John Schaeffer's Bonnington, Bellevue Hill art sale

The collection of Sydney businessman John Schaeffer will be offered in Sydney on April 29.

The paintings by Frederic Leighton, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Edward John Poynter cover the walls of his recently acquired Bellevue Hill mansion, Bonnington (above).

A highlight will be an Edward John Poynter oil painting from 1887 in spectacular neoclassical gilt frame.

Depicting female models in a classical setting, 'A Corner of a Marketplace', is the potential best-seller of the sale at $450,000 to 650,000 (below).

A 2 metre marble sculpture of Orpheus by William Wetmore Story that stands in Schaeffer’s front yard is also among the 56 lots that Schaeffer has decided to sell.

He built and re‐built a collection of predominantly high Victoria art over many decades, after a visit to the exhibition The Pre‐Raphaelites at the Tate Gallery in 1984 that represented what he called “a defining and life‐altering moment.”

A sale of his earlier collection was held in London in the early 2004 attracting attention from UK collectors Andrew Lloyd Webber and Isabel Goldsmith.

This month’s offering come with an estimate of $3.3 million to $4.4 million.

John Schaeffer was born in Amsterdam and migrated to Australia in the 1950s, later buying a contract cleaning company that became one of the top companies in Australia.

Last month he sold a Dover Heights house for $9 million.

He told The Australian he has a new obsession involving plans for the Tudor-style Bonnington.

In 2016 he bought a collection of 120 classical sculpture and architectural details from English collector Peter Hone that are yet to be unpacked from a container.

Inspired by Sir John Soane’s Museum in London,Schaeffer wants to build a conservatory in the garden at Bonnington to house his new collection.