Sydney beats London when it comes to selling artist catalogues

But catalogue sales for the show slumped heavily, with the softcover edition drastically slashed from £30 ($72) to £10. Critics speculated that this was suspicious, given that the show had not yet finished. Some blame the lack of sales on a move away from Renoir's impressionism towards modern art.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the Art Gallery of NSW reported that its catalogue sales were consistently strong. "We pay particular attention to print run by knowing the likely sales," said a spokesperson. Many of the Art Gallery of NSW's catalogues, including Kevin Conner, Margaret Preston and Klippel have been reprinted, while catalogues for recent exhibitions of The Goddess and Pissaro sold out entirely.

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