0413 912 307 sophie.ullin@leonardjoel.com.au
Preview Wednesday 11 June 2014 9am - 8pm Thursday 12 June 2014 10am - 4pm Friday 13 June 2014 10am - 4pm Saturday 14 June 2014 10am - 5pm Sunday 15 June 2014 10am - 5pm
9
JUNE
THE BOLD
GRANT FEATHERSON (1922-1995) A B230H CONTOUR CHAIR, designed 1953
Sold $10,370 IBP
JUNE
10
LEONARD
THE BOLD
POUL HENNINGSEN (1894-1967) AN ARTICHOKE LIGHT, DESIGNED 1958 manufactured by Louis Poulsen, Denmark, c.1990
Sold $13,200 IBP
Set of 26 collaborative panels ‘Freeze Muthastika’ 2004 acrylic and enamel on coreflute panels 184 x 122cm (largest approx) 2.7 high x 15.8m wide total
Sold $68,320 IBP
LEONARD
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JUNE
THE UNUSUAL
The UNUSUAL Boris Lovet-Lorski (1894-1973) God Unknown Marble, ebonised wood
Sold $21,960 IBP
A rare Victorian sterling silver mounted novelty claret jug in the form of a walrus
Sold $23,180 IBP
JUNE
12
LEONARD
CLASSIC FURNITURE, OBJECTS & Collectables
Classic Furniture, Objects & COLLECTABLES
29 A GILT BRONZE FIGURATIVE MANTEL CLOCK 51cm long $1,500 - 2,600
250 A MONUMENTAL SEVRES STYLE GILT METAL MOUNTED PORCELAIN FLOOR VASE AND COVER 19TH CENTURY, SIGNED A. COTTINET 140cm high $20,000 - 30,000
49 A FRENCH PROVINCIAL STYLE WROUGHT IRON BASED PARQUETRY TOP CENTRE TABLE 136cm diameter x 73.5cm high $2,000 - 3,000
Classic Furniture, Objects & Collectables Auction Sunday 1 June 2014, 12pm
LEONARD
Preview Wednesday 28th May 9am-8pm Thursday 29th May 10am-4pm Friday 30th May 10am-4pm Saturday 31st May 10am-5pm
Enquiries Guy Cairnduff Head of Classic Furniture & Objects (03) 8825 5611 / 0407 828 137 guy.cairnduff@leonardjoel.com.au
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Giles Moon Head of Modern Design & Collectables (03) 8825 5635 / 0439 493 038 giles.moon@leonardjoel.com.au
JUNE
THE PLAYFUL
A RARE RENOU MUSICAL AUTOMATON OF LITTLE GIRL WITH PUPPET THEATRE
Sold $6,210 IBP
The PLAYFUL Mr Atomic Robot made by Yonezawa, circa 1962
Sold $4,800 IBP
A trade box of six pre-war Dinky 280/1 Delivery Vans
Sold $14,400 IBP
JUNE
14
LEONARD
COLLECTABLES
COLLECTABLES 119 A WOLVERINE BATTLE SUIT INCLUDING ‘ADAMANTIUM’ CLAWS (ILLUSTRATED ABOVE) WORN BY HUGH JACKMAN IN THE MOVIE ‘X-MEN 2’ $40,000-60,000 The proceeds from this sale of this lot will be donated to the Fight Cancer Foundation. The foundation is a registered charity dedicated to providing care, treatment and support for people with leukaemia and other forms of cancer and funds research into better treatment methods, early detection tests and to find a cure for leukaemia and other cancers. 5 THE BEATLES WAVING WHILST DISEMBARKING AT ADELAIDE AIRPORT $600-800
13 THE BEATLES DURING PRESS CONFERENCE II $600-800
Beatles & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Thursday 5 June 2014, 12pm
LEONARD
Preview in Melbourne Wednesday 31st May 9am-8pm Wednesday 4th June 9am-8pm
Enquiries Giles Moon Head of Modern Design & Collectables (03) 8825 5635 / 0439 493 038 giles.moon@leonardjoel.com.au
15
JUNE
THE EXTRAVAGANT
The EXTRAVAGANT A Collection of Louis Vuitton
Sold $13,200 IBP
AN OVAL GO LD TRINKET BOX
Sold $9,150 IBP
A FINE QUALITY VICTORIAN STERLING SILVER AND CRYSTAL CENTRE PIECE MAKER’S MARK WALTER AND JOHN BARNARD, LONDON CIRCA 1878
Sold $10,370 IBP
JUNE
16
LEONARD
PRE-OWNED LUXURY
PREOWNED LUXURY 10 iconic items from fashion houses Roberta & Courrèges which were a part of socialite Mary Lipshut’s collection are up for auction in our Pre-Owned Luxury Auction 5 June at 12pm.
