arty farty moi?

A couple of nights ago I went to an art auction. Posh, no?

We had a reason. A friend of mine had a painting to sell through the Joel Fine Art Gallery. A James Haughton Forrest - Vessels at Low Tide 1918. I'd never been to an art auction before so we trundled along and it was fabulous fun!!!

High Street Armadale in Melbourne is famous for its upmarket shops and art houses. Sotheby's has a showroom there as do dozens of smaller galleries. Joel Fine Art Gallery is very schmick - all white walls, neutral carpet and chrome with makes the paintings lining the walls stand out beautifully.

At the door we were greeted with wine and a catalogue. The staff were very glam and glittery, and pretty much all of the patrons were dressed in black. Behind a partition at the back of the rasied auction room a large LCD TV displayed the painting for sale for those at the back. A few arty types mingled with others simply dripping in money. Hubby recognised the owner of the local basketball team. Needless to say we hid against a wall hoping to blend in. Picking our favourite pictures. Imagining where they might fit at home.

And the prices were phenomenal! Some paintings went for almost $200,000 dollars, many of them to one scruffy looking gent who we assumed owned a gallery or was bidding on behalf of others. Or maybe he's a billionaire looking to fill the walls of his new Brighton home. My hubby pointed a finger at something early on and we had to slap his hand down quick smart lest his bid of $42,000 stick. Why we bring him anywhere we're not exactly sure.

There was a Charles Blackman I loved which I thought would go beautifullly on the wall of the bub's room. Though at $40 odd thousand it was a tad out of our price bracket.

Unfortunately it was the modern art that was selling, the crowd obviously wasn't there for the classic stuff, even some big Australian names like Nolan and Blackman were passed in. So my friend's painting will likely return to the wall of her home until the tides turn.

But out of the night came one big find...the ocupations and setting for my next Romance!