The auction was bustling, with nearly 100 attendees, and online buyers were notably active, securing 15% of the offerings, including the sought-after Guy Grey-Smith piece, Gascoyne. All of the record-breaking works will remain in Western Australia.
John Longstaff’s attractive portrait of Eve Grey, Australia’s first international film star and winner of Australia’s inaugural beauty competition, “The Most Beautiful Woman in New South Wales”, encouraged spirited bidding and was eventually sold for $27,600, finding a new home interstate. The pre-sale estimate was $15,000 – $22,000.
Other significant pieces sold during the evening included Arthur Boyd’s “Shoalhaven Landscape with Sulphur Crested Cockatoo” for $211,600, Howard Arkley’s Psychedelic for $184,000, and a piece by William Delafield Cook Jr. for $120,750. Guy Grey-Smith’s second work of the evening fetched $46,000. All prices include the buyer’s premium.