Sotheby's star auctioneer is going, going, gone
The Age
Tuesday November 24, 2009
SOTHEBY'S star auctioneer Justin Miller ended his 22 years with the company last night by selling works from the collection he valued when he started with the auction house in 1988: the fabled Australian art collection of the late Dr Donald Sheumack, best known as Norman Lindsay's physician.Dr Sheumack's son David Sheumack, a Sydney environmental consultant, was at the Armadale auction rooms last night to watch 28 works he grew up with go under the hammer, including a lurid Norman Lindsay nude, The Interlude, that used to hang in his childhood bedroom. "I used to look at it and wonder, is this what sex is about?" Mr Sheumack said as it went under the hammer for $21,000.Frenzied bidding for the Sheumack collection kicked off what proved to be Sotheby's best sale in what has been a lousy year for the company. Just under $7.37 million worth of Australian art was auctioned off €” the company's best result since April 2008, when $8.76 million worth of work was sold."I think Mum and Dad would be happy," said a beaming David Sheumack, as several of his family's pieces sold for double the estimated sale price, including an Arthur Streeton, Melba's Country, that sold for $312,000.Drought-inspired Russell Drysdale painting Evening fetched the highest price of the night, $690,000, with proceeds going to the Taronga Zoo.The works sold for multimillionaire Basil Sellers didn't attract the same level of excitement from the packed auction room. Some of his collection was passed in, and his 1969 Fred Williams, Fire Burning on the Ridge, failed to reach original estimates of $700,000, selling for $540,000, including buyer's premium. "The only disappointment was the Williams," Mr Sellers said from his office in the south of France. "It's an excellent painting."But the signs last night of resurgence in the Australian art market come too late for Sotheby's International, which sold the Australian arm of its business off to rival auctioneer Tim Goodman in late September. Auctioneer Mr Miller is one of several key Sotheby's staff leaving the company after this week's sales. Today, Mr Goodman wields the hammer for the last time as auctioneer at his old company, Bonhams and Goodman.
© 2009 The Age