# Max Germaine

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{{Short description|Australian fine art valuer and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Pre-surrender discussions aboard HMAS Vendetta (AWM 095722).jpg|thumb|Lieutenant M. Germaine, holding the swords and [dirk](/source/dirk)s of the Japanese envoys during pre-[surrender of Japan](/source/surrender_of_Japan) discussions aboard {{HMAS|Vendetta|D69|6}}.]]

'''Max Germaine''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (1914, Melbourne, Australia – 12 July 2006, Sydney) was an Australian fine [art dealer](/source/art_dealer) and writer about art and artists.<ref name="CT" /> A founding director of [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) Australia, he is best known for his 650-page ''Artists & Galleries of Australia'' (1984/90) which lists nearly 2000 established artists, and ''Dictionary of Women Artists of Australia'' (1991).<ref name="AM" />

== Biography ==

Born in Melbourne in 1914, Max Germaine joined a group of men recruited through the Dominion Yachtsmen Scheme to be trained as officers in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) for service in the northern hemisphere during World War II. From 1942 he saw service as a [sub-lieutenant](/source/sub-lieutenant) in the [Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve](/source/Royal_Australian_Naval_Volunteer_Reserve) on the destroyer {{HMS|Valorous|L00|6}}. Towards the end of 1945, as a lieutenant, Germaine was offered temporary command of the destroyer {{HMAS|Vendetta|D69|6}}.<ref name="CoA" />

At the age of 53 Max Germaine entered the art scene. He moved to Sydney in 1962 and joined the board of F. R. Strange Pty Ltd, the [auctioneer](/source/auctioneer)s in 1964. In 1967 he started a [fine arts](/source/fine_arts) division of the company.<ref name="WW" />

After seeing how closed circuit TV was used at [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) in London while completing a decorative arts course in 1967, Germaine pioneered its use at auctions in Australia,<ref name="Pedigree" /> starting with the sale of the former Wentworth Hotel in Sydney.<ref name="WW" />

He retired in 1975 to spend time writing books.<ref name="WW" />

In 1994 Max Germaine received a [Medal of the Order of Australia](/source/Medal_of_the_Order_of_Australia) for promotion of the arts and artists.<ref name="OAM" />

== Notes and references ==

{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="WW">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41489615 |title=Compact. |newspaper=[The Australian Women's Weekly](/source/The_Australian_Women's_Weekly) |date=3 December 1980 |accessdate=3 March 2014 |page=54 }}</ref>
<ref name="AM">{{cite web | url=http://www.artmonthly.org.au/artnotes.asp?aID=5&issueNumber=197 | title=Artnotes | work=Art Monthly Australia | date=March 2007 | accessdate=3 March 2014 | author=Peter Timms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305044942/http://www.artmonthly.org.au/artnotes.asp?aID=5&issueNumber=197 | archive-date=5 March 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="CT">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125608482 |title=NZ RECOGNITION FALTERS. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=5 July 1980 |accessdate=3 March 2014 |page=15 }}</ref>
<ref name="OAM">{{cite news | url=http://www.ntgymnastics.com.au/nt-gymnastics-articles/1994/1/26/australia-day-honours/ | title=Australia Day Honours | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=26 January 1994 | accessdate=3 March 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20140303205507/http://www.ntgymnastics.com.au/nt-gymnastics-articles/1994/1/26/australia-day-honours/ | archive-date=3 March 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="CoA">{{cite book | url=https://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/KH09-(web).pdf | title=The Commonwealth Navies: 100 Years of Cooperation | publisher=Commonwealth of Australia | author=Young, Kathryn | year=2012 | pages=55, 63 | isbn=978-0-642-29768-6}}</ref>
<ref name="Pedigree">{{cite book | url=http://press.anu.edu.au/?p=75451 | title=Pedigree and panache: a history of the art auction in Australia | publisher=ANU | author=Huda, Shireen | year=2008 | pages=150 | isbn=9781921313714}}</ref>
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Germaine, Max}}
Category:1914 births
Category:2006 deaths
Category:Australian art dealers
Category:Australian writers
Category:People from Sydney
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:Australian male writers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Max Germaine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Germaine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Germaine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.