SYDNEY.- Australia’s first curated fine art auction went off with a bang last night, with strong prices achieved and an artist’s record broken at Bonhams’ Sydney sale.

The saleroom was buzzing with bidders on the phone, internet and in-house as the sale made $3.89 million including buyers premium, with 85 percent sold by lot and 110 percent sold by value.

A record-breaking price was achieved for John Wardell Power’s Basket of Fruit, c.1936, which was recently discovered in a flea-market in The Netherlands and repatriated to Australia by Bonhams. It fetched $170,800 IBP, more than triple the artist’s previous auction record.

Standout lots from the curated portion of the sale – brought to market by respected art adviser John Cruthers – included Fred Williams’ Gum Trees in Landscape II, 1966, which fetched $366,000 IBP, Grace Cossington Smith’s Blue Glass, 1927 which sold for $256,200 IBP, and her Lili Kraus at the Town Hall, 1946, which quadrupled its low estimate to make $207,400 IBP.

Bonhams’ chairman Mark Fraser said he was thrilled with auction result and pleased that collectors had embraced the innovative new approach to the secondary market.

“The curated auction has allowed us to present some more academically-minded works in a coherent and engaging way to collectors who may have not encountered some of these artists and styles before,” Mr Fraser said.

“Artists such as Dick Watkins, David Aspden and Trevor Nickolls all achieved strong results, complementing the good results achieved for bigger-name artists such as Fred Williams, Jeffrey Smart and Ian Fairweather.”