As Joy Chambers-Grundy describes it: “Reg and I have collected fine art in various forms for more than thirty years. We now have too many paintings, many more than we can ever hang. We hate storing them - they should be seen, appreciated and enjoyed.” The man who bought Australian popular culture to the world via exports including ‘Prisoner’ and arguably his most famous and enduring creation, ‘Neighbours’, also took his passion for Australian visual art abroad. Significant works by Australian masters including Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, John Brack, Ian Fairweather and Rosalie Gascoigne graced the walls of the Grundy homes overseas.
The collection spans two centuries of Australian art and includes many of the most celebrated Australian artists. As described by Bonhams Australia’s Chairman, Mark Fraser: “by focusing on a core group of artists, the collection has assumed a depth and strength that is rarely seen, and includes works of national and international significance.”
One of the key artworks that will appear at Bonhams in June is Arthur Boyd’s The Mourners, 1945. It last appeared on the market in July 1992 and sold for $126,000 (including buyer’s premium) at Christie’s liquidation sale of then-bankrupt Alan Bond’s personal assets, the Dallhold Collection.
The Grundy Collection also features an iconic early work by John Brack, The Jockey and his Wife, 1953. It captures the distinctive hollow-cheeked and sunken-eyed visage of a man of the track, a familiar face from Brack’s well-known etchings, Jockeys Returning, 1956, and Jockey and Trainer, 1956.
Another important work that will be offered for sale is Eugene Von Guerard’s The Farm of Mr Perry on the Yarra, 1855. When the Austrian-born artist arrived in Victoria, he was commissioned to paint two works; the first, a painting of Tower Hill, was commissioned by James Dawson of Kangatong Station. The artist was then engaged by George Perry to paint his farm and home, Fulham Grange, located on the banks of the Yarra at Alphington. As one of the first two works commissioned upon Von Guerard’s arrival in Victoria, The Farm of Mr Perry represents an important signpost in the development of Colonial art in Australia.
The Grundy Collection will be auctioned by Bonhams Australia on Wednesday, 26 June 2013 at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay, Sydney. Previews will be held in London, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne prior to the preview and auction in Sydney.
