Works in the database
172
Works with images
42
Works with multiple sales
11

Past Sales

Mount Juliet from the River Watts, 1895
The Break Neck, Dividing Ranges, 1895
Landscape

Sales by Medium

Paintings
Sold 126 works for
$245,838
Works on Paper
Sold 1 works for
$220

Where to buy or sell art works by William Short, Senior

Auction Houses

Leonard Joel
Sold 97 works for
$152,067
Sotheby's
Sold 6 works for
$35,635
Christies
Sold 6 works for
$11,547

Born in England in 1833, Short was the son of artist, Henry Short. He arrived in Australia in 1851 and settled in Victoria, where, after a time at the goldfields, returned to Melbourne to open a photography studio from 1852 to 1880. A member of the Victorian Academy of Arts, he exhibited oil landscapes until the turn of the century when he concentrated on watercolours. Early in his career he signed his work Short Junr, but later used William or Wm. Short. His works are widely represented in Victorian provincial collections.

The earliest auction listing we have for William Short, Senior is in 1971 and in total 172 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 127 (74%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $18,400 for The Yarra Bend from Studley Park 1861 sold by Sotheby's in April 1995. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2022.

William Short, Senior 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 882
  • Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 365

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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