Works in the database
259
Works with images
82
Works with multiple sales
20

Past Sales

(untitled)
Untitled landscape in blue
(Untitled Portrait In Orange)

Sales by Medium

Paintings
Sold 104 works for
$105,306
Works on Paper
Sold 40 works for
$18,236
Objects
Sold 1 works for
$793

Where to buy or sell art works by John Howley

Auction Houses

Leonard Joel
Sold 79 works for
$73,294
Deutscher~Menzies
Sold 6 works for
$11,632
GFL Fine Art
Sold 5 works for
$6,218

Born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1931, Howley studied at the National Gallery School, Melbourne. He is best known for his semi-expressionist paintings which first came to notice in the mid-1950s with his first exhibitions in Melbourne. His art evolved after a short period of abstract works into a symbolic/fantastic art with frequent use of primary colours and painterly expression. He left Australia in 1962 and travelled and worked in England, Europe, North Africa and Israel. On his return to Australia in 1967 he continued painting and exhibiting.

In our database, 259 works by John Howley are listed as being offered for sale, the earliest in 1972, of which 145 (56%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $5,700 for Ritual Group (War Games Series) 1971 sold by Leonard Joel in April 2010. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by John Howley are held by the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Ian Potter Museum of Art and a further five major public national galleries (see list below).

John Howley 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 533
  • Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia, Volumes 1 & 2, Third Edition. Craftsman Press, Sydney, 1990. Page 327
  • Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 325
  • 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…

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.

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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