Sir William Dobell was born in Newcastle, NSW in 1899. After 10 years extensive study in Europe and London, he returned to Sydney, giving a new dimension to Australian painting. Because of the assimilation of a number of influences, he had a broad appeal to all schools and was claimed as the figurehead of the Sydney modernist wartime movement. He was appointed official war artist and some of his best 'portraits including The Billy Boy, The Strapper, Scotty Allan and The Cypriot were the result of this period. He further secured his position in Australian art history by winning the coveted Art Gallery of New South Wales Archibald Prize in 1943 with his portrait of colleague Joshua Smith. He took out both the Archibald and Wynne prizes in 1948 with the baroque style portrait of Margaret Olley and a landscape entitled Storm Approaching, Wangi. He won a third Archibald Prize in 1959 with a portrait of his surgeon Dr. Edward McMahon and was knighted in 1966.
William Dobell is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1967 of 1,662, of which 1,278 (77%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $1,220,000 for The Dead Landlord (1936) sold by Sotheby's in August 2019. This year 26 works have been offered for sale. Works by William Dobell are held by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and a further seven major public national galleries (see list below).
William Dobell is listed in the following standard biographical references:
Could the second and subsequent works by this artist sold after June 9, 2010 for over $1,000 be liable for the Artists' Resale Royalty? More info…
Yes, eligible, subject to the artist satisfying the residency test. The artist is alive or has been deceased for less than 70 years. Contact the Copyright Agency for information on the residency test.
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