Charles Rodius France, Australia, 1802-60
Past Sales
Sales by Medium
Where to buy or sell art works by Charles Rodius
Auction Houses
About Charles Rodius
Born in Germany in 1802, Charles Rodius trained in France as an artist, printmaker and architect. After moving to England he was convicted of theft and transported to Australia, arriving in Sydney in 1829. In 1832 he received a certificate of exemption, and opened a studio teaching painting, and painting portraits of prominent Sydney lawyers and judges, as well as portraits of Indigenous Australians. Rodius's Aboriginal works were reproduced by the artist as lithographs and widely sold at an affordable price. Rodius suffered a stroke in the late 1850s and died in 1860.
The total number of works by Charles Rodius offered for sale by auction since 1981 is 23, of which 16 (70%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $138,092 for Atay Chief of Otargo (Sic), New Zealand sold by Webb's in November 2017. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by Charles Rodius are held by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and a further four major public national galleries (see list below).
Charles Rodius 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 837
- Kerr, Joan. Dictionary of Australian Artists, Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870. Oxford University Press, Australia, 1993. Page 679
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 360
- 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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