In our 100th year as an auction house, it excites me how diverse and adventurous our marketplace, for both buyers and sellers, has become. The preserve of formal furniture and decorative arts such as silver and porcelain, as well as the traditional notions of how a collection should be formed or an interior decorated, no […]
The Milk Bar is an instantly recognisable and distinctive feature of suburban Australia. As the place where most children spent their pocket money and had their first experience as an independent consumer, milk bars provided an oasis of bright lights, strong advertising imagery and – most importantly – lollies, Chiko Rolls and a copy of […]
One of the most commonly asked questions from our buyers is ‘what is the best way to take care of my print?’ For the new collector, who wants to protect and preserve their new purchase, its an important question. Prints Specialist, Lucy Foster has compiled a few handy tips to help: FRAMING I always recommend […]
It’s rare to find a bag that fulfils your every need. That’s why we all have so many, right? We’ve selected our favourite Day and Night bags from our upcoming auction: DAY A reliable, yet good-looking, all-purpose shoulder bag – it must be large enough to carry our everyday essentials (wallet, sunglasses, lipstick, phone, laptop […]
We’re excited to be kicking off our Sydney calendar this year with The Collector’s Auction in March, which combines decorative arts and fine art. Leading the offering is a group of animal sculptures by national and international artists that provide compelling buying opportunities. Drawing on the 19th century animalier tradition of Antoine-Louis Barye, Zimbabwaen born […]
Following their return to Australia in the 1970s, Brett and Wendy Whiteley purchased Lavender Bay house – the artist’s own paradise. Brett took new inspiration from his living room window looking out upon the visual ecstasy of Lavender Bay, which not only culminated in his iconic 1974 exhibition at Australian Galleries, but also marked the […]
Star Sapphires are a rare variety of sapphire that exhibit a magical star phenomenon known as asterism – the appearance of a pattern or group of stars – under specific lighting. The six-rayed star is most visible when the stone is tilted and rotated, and will appear to move across the rounded surface of a […]
Once upon a time, some years ago when I joined the Decorative Arts department at Leonard Joel, I was given the arduous task of polishing silverware in preparation for cataloguing. Up until that point tarnished silverware and I had not crossed paths and I will never forget how the muscles in my hands and forearms […]
This auction presents an extraordinary opportunity to delve into the life of one our nation’s best-loved artists. We recently spoke to Mirka’s son, William, about what it was like to grow up with Mirka as a mother, and also, some of his favourite pieces in the auction. MIRKA IS ONE OF MELBOURNE’S (IF NOT, AUSTRALIA’S!) […]
In this year our 100th (and I won’t deny our collective pride in writing this!) Leonard Joel is well prepared to celebrate with our clients, our industry and our friends and we look forward to a year of events and conversations with you to mark this important milestone. And in this centenary issue it would […]