Ben Quilty Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Ben Quilty Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 13, 2024
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Trooper Luke Korman 2012 archival pigment print, ed. 4/100 89 x 66cm (sheet); 124 x 97cm (frame)
Est: $800 - $1,000
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Trooper Luke Korman 2012 archival pigment print, ed. 4/100 accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Artist and Australian War Memorial, Canberra 89 x 66cm (sheet); 124 x 97cm (frame) PROVENANCE: Soldier On Charity Auction, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: Engaged as an Official War Artist, Ben Quilty's purpose was to record and interpret the experiences of Australians deployed as part of Operation Slipper in Afghanistan. In fulfilling his brief, Quilty spoke with many Australian servicemen and women, gaining an insight into their experiences whilst serving in the region, and ultimately leaving with an overwhelming need to tell their stories. RELATED WORK: Ben Quilty, Trooper Luke Korman 2012, aerosol and oil on linen, 190 x 140cm, the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra © Ben Quilty
Leonard Joel
Oct. 22, 2024
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Approaching Storm 4 2023 oil on linen 97 x 71.5cm
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Approaching Storm 4 2023 oil on linen artist's name, title and date inscribed verso: Approaching Storm 4 Ben Quilty 2023 97 x 71.5cm PROVENANCE: Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (label verso) Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITIONS: Summer, Jan Murphy Gallery, Queensland, 12 December - 30 January 2024 OTHER NOTES: © Ben Quilty
Leonard Joel
Aug. 28, 2024
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Torana No.4 2003
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, MELBOURNE BEN QUILTY born 1973 Torana No.4 2003 collagraph 69.0 x 89.0 cm (image); 77.0 x 108.0 cm (sheet); 90.0 x 120.5 cm (framed) edition: 34/45 signed lower right: Ben Quilty numbered lower left: 34/45 titled lower centre: Torana printed by Paul Smith, New South Wales (blindstamp lower right)
Menzies
Aug. 27, 2024
Ben Quilty, (b. 1973), The White Ute, 2006, etching from two plates on paper, 42 x 99 cm
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Ben Quilty (b. 1973) The White Ute, 2006 etching from two plates on paper edition: A/P, numbered, titled, signed and dated below image 'A/P, The White Ute, Ben Quilty, '06'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 08, 2024
Ben Quilty After Afghanistan, War Artist, Australian War Memorial publication
Est: $30 - $50
Ben Quilty After Afghanistan, War Artist, Australian War Memorial publication
Lawsons
Aug. 07, 2024
Ben Quilty, Bottom Feeder
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Ben Quilty Bottom Feeder 2018 oil on linen 104.625 h x 79.75 w in (266 x 203 cm) Signed, titled and dated to verso 'Bottom Feeder Ben Quilty 2018'. Provenance: Torlano Galleries, Melbourne | Private Collection Exhibited: The Bottom Feeders, 13 - 16 September 2018, Torlano Galleries, Melbourne This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Rago Arts and Auction Center
Jun. 26, 2024
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Gerard's Garden (Night) 2003
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BRISBANE BEN QUILTY born 1973 Gerard's Garden (Night) 2003 oil bar on linen 146.0 x 202.0 cm; 149.0 x 205.0 cm (framed) signed lower right: Ben Quilty signed and inscribed verso: Gerard's Garden (Night)/ 146 x 202cm/ Ben Quilty
Menzies
Apr. 24, 2024
BEN QUILTY, AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE #1, 2005
Est: $45,000 - $65,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE #1, 2005 oil on canvas 90.0 x 120.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Australian Landscape No 1 / Quilty / 05 PROVENANCE Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2005 EXHIBITED Alex Seton, Ben Quilty, We've Gotta get out of This Place, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, 29 July – 13 August 2005 ESSAY Ben Quilty describes this work as Australian Landscape #1, 2005, yet it is the Toyota 4WD Landcruiser that is the actual subject of the painting. Quilty makes his choice of vehicle carefully exploring the landscape and our relationship with it through the cult of the 4WD vehicle. In this instance it reflects a young white male’s desire to identify with the tough talking, hardworking Australian male of the outback. It says, ‘I belong with no-bullshit, can-do real men and with my Toyota, I am connected with the land.’ As a backdrop to the yarns and myths that ferment across the outback, the Toyota Landcruiser parked out the front of the pub pulses with masculine credibility. Vehicles are not new to Quilty – the Holden XU1 Torana, with its V8 engine crammed under the hood became an early favourite. The Torana entered Australian folk lore in 1972, when Peter Brock drove it to victory against the dominant Ford Falcons at Bathurst’s annual orgy of booze and petrol on Mount Panorama, in the Hardie Ferodo 500. In the decades that followed, the popular Torana (an Aboriginal word meaning ‘to fly’) became the choice of young men when buying their first, second-hand car. By the time Ben Quilty got his Ps, the choice was easy. As time passed his repertoire extended to include Kombis, muscle Fords and 4WDS. Here again, the artist is exploring our relationship to landscape and its importance in shaping the lives of adolescent males through risk-taking rites of passage. As Lisa Slade suggests, ‘The terrain that the car inhabits, and traverses also interests Quilty. Since he began painting cars, he has been adamant that these paintings also be read as landscapes… Quilty argues convincingly that we rarely experience the landscape without the mediation of the car. In this sense, the car becomes a contemporary Claude glass, a reflective lens that simplifies and synthesises an experience of the landscape that is otherwise too much to bear, too much to restrain into an image.’1 By coincidence or otherwise, the three by four-foot format of this work connects the work directly to a tradition in modern Australian landscape painting. The reason for this format may well be arbitrary as it corresponds to the size the Masonite sheets are made. Nevertheless, conceptually it is a tangible connection to the convention and underpins Quilty’s assertion that what he has painted here is an Australian landscape – albeit an image of a Toyota. Quilty’s paintings ooze paint and metaphor. His technique of applying paint in broad, thick swathes using baker’s tools results in fleshy surfaces where the paint is literally caked on. The manner of applying paint in moments of driven inspiration may also be understood to reflect the bravado Quilty’s paintings strive to project. 1. Slade, L., ‘Torana Means to Fly’ in Slade, L. (ed.), Ben Quilty – We are History, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 2009, p. 22 HENRY MULHOLLAND © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 21, 2024
BEN QUILTY (BORN 1973), Docklands 3, 2002
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
oil on board signed and titled verso: Ben Quilty / Docklands 3 20 x 24.5cm PROVENANCE Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney The Jan Courtin & Marshall Harris Collection EXHIBITED New Paintings, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney, 2002 © Courtesy of the artist
Gibson's
Apr. 21, 2024
BEN QUILTY (BORN 1973), Docklands 2, 2002
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
oil on board signed and titled verso: Ben Quilty / Docklands 2 20 x 25cm PROVENANCE Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney The Jan Courtin & Marshall Harris Collection EXHIBITED New Paintings, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney, 2002 The Jan Courtin and Marshall Harris Collection © Courtesy of the artist COLLECTION ESSAY The Jan Courtin and Marshall Harris Collection (Lots 159-163) Lots 159 - 163 showcases the eclectic taste of Jan Courtin and Marshall Harris, who championed emerging artists as both gallery owners and patrons of the arts. Originally Melbournians, Jan and Marshall lived in London and briefly in Brisbane before relocating to Sydney to pursue Jan's chief obsession - AFL football. Jan was a devoted supporter of the Sydney Swans from childhood and grew in dedication through the years. Her regular contributions to the club and commitment to the game earned her the Female Fan of the Year award from the AFL Fans Association in 2016. It is a fitting homage ‘for a woman who had uprooted her life to Sydney to be closer to her beloved Swans'. 1 Her rivalling passions for the Swans and art were near-equal contests, although she emphatically insisted, ‘It'd be the Swans before the art.' 2 Jan and Marshall pursued their mutual passion for Australian artists with an energetic spirit. When the couple moved to Sydney (to be closer to the Swans), they also set up a gallery on Glenmore Road in Paddington, living in the apartment above. Harris Courtin Gallery operated from 1999 for just over a decade. In the gallery's infancy, they exhibited works by Polly Courtin, Jan's sister and gradually established a reputation for championing fringe and emerging local artists. 