We asked the team at Leonard Joel to lift the curtain on the live auction: what sets the experience apart, the collections that stayed with them, and their best advice for new collectors.
CommunityInside the Leonard Joel Auction Room
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03 November 2025
Leonard Joel has been part of Melbourne’s story for more than a century. What makes the experience of a Leonard Joel auction so memorable?
Kim Clarke, Saleroom & Office Manager:
For more than a century, Leonard Joel has been where Melburnians gather to celebrate art, design and history. Our auctions are memorable because they combine theatre and community: the thrill of competitive bidding, the expertise of our specialists, and the palpable anticipation in the saleroom. It’s also the personal touches — clients are greeted by name, specialists share the story behind each piece, and people leave with something beautiful and a story to match. You’re entering a tradition that combines culture, commerce, technology and human connection like no other marketplace.
Leonard Joel manages significant estates and single-owner collections. What memorable dispersals stand out?
Chiara Curcio, Head of Decorative Arts, Design & Interiors:
Across 15 years, I’ve handled many extraordinary collections. Highlights include Furniture and Objects from the Estate of Ron Walker AC CBE (2023), The Hose Collection of Clocks (2018) and The Mark Lissauer Collection (2015). Different in scale and category, each reflected the life and habits of its owner. The most personally memorable for me was Lissauer. A Holocaust survivor, he began collecting in 1948 and ultimately documented around 35,000 objects — an astonishing achievement. Thousands now live in major private and museum collections worldwide, including the Rockefeller Museum, the British Museum and the Musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie (now part of the Louvre).
From your recent Fine Art auction, which works most captured collectors’ attention?
Wiebke Brix, Head of Art:
Two stood out. Brett Whiteley’s Midnight at Lavender Bay — a late, intimately scaled meditation on Sydney Harbour — distils his restless energy into a pared-back, poetic vision and offered a rare chance to acquire his most sought-after subject. Equally compelling was Charles Blackman’s Night’s Dream Celestial Mirror (c.1984) from his Celestial Series. Inspired by stargazing with his family and Barbara Warren Kenton’s Astrology: A Celestial Mirror, it layers deep blues, constellations, Blackman’s signature female figure and cat — dreamlike, lyrical and grounded in his fascination with the night sky.
Auctions can feel intimidating. What advice would you give first-time buyers or collectors?
Chiara Curcio:
Start by browsing sales online and in person — look, learn and enjoy the secondary market’s “bazaar of treasures.” Decide whether you’re buying for love or investment. If investing, research the artist or category and learn what a strong example looks like; it saves trial and error. And speak to a specialist — we’re always happy to discuss the merits of a piece you’re considering.
How is technology reshaping the live auction, and where is it heading?
Kim Clarke:
Technology removes barriers of geography and time, opening our saleroom to the world. Whether a bidder is in Broken Hill or New York, they can experience the energy of a Leonard Joel auction in real time, expanding opportunities for buyers and consignors. It doesn’t replace the theatre; it enhances it. The future blends both — the drama of the room with the accessibility of online — so everyone feels part of the moment.
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