Born in England in 1810, Samuel Brees accepted a position as the second Surveyor General to the New Zealand Company in 1841. In his spare time he recorded his surroundings in pencil and watercolour, illustrating New Zealand colonial life. On his return to England these were published in Pictorial illustrations of New Zealand in 1847, which was reprinted in 1848 and 1849. In 1851 he went to Australia, again practicing as an architect, but died returning to England in 1865,
Our database records art auction sales of works by Samuel Brees from 1986 and in total 31 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 30 (97%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $23,504 for Five Early Watercolours of Historical Importance, Two with Pencil Drawings on Reverse (pair) sold by Webb's in June 1998. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by Samuel Brees are held by the Auckland Art Gallery and Christchurch Art Gallery.
Samuel Charles Brees is listed in the following standard biographical references:
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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