A life-long collection of cricket memorabilia |
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Julian Oakley 1953 - 2007 The cricket community was shocked and saddened to hear of the recent death of Julian Oakley, cricketer, businessman and life-long cricket enthusiast. Julian was responsible for developing and marketing numerous successful and significant art projects relating to the Bradman Museum, Australian cricket in general, and celebrating the entire range of cricket as a subject matter for artistic and written expression. Often working with Bowral based artist Dave Thomas, Julian through his company, 'Art of Cricket', developed, promoted and celebrated the art. Many of the finest examples of their collaboration can be found in the pages of this catalogue. Driven by his boundless enthusiasm for the subject matter, an eye for detail, and a dogged determination to see his various projects come to fruition, Julian was responsible for the successful promotion of a series of alluring and collectable artworks and publications over a number of years. These included the splendid print of the First Aboriginal Team to tour England, 1868, and ‘Approaching Stumps’, an evocative vista of Bradman Oval. Both were painted by Dave Thomas, finalist in the Archibald prize and twice finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrtait Prize - and with a portrait of the Hon. Leo McLeay hanging in Parliament House, Canberra. Julian's most recent publication was 'A Vision Splendid, A short history of Bradman Oval' and its adjacent museum, a project which combined his great loves of cricket, Sir Donald Bradman and the Bradman Museum. In typical fashion, Julian scoured relevant primary sources, tenaciously seeking out new and obscure information, consulting relevant authorities on the subject, checking and re-checking his subject matter, always mindful of his work having importance to future generations of researchers and enthusiasts. The Bradman Museum will miss Julian's exuberant and consistent support for its ongoing work and in the February 2007 edition of “Boundary” expressed its condolences to his three children, Sarah-Jane, Scott and Lauren, together with his father Leslie. With his passing, Julian’s family have decided to make most of his extensive personal collection and commercial stock available to sports fans and institutions around the world. The collection of original cricketing artworks is the largest ever to be offered at public auction in Australia and the collection of books, brochures and other publications is full of rarely seen and wonderful pieces. There will be further offerings from this life-time collection in our future auctions. In the meantime, we at Charles Leski Auctions wish to express our sympathy to the family and thank them for entrusting into our care, Julian’s cricketing legacy. The Oakley collection is supported by some wonderful consignments offered on behalf of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and several other vendors from England, Australia, New Zealand and India. We commend the catalogue to you. Have a look at Julian's wonderful collection in our premier cricket auction: Auction 310 catalogue |