Born in Zambia in 1949 David Fairbairn studied at the West Surrey College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools in London prior to his arrival in Australia in 1981. Working across drawing, painting and printmaking, he has had thirty solo exhibitions since 1981 and has been in over eighty group shows. In Australia, he has received over forty awards and prizes including the Dobell Prize for Drawing and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. In 2012 he was awarded the Mosman Art Prize and the Sunshine Coast Art Prize and was a finalist in the Art Gallery of New South Wales Archibald Prize in 2016.
The total number of works by David Fairbairn offered for sale by auction since 1989 is 15, of which 12 (80%) were sold. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by David Fairbairn are held by the Art Gallery of NSW and Art Gallery of South Australia.
David Fairbairn 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.
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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