Australia

A PICTURE discovered in a Suffolk village has sold for Aus$132,000 (£85,715) in Bonhams' saleroom in Sydney, Australia.

AUSTRALIAN dealers and auctioneers are joining forces to fight the current Artist’s Resale Right scheme introduced to the country seven months ago.

AFTER just one year at the helm of Sotheby’s Australia, Tim Goodman has retired as chairman and principal shareholder.

CONFIRMING their intentions in the Australian market, Bonhams have launched an Aboriginal art department in Sydney.

IT measures over 11ft (3.4m) wide and stands 11ft 6in (3.5m) high, was built in Melbourne and is carved over the entire surface with figure and details emblematic of the foundation and history of the state of Victoria.

THEODORE Bruce Auctions, based in Adelaide since the 19th century, have established a “mid-tier” saleroom in Sydney.

DEALERS Down Under have successfully fought off the recommendations of a government report that threatened to disrupt the status quo in the Australian art market.

THE Viennese mahogany commode, pictured here at the top, has undergone a remarkable transformation since it sold along with its companion pair at auction in 1993 as part of the Thurn and Taxis sale.

INVESTORS and artists in Australia are in uproar at proposals to ban self-managed pensions from putting their money in art.

BONHAMS have secured a major art collection that puts them squarely at the centre of the Australian auctions scene once more.

SYDNEY auction house Menzies Arts Brands recorded the highest price ever paid for an Australian artwork when Sidney Nolan's First Class Marksman 1946 sold to an anonymous phone bidder for Aus$4.5m (£2.9m) at their latest sale.

AUSTRALIA has reversed its previous government’s decision and introduced its own version of the Artist’s Resale Right.

IT’S all change among Australia’s leading auctioneers as Goodmans, linked to Bonhams since 2003, are to adopt the Sotheby’s brand instead.

Leonard Joel auctioneers of Melbourne, Australia, are appealing to vendors to consign art, antiques and jewellery to auction and donate the proceeds to the Victorian Disaster Appeal to help victims of the Victorian bushfires.

The Reserve Bank of Australia are to challenge eBay on their decision to make PayPal mandatory on all sales listings. The RBA says it will “shortly be holding discussions with PayPal [an eBay subsidiary] with a view to seeking the removal of these rules”.

EBAY Australia have decided to drop the case for PayPal exclusivity ahead of a decision on the matter fro the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

BONHAMS have expanded their Australian operations by buying Melbourne auction house Leonard Joel.

A BROAD range of antiques will be available at the University of Sydney Antique Fair on June 8 and 9.

Auctioneer unhappy about need to opt out at short notice

In the same way that Americans hold any material relating to the Pilgrim Fathers in the highest esteem, so anything associated with Australia’s earliest European settlers carries a huge premium for its domestic market.