A KELLY POCHETTE BAG $10,000-15,000 A TWO PIECE SUIT BY COURRèGES CIRCA 1965
Pre-Owned Luxury Auction Thursday 5 June 2014, 12pm
LEONARD
Preview in Melbourne Wednesday 4th June 9am-8pm
Enquiries John D’Agata National Head of Jewellery & Sydney Office (03) 8825 5605 / 0408 355 339 john.dagata@leonardjoel.com.au
17
JUNE
THE HISTORICAL
The HISTORICAL THE DAVIS FAMILY PHAR LAP PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM
Sold $91,500 IBP
ROBERT PRENZEL (1866-1941) A RARE CARVED LONG CASE CLOCK, CIRCA 1910 REPUTEDLY PART OF THE ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS OF GLENORMISTON, WESTERN DISTRICT, VICTORIA THE MOVEMENT STAMPED F. ZIEGELER, MELBOURNE
Sold $39,040 IBP
A FRENCH PORCELAIN TEAPOT LATE 19TH CENTURY
Sold $15,600 IBP
JUNE
18
LEONARD
MODERN DESIGN
MODERN DESIGN The 26 June sale will feature a blend of both vintage and contemporary furniture, lighting
AUCTION THURSDAY 26 JUNE AT 12Pm
and other functional pieces by Australian and international designers from the 1950s to the 1990s. The sale has a strong representation of mid-century Australian and New Zealand design including more than a dozen lots of Grant Featherston furniture from two private Melbourne collections as well as work by Vintage Verner Panton Tongue Chair $2,200-2,500
Schulim Krimper, Dario Zoureff and Douglas Snelling. Contemporary work by industrial designer Marc Newson is also featured, ranging from a red Felt chair ($3,000-4,000) to an unusual black edition Sci-Fi vase ($1,000-1,500) International pieces include a rare Borge Mogensen dining table and chairs (estimate $4,400-6,400) and a tongue chair by Verner Panton (estimate $2,200-2,500)
Featherston Town and Country Chair $2,500-4,500
Featherston R160 Armchair and Ottoman $4,000-6,000
Charles Pollock Executive Chair by Knoll (one of a pair) $1,400-1,800
Modern Design Auction Thursday 26 June 2014 at 12pm
LEONARD
Preview Saturday 21 June 2014 10am - 5pm Sunday 22 June 2014 10am - 5pm Monday 23 June 2014 10am - 4pm Tuesday 24 June 2014 10am - 4pm Wednesday 25 June 2014 9am - 8pm
Enquiries Giles Moon Head of Modern Design & Collectables (03) 8825 5635 / 0439 493 038 giles.moon@leonardjoel.com.au
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JUNE
MURRAY WALKER
MURRAY WALKER: THE RECLAIMER WHAT WAS O N C E Y O UR S IS NOW MINE Wit and parody transform found objects discarded wooden pallets previously used into potent images of Australia’s art and for the transportation of canvas. A repository cultural landscape in Murray Walker’s The for his findings, this idiosyncratic, modernReclaimer.
day cabinet of curiosities traverses the weird,
Entering Murray Walker’s studio can feel naïve, dark and satirical, prompting us to see like stumbling upon a wondrous trove of even the most inane objects anew. lost and looted treasure. Pieces of washed Whether painted, welded and reshaped, up driftwood, squashed metal cans and bat- used as a substitute for the painter’s canvas, tered saucepan lids are among the countless or left without mediation as a Duchampian canvases, rare books and antique printing readymade, each work in the exhibition is press that pack the enormous yet already- derived from an act of reclaiming. Varied in overflowing space. At first ostensible refuse, style and tenor – painting and collage are these forgotten goods assume a new guise offset by graffiti, stencil and folk craft techunder Walker’s discerning eye; a slice of niques – collectively the works highlight rusty metal becomes a sole fish on a grill, Walker’s humanist sympathy with outsider while the hollowed trunk of a shapely tree art, his method of working instinctually, and transforms into Venus de Milo.
an overarching pursuit of free expression.
Over a career spanning more than fifty years, Yet their visual incongruity often poses Murray Walker has worked variously as a disconcerting
juxtapositions;
beautifully
painter, printmaker, collagist and bricoleur, refined works of art are positioned alongside addressing themes as diverse as Australian garish and kitsch objects. As Leslie van der material culture, folklore, politics, outsider Sluys aptly noted in 1995, in Walker’s work art and the canon of art history. Not affiliating there is a “constant, elusive shifting between himself with any particular stylistic move- high sophistication and apparent ingenuousment, but at times embracing and rejecting ness, between childlike naivety and often them all, he has been free of commercial brilliantly witty parody”.2 Taking delight in restraint and the bounds of academic tradi- such paradox and satire, Walker challenges tion. Even now at age 77, his works convey an us to revise our own values in art, to see idiosyncratic irreverence, humour and irony beauty in the neglected and the mundane, that reflect a rebellious spirit and enduring and to liberate our imaginations from the youth.
creative hold of a conservative past.
