Contact me

stephen@stephennallART.com

0411 666 488

P.O. Box 193
Cambewarra
NSW 2540
Australia

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Art consultation

The role of art consultant assumes a high level of expertise. My experience and expertise are:

My 10 years as a director of Dickerson Gallery in Melbourne have given me an in-depth understanding of  the industry which is, by its very nature, both  unique and completely unregulated. I have also developed an understanding of the artists’  creative process in the context of art theory and practice.

With a thorough knowledge of Australian art and artists I can assure clients that purchases are made by them with confidence and an aesthetic understanding of the art work in the context of art history.

I am able to provide advice regarding the collection of Australian artworks, both indigenous and non-indigenous, and provide expert legal and strategic advice on handling problematic artworks. Authentications and valuations can also be provided or procured.

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Artists represented

I personally represent a number of artists for exhibition and sales outside Australia.

Available stock

I also hold stock for sale. A list of available stock available for sale will be posted on this website in the near future.

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Fakes and forgeries

I have been aware for sometime that the visual arts industry has needed a “blow torch to the belly” in order that positive changes occur. When I first joined the ranks of art market professionals 10 years ago, it was quite apparent that no-one wanted to talk about the existence of fakes and forgeries. Although they were commonplace, it just wasn’t discussed. Recently, the proliferation of expensive problematic artworks has become one of the issues of greatest concern, at least in the secondary market. The market is constantly beset with rumour and innuendo which undermines the confidence of art patrons. Unless the secondary market deals more robustly with the problem, there will be further auction house closures.

Notwithstanding the position I have publicly, for the destruction of fakes and the support for victims of fraud, I still have some detractors. However, arising from the the work I have done as Chair of the Forgeries Focus Group of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association I have a significant level of support from influential art market professionals around the country, respected academics and other authentication experts.

I believe that the visual arts market should support the development of an industry-based system that will check, if not eliminate the majority of faking and forging of art in Australia, and assist victims of art fraud to achieve successful criminal prosecutions. This needs to be done urgently as there are on the market today major paintings that have questionable or non-existent provenance and are of questionable authenticity.

What will come next in this industry, that is so attractive to criminals, will be unforeseen by most of us. But I predict that it is the appearance of high quality fake paintings in the Australian visual art market from overseas, unless tangible measures to change the criminal laws in favour of artists and victims are developed. I will continue my efforts to see the introduction of such laws.

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Ecological planning

In the history of mankind, the need for ecologically sustainable living has never been urgent more than today. It is an indictment of the housing industry in Australia that only six separate commercially available housing products are environmentally sustainable.

Since completing a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning in 1993 I have maintained an abiding professional interest in the practical application of sustainable development principles. At the statutory planning, or theoretical input level, the principles are well entrenched. They do not translate well, however, in the practical world of housing construction and infrastructure development in Australia.

As a consultant in this challenging field, I will provide professional services to clients who are dedicated to the principles of ecological sustainable development and are prepared to embrace innovation and creativity in the planning and development process.

I am currently engaged to provide ongoing services to clients in NSW, Australia for the lodgement of an application for a Development Approval of approximately 500 dwellings.

Turpentine Park, Cambewarra, New South Wales, a potential residential development. I am giving advice on how it should be handled.

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English language instruction

Throughout my professional career I have taught students, staff and university undergraduates by invitation. Although I have not taught full time, I am extremely comfortable in this role and have enjoyed the successes that have resulted from each teaching experience. I strongly believe this is because I bring to the teaching role all the passion, patience and innovation that I have developed over many years as a lawyer, father and student.

In May 2008 I undertook a foundation course in Teaching English to Students of Other Languages. This provided me with the skills and techniques necessary to teach English language classes to students whose first language is not English.

Teaching sessions are available by private arrangement in:

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Fees

Fees vary according to the particular service being provided.

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My raison d’être

A ten year journey

In the last 10 years as a professional in the visual art market in Melbourne, I have achieved a certain notoriety as an uncompromising person of integrity. My experiences have been a personal journey of tantalising extremes. On the one hand a journey of the spirit and an opening to the world of creativity and on the other a window into the lowest and base motivations of humans.

As a lawyer of 20 years, I enjoyed being able to take legal action on my clients behalf to redress an injustice. Such is the nature of legal disputation.

An unregulated industry

However, the unregulated nature of the visual arts industry has challenged me in ways I could never have imagined. As it is, there is virtually no protection for new art buyers and would be collectors against the fraud that is so often practiced upon them by the most subtle and gross means. At one (benign) extreme, art that has no redeeming quality is sold with false claims of inherent value and promises of extra-ordinary financial gain. At the other, more malicious, extreme is the fraudster who possesses all the trappings of respectability and propriety and who knowingly sells fake art works.

As an art market professional, I am passionate about the advancement of artists and enduring works of art. As a lawyer, I am also a passionate advocate for honest brokering of artwork transactions based upon sound provenance. he instigation of a landmark Supreme Court case resulting in the destruction of fake Dickerson and Blackman artworks has turned the spotlight on an industry that has thus far revelled in a lack of regulation. While I do not advocate industry-wide regulation, I do see buyer education and criminal law reform as concomitant with a healthy vibrant visual art market.

Role as an arts educator

Today, as an art market professional, I have seen my role as an arts educator develop, whether it is describing the aesthetic significance of the work, the most appropriate strategy to adopt in the collection of a work, or the purpose and importance of provenance.

The cultural views and the benefits derived by myself and my clients in that exchange are the things that I am passionate about today.

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Resumé

Academic qualifications

Awards and publications

Lecturing

Employment history

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Ecological planning

I have a strong parallel interest in ecological planning. If you want to explore it, follow this link:

Stephen Nall, Ecological Planner

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