Jeffrey Smart’s painting Approaching Storm by Railway, 1955 (Lot 30) which smashed its estimate selling at $244,000 IBP at Shapiro’s 30 April sale.
Sotheby’s Australia and Shapiro Auctioneers both held auctions last week in hotels; Shapiro in the Eastern Suburb’s institution the Woollahra Hotel, while Sotheby’s chose the Sydney Intercontinental, an address fitting of the visit of Lord Mark Poltimore of Sotheby’s UK, who was guest auctioneer on the night.