Harold Randalph Hughan Australia, 1893-1987
Past Sales
Sales by Medium
Where to buy or sell art works by Harold Randalph Hughan
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About Harold Randalph Hughan
Harold Hughan was born in Mildura, Victoria, on 11 July 1893 and educated in Hamilton in the Western District of Victoria. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 he joined the Australian Infantry Forces as an apprentice engineer and spent from 1916 to 1918 with Australian troops in France. At the end of the war he pursued further training as an engineer in England and returned to Australia in 1920. Previously interested in the crafts of weaving and woodworking, in the early 1940s Hughan became involved in his wife’s and son's attempts at pottery, his knowledge as an engineer enabling him to build and refine the kilns they used. Hughan's early efforts were influenced by the advice of F. E. Cox (‘Jolliffe') another amateur Melbourne potter. Becoming fascinated by the collection of Chinese ceramics in the National Gallery of Victoria and guided by, among others, Bernard Leach‘s A Potters Book published in 1940, he soon began to use the wheel, making experiments in stoneware that were far in advance of any other Australian pottery of the time. Hughan held his first exhibition in 1950 at the gallery in Georges, the Melbourne department store. That exhibition marked him as a most important Australian potter, a reputation that his second exhibition in 1968 confirmed and magnified. In 1970 the National Gallery of Victoria honoured Hughan with a retrospective exhibition. His commitment to useful objects, possessing an honest dignity and refinement makes Hughan outstanding amongst Australian potters.
We have records of art auction sales by Harold Hughan from 1989 and in total 82 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 78 (95%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $2,390 for Platter sold by Christies in May 2005. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2020. Works by Harold Hughan are held by the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia and a further six major public national galleries (see list below).
Harold Randalph Hughan 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 534
- 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.
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