Appropriation involves the intentional repurposing of existing and often iconic imagery to create new meaning. Within Art History, appropriation has long been used as an artistic tool. From Andy Warhol’s soup cans and Barbara Kruger’s slogans, to Marcel Duchamp’s “L.H.O.O.Q.” and Yasumasa Morimura’s recreation of “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, artists have often turned to appropriation to highlight their […]
Salvador Dalí Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí’s commercially minded approach to art, lifelong interest in costume, and mission to subvert social norms led him to become hugely influential in the world of fashion. With the ideological mission of always creating something truly new, Dalí, through his many partnerships with designers such as Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, […]
This Autumn edition of Leonard is a feast of storytelling and imagery that speaks to an extraordinary round of forthcoming auctions, spanning both the old and new collecting categories. From 1-6 April in Melbourne, we have our always highly anticipated Design Icons series, three auctions that unashamedly push the collecting boundaries. I encourage you to pay a […]
After Leonard Joel first set and then subsequently broke its three auction records for the four most valuable auction sales of diamonds in Australia, I find myself no longer fielding emails of congratulations but questions from clients about what one needs to consider and how one should go about securing a significant diamond, and perhaps […]
When Beyoncé appeared alongside her husband, Jay-Z, in the Tiffany & Co. About Love campaign last year, she became only the fourth woman in history to wear the stunning 128.54 carat ‘Tiffany Diamond’. Her appearance ignited an abundance of new interest in the sunny jewel. Acquired by Tiffany & Co. founder Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1877, the […]
It’s a hard ask having to choose a Cartier wristwatch; rarely is one luxury maison responsible for so many classic designs. The brand’s relentless creativity can be summed up by Louis Cartier’s favourite saying: “Never copy, only create.” The wristwatches on the short list here perfectly embody the Cartier ethos and are the ones to […]
Zeng Fanzhi’s portraits are globally celebrated for his use of expressionist representational techniques that document a prolific period of social and economic development in Chinese history. With an artistic career stretching across 30 years, Zeng Fanzhi has continuously sought to infuse western theories, calligraphy and social realism developing a body of work with symbolically rich […]
Strong works of art are a solitary transport. By an uncanny imaginative chemistry, they sweep the viewer into an alluring moody painted world. Take Jeffrey Smart’s E.U.R. II. So little is shown, yet somehow it suggests you are within an ultra-modern city. The sky is overcast. It is a somewhat grey afternoon. All is so […]
It is a great privilege to present an art collection such as the one so thoughtfully curated by the National Australia Bank’s Art Committee in the 1970s. These artworks, covering the traditional periods through to the modern and contemporary, as well as nine extraordinary tapestries, had largely been hidden from the public for almost fifty […]
This unusual Australian metalwork teapot has aroused plenty of discussion and puzzlement over its unknown maker and unique design. Before it goes under the hammer in our forthcoming Decorative Arts and Asian Works of Art auction on 7 March, I thought it best to take my questions to Daniel McOwan, an authority in Australian craft […]