James Swinton Diston Australia, 1857-1940
Past Sales
Sales by Medium
Where to buy or sell art works by James Swinton Diston
Auction Houses
About James Swinton Diston
James Swinton Diston was born in Leven, Scotland, in 1857. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, and became an enthusiastic watercolourist. Much of his work was exhibited in Royal Academy and Royal Scottish Academy shows. He migrated to Australia in 1886. In the early 1900s he exhibited widely, including the Victorian Artists Society from 1914 to 1917 showing scenes of Port Phillip Bay, Indian and Japanese scenes and coastal landscapes. He also exhibited in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Launceston and Broken Hill, and was a well-known art gallery guide and lecturer.
James Diston is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1972 of 421, of which 307 (73%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $3,000 for The City of Adelaide sold by Sotheby's in October 1986. This year one work has been offered for sale.
James Swinton Diston 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 381
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 304
- Dictionary of Australian Artists Online, an online resource for biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators.
- The Find New Zealand Artists web site: a database of artist names that directs researchers to the rich resources found in New Zealand's libraries, art society exhibition histories and published sources.
- Australian Prints + Printmaking, a database listing printmaking artists from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region based on the print collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
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.
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