With equal freedom and joie de vivre, Walker has explored the art of found objects since Laura Lantieri the early 1980s. From the auction room, to May 2014 rural Victoria and the streets of Melbourne and Berlin, he retrieves, rescues and plun- Chapman & Bailey Art Space, 350 Johnston ders materials from everyday life, uncover- Street, Abbotsford ing unique pictorial qualities in detritus that Until 9 June others leave behind. Through the eyes of an www.chapmanbailey.com.au anthropologist as well as an artist,1 he wittily reimages his objects through the prism of Australia’s art and cultural history. His new exhibition at Chapman & Bailey Art Space, The Reclaimer, focuses on his continuing exploration of making art from the basis of lived experience. As its centrepiece, Walker has constructed a ‘Museum of
1 His work as a cultural anthropologist includes writing two books, Pioneer Crafts of Early Australia (1978, Macmillan Publishing), and Making Do: memories of Australia’s back country people (1982, Penguin Books). He also curated a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1979, entitled Colonial Crafts of Victoria: Early Settlement to 1921. 2 Leslie van der Sluys, catalogue text to Anthropaedia: A Survey Exhibition 1983-95, Meridian Gallery, 1995.
the Lost and Found’, a great pavilion-cumsanctum he dreamt up after stumbling upon
JUNE
20
LEONARD
VAULT
Daniel Boyd in his Sydney studio Photo: Nikki To
NEW ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE
DANIEL BOYD PARADISE LOST Daniel Boyd’s paintings make manifest an erased history. By Dan Rule Simple interwoven patterns mark two of the paintings from Daniel Boyd’s 2013 series New Hebrides. They are stark and unadorned and beautiful in their unfussy way. The only real sense of detail beyond the motifs is in Boyd’s erasure of it – his now well-known treatment of the canvas, in which he affixes a sea of pointillist glue dots, or “lenses” as he puts it, to the surface and blackens all that remains. Though similar in their looping, interlocked curves, the two patterns are tellingly different; they are part of the same semiotic code, but they speak of distinct things. The paintings depict sand drawings from Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, the homeland of Boyd’s great grandfather. The 31-year-old cannot decipher their visual language on his own. The information is not something he has been privy to, but rather something he has lost. As we sit in Boyd’s studio – a 19th century sandstone shed that adjoins his home, high up on a hill in Marrickville – he laughs, quietly, wryly, at his means of decoding. “It was via Google,” he says. “It’s a sand drawing that everyone on Pentecost Island has to know how to do before they can pass to the afterlife – like their passage to the afterlife or to paradise. “I could have not painted the work and waited until I learnt that design in a legitimate way. But I really wanted to show people that
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design and I wanted people to know that it came from Flickr or whatever – some anthropologist’s photograph – and that it might be some kind of variation on a real sand drawing.” Boyd’s great grandfather, like many of his generation in the Pacific, was a victim of Queensland’s sugarcane trade. Between 1863 and 1904, more than 50,000 islanders were lured or captured by ‘traders’ and transported to work in plantations under brutal conditions. At best, islanders were paid 80 per cent less than their European counterparts. At worst, they weren’t paid at all. “Even if the paintings are not the exact design of the drawings, it’s still all part of the history because that’s how I’m engaging with my ancestry,” continues Boyd of the works, gazing out the open studio roller door and onto the street, which is shaded by the canopy of a Moreton Bay fig. “Because of that slave trade, there’s a disconnection to that cultural inheritance as well.” The pair of paintings offers a telling insight into the New Hebrides series – which originally showed at Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley9 in April 2013 and works from which showed as part of Future Primitive at Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne – and Boyd’s practice more widely. At the crux of his art is an exploration of notions of heritage, erasure and interpretation. But like the artist himself, there’s a quietness – a contemplative inflection – to his paintings that steers them away from a steadfast or one-dimensional critique. Though rooted in history and politics, they don’t feel that way to the eye. Read the full article in Issue 6 of Vault Magazine, Out Now
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VAULT ISSUE 6 OUT NOW ERWIN WURM, TALA MADANI, DANIEL BOYD, DAN PERJOVSCHI, WAYNE WHITE, FIXXED, CRAIG & KARL, KENZO & MORE
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