By Callum Ludwig
The sale of a replica of arguably the most famous painting in the world is set to directly help Forever Friends Animal Rescue (FFAR) in Gladysdale.
The Adams sisters behind FFAR sold a family heirloom, a 17th-century copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, with the goal of putting the money received towards upgrades at the FFAR Sanctuary.
After receiving a pre-sale estimate of between £8000 and £12,000 (British pounds, between $15,000 to just over $23,000) from art adviser Tim Abdallah, the painting by an unknown artist was sent off to Bonhams’ Old Master Paintings auction in London and ended up fetching £102,000 ($197,798.33 at the time of writing)
Meaghan Adams said it went for a hammer price of £80,000 (the rest is a Buyer’s Premium paid to the auction house) and one other beneficiary receives their share, FFAR will received about $100,000.
“My sisters and I will discuss with the board the best ways to use it but I think it’s going to go towards the maintenance of the property because, at the moment, there’s really no way we can get a lot done,” she said.
“Bushfires are a big threat to us because getting that many dogs and cats and looking after the farm animals very quickly is really hard, iin a bushfire, we probably have to stay here, which isn’t what anyone wants,”
“We really need to get some a bunker system, or it might be storage containers, but maybe one day we could afford an actual bunker, we’re putting a very strong fire plan in place, but it needs funding so it’s very likely that this donation will go towards keeping the animals safe in a bushfire or in any storm.”
Ms Adams said the funding will go towards any purposes that are ‘harder to explain to the general public or for a charitable trust to fund’, with examples including maintenance of their buildings, fencing or a new toilet for volunteers (there is only one on-site currently). FFAR receives no government funding, with grants and donations largely supporting the services at the Sanctuary. Donations are generally allocated towards the medical care of dogs while charitable supports often fund services like a dog behavioural specialist.
Ms Adams said their mother, Rosemary Fawcett Adams, who died about 18 months ago was an artist and pianist herself.
“She was just an amateur but she taught us a lot about beauty and she also taught us a huge amount about compassion, it was really important to her and when we realised that the Sanctuary needed money, we thought the beauty of rehoming a pet, seeing that animal happy and the humans just ecstatic as well, that is much more powerful than the beauty of an oil painting,” she said.
“In a sense, there’s no sacrifice because the joy in that, to see somebody take home something that’s going to inspire and enrich their lives and care for that little creature has had the most terrible time, there’s nothing more beautiful than that.”
The painting was originally purchased by the Adams sisters’ father Phillip Adams, a former ABC radio broadcaster, in 1984 for about £10,000 as a gift to Rosemary.
Ms Adams said in their rescue work, they have learnt that the proverb of the greatest riches in life are in helping others.
“We live frugally now after a privileged upbringing but the joy we receive from working with so many good people is better than Tattslotto, the stress is nowhere near as costly as the stress in our former careers as what we are doing is so meaningful,” she said.
“As sisters, we’re on our knees with gratitude to the volunteers, Forever Friends is absolutely an egalitarian democratic organisation and a lot of the volunteers have huge autonomy, huge responsibility and they often have to work alone,”
“We wish we could give them more support but they have to make decisions on the go if they’re a maintenance person or if there’s an emergency with an animal, so we feel like we had to do it to thank the volunteers for their amazing commitments.”
The Star Mail has previously covered the financial strain facing FFAR. Anyone interested in supporting FFAR, whether through donation or volunteering, can visit their website at foreverfriends.org.au or contact them at info@foreverfriends.org.au.
Bonhams’ Department Director of Old Master Paintings Caroline Oliphant said paintings by artists in Leonardo’s circle are popular with collectors today, as are early replicas of his works.
“It is certainly unusual to come across early copies of his most celebrated painting, so this 17th-century copy was bound to attract attention,” she said.
“To find one in good condition and that had not been cleaned or restored for well over 100 years, proved irresistible to a number of collectors who took it to ten times its pre-sale estimate. We are absolutely delighted with the result.”
