Last night Bonhams’ auctioned the collection of art patron John Fairlie Cuningham, described as the Art Gallery of NSW largest benefactor. The result was $1.1 million – a figure that will be gifted to the gallery for future acquisitions.
Formerly a Sydney stockbroker, Cuningham, who died in 2015, left 60% of his estate, or around $15 million, to the AGNSW Foundation in 2003. It is the largest bequest ever made to the gallery. Of that estate, there was a group of 39 paintings. Last night they were auctioned to complete that extraordinary gift.
