Nor do any of the Australian paintings by William Dobell, Walter Withers and Arthur Streeton, so they are all being sold. The sale of Mr Rivkin's house will also boost Sotheby's bottom line this year. After following its New York owner's lead and moving into expensive real estate less than a decade ago, Sotheby's Australia has made auctioning property far more profitable than paintings. Internationally, however, Sotheby's International Realty does not contribute anything like this proportion to total turnover. But, since Australians seem more interested in houses than Heysens, more eager to buy property than Percevals, it is not surprising that almost the reverse is the case here.
Life is a cabaret . . .
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