Harold Septimus Power Australia, France, 1878-1951
Past Sales
Sales by Medium
Where to buy or sell art works by Septimus Power
Auction Houses
About Septimus Power
Born in Dunedin, New Zealand. At the age of 17 made his debut at the Melbourne Art Club winning both animal and landscape sections. After some time in Adelaide, went to Paris in 1905, where he studied at Academie Julian, and then moved to London, becoming a member of Royal Institute of Painters in Oils and the Society of Animal Painters, and exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts. He moved back to Melbourne and continued painting, his rural landscapes remaining popular with the public and art critics for the next thirty years. He was appointed an official war artist in the World War I. In 1927 he was commissioned with to paint the ceremonial opening of the Federal parliament. Between the wars he travelled frequently between the UK and Australia, and exhibited at the Royal Academy, at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Oils, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Water Colour Association and the Paris Old Salon.
Harold Power is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1966 of 1,358, of which 950 (70%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $164,700 for First Australian Division Artillery Going Into the Third Battle of Ypres (1919) sold by Sotheby's in May 2017. This year 6 works have been offered for sale. Works by Harold Power are held by the Australian War Memorial, National Gallery of Victoria and a further seven major public national galleries (see list below).
Septimus Power 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 794
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 355
- McGahey, Kate. The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists Painters Printmakers Sculptors, Gilt Edge Publishing, Wellington, New Zealand, 2000. Page 202
- 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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