A consignment story: Lot 1
After a few minutes on the phone with the vendor it sounded like something special. Within an hour, Damian and I were standing in the owner's house looking at this gem of a painting which had been out of sight for a generation.
This recently rediscovered 1929 painting by Margaret Preston had belonged to soldier, poet, journalist Leon Gellert. Through Gellert's newspaper columns Damian pieced together an amazing story centred on this little picture. The story lead us from Adelaide to Gallipoli, Malta to Mosman, it covers life, love, marriage, tragedy and renewal.
The journey has been a terrific one for all of us not least a very happy vendor. The thought of taking that little picture from a kitchen under renovation in Paddington and placing it with a major public gallery is very satisfying and enjoyable, and exactly the sort of thing that I hoped to do when I joined Deutscher and Hackett.
Consigned with a conservative auction estimate of $40,000 - 60,000, the painting sold for $156,000 (including buyer's premium).
Henry Mulholland
Senior Art Specialist, Sydney
top: MARGARET PRESTON, For a Little Girl, 1929
right: Henry Mulholland