Making its debut as Sotheby’s Australia, the inaugural sale of Australian art featured another Sydney Nolan painting of Ned Kelly. This one didn’t make the A$5.4m that First-Class Marksman made last month but still it was a good showing in a weak sale:

At Sotheby’s Australia’s first auction for the year, the small Nolan Kelly fetched $520,000, amounting to a total of $624,000 including the 20 per per cent buyer’s premium.[…]

The night’s cover lot, Arthur Streeton’s Coogee Bay 1907 fetched $625,000 – that is, $750,000 including buyer’s premium. […]

A significant number of paintings sold for their reserve, prompting Sotheby’s new owner, Tim Goodman, to repeatedly congratulate buyers on their good-value purchases.

Ned Kelly is Right Up Sotheby’s Arthur Streeton (The Australian)