Born in Wolverhampton, England in 1866, Watkins studied at the Royal Academy and after arriving in Sydney in 1882, at the Art Society of New South Wales School. He opened his own art school in Sydney which was still operating in 1934. He was a member of the Royal Art Society of NSW and a Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
John Watkins is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1973 of 572, of which 326 (57%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $103,700 for Goldfish (1919) sold by Sotheby's in May 2017. This year 4 works have been offered for sale. Works by John Watkins are held by the Art Gallery of NSW and National Portrait Gallery.
John Samuel Watkins 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.
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