Photographs revealing various interiors from his Retford Park home included in the catalogue of 54 exceptional artworks provide an indulgent glimpse at how Fairfax lived with his collection.
A beaming beach scene by Roy de Maistre estimated at $60,000-80,000 opens the sale (Lot 1 ). Originally purchased by Fairfax's mother Elizabeth 'Betty' Fairfax, The Beach, painted in 1924 at St Jean de Luz in France, is fresh to the market, with universal appeal and by a highly desirable artist.
Two interior scenes follow by fellow classic Modernist, Grace Cossington Smith. Though smaller, Sofa in the Corner, 1962 (Lot 2 ), est. $80,000-120,000, depicts the same corner and contents of Cossington Smith's sitting room as Sofa in the Room, 1960 which was sold by Sotheby's in 2001 for $179,250 IBP.
Similarly sized Still Life in the Window, 1959 (Lot 3 ) estimated at $70,000-90,000 has hung beside its unofficial companion piece in the Green Room at Retford Park since the early 1960s.
A rare work by Ralph Balson, Constructive Painting, 1953 (Lot 8 ) will set a new artist record if it reaches a hammer within the top range of its estimates of $120,000-160,000. The artist's current record was set by Constructive Painting, 1945 at a Christies auction in 1998 at $156,500 IBP.
This work has been in Fairfax's collection since he purchased it from Balson's Second Memorial Exhibition at Gallery A in 1968, and for many years hung in his city office.
An early and widely exhibited painting by John Olsen, The Bicycle Boys Rejoice, 1955 (Lot 7 ), has just returned from the recent Olsen retrospectives at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of NSW. Estimated at $70,000-90,000, a photograph next to the auction entry shows The Bicycle Boys Rejoice in Fairfax's sitting room at Retford Park.
The catalogue wrap around cover lot and carrying the highest estimate in the sale at $800,000-1,200,000, is Eugene von Guerard's superb Mr John King's Station, 1861 (Lot 10 ), is one of only two property portraits the artist painted in the Gippsland region of Victoria. The other, View of the Gippsland Alps from Bushy Park on the River Avon, 1861 sits in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
This painting was housed at Fairfax's Dorset house in the UK where it hung alongside other works by renowned Australian artists, including Russel Drysdale, Ian Fairweather and Sidney Nolan.
Also from Dorset and repatriated for this auction was Glenrowan, 1955 (Lot 18 ) from Sidney Nolan's second Kelly series. This work closely relates to The Glenrowan Siege, completed just a few months earlier and which is now held in the Kerry Stokes Collection in Perth.
Fairfax's long friendship with Jeffrey Smart saw him purchase many of the artist's works over the years. Miss Amhurst's First Visit to Rome, 1968-69 (Lot 20 ) was the one he has held for over five decades, and was hung at his house in Bilgola, in the northern beaches area in Sydney.
Further artists Fairfax particularly admired, and who are represented in the catalogue include Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder, Rupert Bunny, Justin O'Brien, Fred Williams, John Brack, Colin Lanceley and Margaret Preston.
The pre-auction expectations for the 54 lots from the Fairfax Estate are set at a conservative $4.7 to $6.7 million.
In a fitting end to the story of this universally esteemed gentleman, the proceeds of the sale will go towards a charitable foundation for causes Fairfax supported during his lifetime.
