With Gene Sherman announcing she will close her Paddington gallery at the end of the year in favour of a philanthropic centre for contemporary art, we have to ask: who will handle Tim Storrier’s commercial shows in Sydney now? He’s the artist who “enjoys a success unparalleled by any other artist of his generation living in Australia today,” according to his Melbourne gallery Metro 5.  A show there of classic Storrier works saw “8 major paintings selling within days of the opening,” including one for $270,000.

Storrier is one of our most decorated artists, with an AM for his services to art – and the most decorative “who wears his Order of Australia badge with great – indeed almost arrogant – pride, who wears his tailor made RM Williams with a kind of arrogant bush aristocracy air,” according to his mate, the art critic Ashley Crawford. 

Which galleries will be after Storrier? He’s been on many painting expeditions with his “brother in art”  John Olsen so maybe Olsen junior, who we hear has spent $3 million to expand from his Paddington base into Woollahra, will be in the running. Australian Galleries proprietor Stuart Purves who went on one of those trips too, thirty years ago, says “even though Tim Storrier left us ten years ago we’re great mates and have always stayed in touch – it’s fair to say we might be in touch more often over the coming months.” We asked one Sydney gallery owner where Storrier should show. “Mitre 10,” he said.