Works in the database
36
Works with images
28
Works with multiple sales
4

Past Sales

Botanic Gardens, C.1949
French Countryside (1935 Or 1936)
Botanic Gardens 1949

Sales by Medium

Paintings
Sold 11 works for
$401,830
Works on Paper
Sold 16 works for
$208,434

Where to buy or sell art works by Peter Charles Roderick Purves Smith

Auction Houses

Sotheby's
Sold 11 works for
$160,160
Deutscher~Menzies
Sold 3 works for
$147,500
Christies
Sold 3 works for
$115,310

Born in Victoria in 1912, Peter Purves-Smith studied at the Grosvenor School, London, the George Bell School, Melbourne, and in Paris. A contemporary and friend of Sir Russell Drysdale, he served in Burma and West Africa during World War II. He was invalided from the army in 1946 with tubercolosis, and settled in Melbourne, but only lived a further three years.

Our database records art auction sales of works by Peter Purves Smith from 1978 and in total 36 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 27 (75%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $74,000 for Burke and Wills 1937 sold by Deutscher~Menzies in November 1999. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2018. Works by Peter Purves Smith are held by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and a further seven major public national galleries (see list below).

Peter Charles Roderick Purves Smith is listed in the following standard biographical references:

  • McCulloch, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch-Childs. The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art. 4th Edition, Aus Art Melbourne & The Miegunyah Press, 2006. Page 803
  • Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 356
  • Dictionary of Australian Artists Online, an online resource for biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators.

Artists' Resale Royalty

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 .

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