Thomas Bock Britain, Australia, 1790-1855
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Where to buy or sell art works by Thomas Bock
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About Thomas Bock
Thomas Bock is believed to have been born near Birmingham, England in 1790. He completed an apprenticeship as an engraver and established his own business. In April 1823 Bock was charged and sentenced to transportation for 14 years for administering drugs to a young woman. He arrived in Hobart the following year and was put to work by the prison authorities engraving bank notes, stationery and portraits. Bock continued working as a printmaker during the 1820s, until he received a pardon in 1832 and established his own business. He became the most sought-after portrait artist by the colonists. Bock was known for his portrait drawings utilising watercolour, pencil, chalk and pastel, and he also practiced printmaking, oil painting and photography.
In our database, 48 works by Thomas Bock are listed as being offered for sale, the earliest in 1969, of which 26 (54%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $35,200 for Manalargenna, a Chief of the East Coast of Van Diemen's Land 1837 sold by Sotheby's in August 1992. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by Thomas Bock are held by the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia and National Portrait Gallery.
Thomas Bock 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 265
- Kerr, Joan. Dictionary of Australian Artists, Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870. Oxford University Press, Australia, 1993. Page 78
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 288
- Dictionary of Australian Artists Online, an online resource for biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators.
- 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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