The Bonhams Australia sale of works from the collection of recently deceased art collector Colin Laverty at the Museum of Contemporary Art on 24 March will be one of the most closely watched art auctions in recent years. Featuring a range of works by some of Australia’s most desirable Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, the sale will undoubtedly draw big crowds. But before we see what Bonhams can do with the Laverty Collection, the Australian art market will be tested by a number of other major art sales.

The first of the major art auctions for 2013 will be conducted tonight in Melbourne with auctions being held by Leonard Joel and Mossgreen. Mossgreen will continue their single-owner focus with the sale of 135 works from the studio of John Perceval AO. Consisting mostly of works on paper, a majority of the works have estimates under $1000. The highlight is a large, slightly erratic oil painting titled “Snow at Hurstbridge,” being offered with a very reasonable estimate of $8,000-12,000.

Leonard Joel has some great works of art in their 19 March sale including a wonderfully atmospheric painting by Rick Amor titled “The Sisters, 1990” (estimate: $28,000– 32,000), John Glover’s “Pont Averglastyn, North Wales” (estimate: $15,000 – 20,000), and Singaporean artist Cheong Soo Pieng’s fantastic mixed media work “Two Women, 1969,” (estimate: $ 50,000-70,000). Another two works by Cheong Soo Pieng are also featured in the Leonard Joel sale.

Menzies Art Brands will hold the first major auction of the year on Thursday 21 March and will continue their tradition of offering works previously purchased from them. The highlight of the sale is John Brack’s iconic painting “Backs and Fronts, 1969,” being sold by Menzies for the fourth time in nine years on Thursday night. John Brack continues to command good money but not as good as in past years as is painfully evident by the auction history of this very painting.

When Menzies first sold the painting in 2004 it fetched a hammer price of $400,000 against an estimate of $450,000 – 550,000 then rocketed to $1.7 million in 2007 against an estimate of $ 800,000 to $ 1 million following the peak price of $1.8 million in 2010 against an estimate of $1.6 – 2.2 million. On Thursday it is expected to fetch $1.4 – 1.8 million, a significant reduction in estimate that makes this fine example of Brack’s carefully constructed yet wonderfully poetic arrangements well worth considering.

Another major painting by Brack will go under the hammer in June when Bonhams Australia sell works from the collection of Reg Grundy a feature of which is an early painting by Brack titled “The Jockey and his Wife, 1953” (estimate: $600,000 -$800,000). The painting was included in the 2009 retrospective of Brack’s work at the National Gallery of Victoria and appears to be fresh to auction.

Other highlights of the Menzies sale include Frederick McCubbin’s “Looking North from Mount Macedon, 1906” (estimate $500,000 - 700,000), Sidney Nolan’s “Kelly in the Landscape” (estimate: $400,000 - 600,000), Jean Arp’s sculpture “Torse Fruit” (estimate: $400,000 - 600,000), an epic marble sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz titled “Homme assis à la clarinette II” (estimate: $500,000 - 700,000), and Russell Drysdale’s Desert Children” (estimate $280,000 – 380,000).

Deutscher and Hackett will hold a major sale of Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art on 27 March in Melbourne. The sale will feature a museum-worthy series of 14 sketches by Tommy McErae estimated to fetch $200,000 – 300,000 as well as a group of 20 major paintings by Emily Kngwarreye from the Delmore Collection. Low estimates for the Delmore Collection paintings range from $10,000 to $80,000.