LEONARD, issue 29, June 2014

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

Tel: +61 (0) 3 9826 4333

Tel: +61 (0) 2 9362 9045

Fax: +61 (0) 3 9826 4544

Fax: +61 (0) 3 9826 4544

Phone +61 (0) 3 8825 5611 Email guy.cairnduff@leonardjoel.com.au

Event Partner

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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

1

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

10

of catalogue auctions in Australia. Leon- of large and small estates. Our services are

THE UNUSUaL

12

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

13

THE PLaYFUL

14

Our specialists are now sourcing single items and collections for the following categories:

COLLECTaBLES

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aUSTRaLIaN aND INTERNaTIONaL aRT

THE EXTRavaGaNT

16

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

13

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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