Born at Ballarat in 1863, David Davies studied extensively in Australia at the Ballarat School and the National Gallery School, Melbourne, and with Jean Paul Laurens in Paris. After three years in France, he returned to Australia in 1893, living at Templestowe, where he began his famous moonrise series. At this time he was closely associated with the Heidelberg School. His taste for dim light was rather unusual and he did not share the interest of other Australian impressionist artists in brilliant light and sharply defined shadows. He returned to Europe in 1897 living in Dieppe for the next 42 years. Exhibited at the Old and New Salon, the Royal Academy, New England Art Club and the Carnegie Institute.
The earliest auction listing we have for David Davies is in 1966 and in total 295 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 186 (63%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $420,000 for The Season of Storm, Stress and Toil 18,95 (Evening Templestowe) sold by Leonard Joel in November 1986. This year 4 works have been offered for sale. Works by David Davies are held by the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia and a further six major public national galleries (see list below).
David Davies 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…
No, ineligible. The artist has been deceased for more than 70 years.
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.
Access to the database is available on either a monthly or annual subscription. During the subscription period you have unlimited access to the site. If you would like to subscribe, please proceed to our Subscription Form.