Australian printmakers pushing the boundaries of their craft

By David Hulme & Brigitte Banziger, on 06-Nov-2017

Modernist female printmakers such as Margaret Preston and Thea Proctor have enjoyed appreciation for many years from their Australian audience.

It is however the Australian artists with international exposure who have shone brightly in recent years, namely Eveline Syme, Dorrit Black and Ethel Spowers whose work is collected on a worldwide scale. Hence the very substantial prices achieved in the last five years.

A recent exhibition in Sydney has demonstrated that printmakers are no longer the poor cousins of the painters in oil, with a single print selling for $185,000, seemingly the highest price ever paid for a print in Australia.

Ethel Spower’s work peaked in 2012, when an edition of “The Gust of Wind” from 1930-31 sold for a record price of £114,050 or AU$174,600 at Bonhams in London in April 2010.  

More recently, Dorrit Black’s “The Eruption” (1929-30) achieved a spectacular result also at Bonhams London, selling for AU$84,493 in April 2014.

Ethel Spowers’ “Gust of Wind” achieving the highest price ever paid for an Australian print appears to have just been eclipsed – not in the auction room however, but at Philip Bacon Galleries who exhibited Cressida Campbell at Mossgreen Gallery in Sydney from 12 to 28 October.

Cressida Campbell’s renown has been spreading since the 1980s, including success in the international market with recent sales in Berlin.

It appears that some of the works were sold sight unseen, and such was the demand for Campbell’s work that extremely quick decisions had to be made just based on images emailed out to select collectors.

Just 19 artworks were presented in the extremely well attended exhibition. The lowest price was $19,500 for “Lichen”, 30 x 40 cm – yes, a woodblock print.

It is worth pointing out Cressida Campbell’s unique technique: each watercolour woodblock yields only one print, and the woodblock itself is also made available for sale.

With her method, the artist exceeds the boundaries of traditional printmaking: her largest print “Night Interior”, 2017, measured a massive 195.5 x 99 cm. It was priced accordingly and sold for $185,000, seemingly the highest price ever paid for a print in Australia.

Printmakers take note: you are no longer the poor cousins of the painters in oil.

About The Author

Brigitte Banziger and David Hulme are the principals of Banziger Hulme Fine Art Consultants, established since 2003. With their combined experience of over 40 years, they provide private collectors as well as companies and public institutions with independent expert art valuations. In addition to their appraisals for insurance, family law, deceased estates and market values, they assist clients with transparent advice when buying or selling an individual artwork or an entire collection, for some of Australia’s most significant private collectors. David Hulme is an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, and both Brigitte and David are members of the Art Consulting Association of Australia, where David served as President from 2015 to 2019. David Hulme is a regular art market critic and commentator on the Australian art market and has been interviewed by numerous media, including the 'Australian Financial Review', 'The Australian' and 'The Sydney Morning Herald'. He has also been interviewed on Network 10’s 'The Project', on the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast show with Hamish MacDonald, the ABC’s 'The Business' program amongst many others.

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