Paddington's Wagner Gallery listed for November auction

Art dealer Shirley Wagner is selling her longtime Paddington gallery terrace for November 23 auction.

Regarded as one of the matriarchs of the Australian art scene, she has fostered and managed the careers of many great artists since the 1960s.

The 39 Gurner Street gallery was established in 1978 after a 14 year stint as the Barefoot Art Gallery, Avalon Beach.

Bart Doff at Laing & Simmons Double Bay has the trophy corner terrace offering. It last sold at $85,000 in 1977.

Through the years Shirley has represented big-time artists including Arthur Boyd, Sir Sidney Nolan and Charles Blackman, as well as bringing many great international artists to Sydney, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Too many to list, though Pro Hart was one of her enduring show highlights.

Not only did Shirley exhibit their paintings in Paddington but across the globe, her most memorable in Egypt and Israel. 

That exhibition made Australia the first country in the world to do a cultural exchange between Egypt and Israel in honour of the signing of the 1980 peace treaty between Sadat and Begin.

Although Shirley has retired from daily work at the gallery, her daughter Nadine took up the baton of her mother’s legacy. 

But after a lengthy stellar career Shirley, now 83, has decided it is time to sell.