At the third annual photographic auction at Leonard Joel on Sunday 22nd July two hundred works by Australian, international and unknown artists went up for public auction.

22The sale was marked by the first time auction offerings of work by both Angus O’Callaghan and Bruno Benini. O’Callaghan’s images of Melbourne in the post-war period, both in color and black and white, attracted strong bidding and the highest price realized for the artist was for the colour work lot 581, titled Royal Arcade, which sold for $2200 plus buyer’s premium (BP).

Benini’s portraits of posed women in lavish dresses and often sumptuous surrounds provided an interesting, alternate view of Melbourne and its interiors. Numerous of his works sold above estimate with the highest price paid for lot 544, a portrait of Helen Homewood (illustrated), which realized $1500 plus BP.

Works by Sievers, Dupain, Stern and Strizic also graced the catalogue and sold well with the highest price for the auction jointly held by Sievers and Dupain for Advertisement for Elbeo Stockings, Contempora, Berlin 1938 and Flinders Street Station 1946 respectively, both realizing $3200 plus BP. A high sale rate and a well attended room confirmed the growing appetite for collectable photography in Australia and collector enthusiasm for artists “new” to the auction scene. We are now inviting entries for our next major photographic auction.