Born in England in 1848, Charles Blomfield arrived in New Zealand in 1863, settling in Auckland. A house decorator by trade, he was a self taught artist who became a leading professional artist in his day. Principally an oil painter, he toured New Zealand, painting scenes such as the Pink and White Terraces near Rotorua before they were destroyed in 1886 by the Tarawera eruption, and Mt Cook and the Southern Lakes area. In 1893, after a slump in his popularity, he moved to Australia, but apparently had little success so eventually returned to New Zealand. He exhibited widely in New Zealand and at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-81.
Charles Blomfield is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1971 of 911, of which 698 (77%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $174,062 for 'Scene of Kauri Bush, Gum Diggers at Work' 1892 sold by Dunbar Sloane in December 2003. This year 10 works have been offered for sale. Works by Charles Blomfield are held by the Auckland Art Gallery, Museum Of New Zealand and a further two major public national galleries (see list below).
Charles Blomfield 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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