Sotheby’s Australia had a strong bump in its Spring auction with an A$8.9m total against a 75% sell-through rate. The top lot was a strong price for Arthur Streeton’s Sydney Harbour 1907 that made A$2m and the second highest price for the artist.

This Spring’s total (it is Spring in the Southern hemisphere) represents a 66% jump over last year’s total of A$5.3m for a similar sale and confirms the strong A$8.8m results from its last similar sale in May.

Three other artists set new records with the late Melbourne painter Howard Arkley’s “Mod Style, 1992” smashing the $400,000-500,000 to realise $646,600.

Brett Whiteley’s “The Robin and The Moon, 1981” sold for $1,098,000 well above the high estimate of $800,000, while Charles Blackman’s “Tryst, 1959” sold for $402,600 on estimates of $200,000-300,000. Albert Tucker’s “Explorer and Bird, 1968” achieved $597,800 on a top estimate of $350,000.

It looks like Australian art collectors are driving auction prices back to boom levels (Business Insider)