'They cared for and involved [their artists], and above all, they were extremely professional and generous as gallery directors. Thus, the stable of artists trusted Jan and Marshall completely.' 3 Together they amassed an extensive personal collection, contributing to the arts district in a way that reflected their genuine support and enthusiasm for local Australian artists. In 2019, Jan and Marshall relocated to Melbourne, settling into a light-filled, contemporary home in Albert Park. Paintings and sculptures filled every square inch of the house in a cacophony of colour. Amongst the patchwork salon hung two dynamic works by Ben Quilty painted in 2002 as the artist's career was beginning to erupt; Lot X and XX ennoble West Melbourne's monolithic docklands in blazing colours delightfully contained to pocket-sized canvases. Also hanging amidst the collection were two early abstract paintings by Guy Maestri, who exhibited with Harris Courtin Gallery in the early 2000s at the threshold of an esteemed career. In their private collection, as much as their gallery, Jan and Marshall perpetually advocated for emerging artists. Sadly, Jan passed away in August 2022, followed by Marshall in October of the same year. The family now offers the second instalment of the couple's beloved collection to the market, paying tribute to their legacy as unwavering supporters of contemporary Australian art. Footnotes: 1. Vale Jan Courtin, Published Aug 10, 2022; https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1194386/vale-jan-courtin 2. Alice Bradley, The red & white home of Swan for life Jan Courtin, 14 Aug 2017; https://www.realestate.com.au/lifestyle/the-red-white-home-of-swan-for-life-jan-courtin/ 3. Statement from Julie Cattlin, the sister of Jan Courtin.
Gibson's
Mar. 27, 2024
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Skull
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, LONDON BEN QUILTY born 1973 Skull oil on linen 101.0 x 80.0 cm
Menzies
Mar. 19, 2024
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) The Daughter 2023 oil on linen 202 x 180cm
Est: $65,000 - $85,000
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) The Daughter 2023 oil on linen signed, dated and titled verso: THE DAUGHTER Ben Quilty 2023 202 x 180cm PROVENANCE: Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITIONS: SHADOWED, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, 2 June - 1 July 2023 "Shadowed, is the articulation of human difference, whether that be in our mental states or in our appearance. The vacuums and shadows generated by these processes are utilised fully, expressive tools and not accessories to form. Meanwhile, The Daughter, a familiar face for the artist, hums with a sickly incandescence, and might have belonged in Laloux's Fantastic Planet (1973)." (excerpt, exhibition statement) OTHER NOTES: © Ben Quilty
Leonard Joel
Nov. 29, 2023
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Aftermath 2018
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Aftermath 2018 oil on linen 143.0 x 132.5 cm; 145.5 x 135.5 cm (framed) signed, dated and inscribed verso: The Aftermath Ben Quilty 2018
Menzies
Nov. 29, 2023
BEN QUILTY born 1973, JM, Humanist, Chairwoman and Rockstar... Keeper of Clarkey 2016
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 JM, Humanist, Chairwoman and Rockstar... Keeper of Clarkey 2016 oil on linen 130.0 x 120.5 cm; 132.0 x 122.0 cm (framed) dated and inscribed verso: 2016 'JM, humanist, chairwoman and Rockstar... keeper of Clarkey'
Menzies
Oct. 17, 2023
Ben Quilty (Australian, b.1973)
Est: £18,000 - £22,000
Ben Quilty (Australian, b.1973) Ben Quilty (Australian, b.1973) Skull oil on canvas 100 x 80cm, unframed Ben Quilty was born in 1973 in Sydney. He had his academic fine art training at Sydney College of the Arts and the University of Western Sydney. In 2011, he worked as an official war artist in Afghanistan, where he depicted the daily life and struggles of the soldiers through quickly executed sketches and paintings. Undoubtedly one of Australia’s best-known and highly-regarded contemporary painters, Quilty's work often explores themes of identity, masculinity, and the Australian cultural landscape with a sense of emotional intensity. He invites the viewer to engage with their own self-consciousness through his often unsettling imagery. Condition Report: Craquelure in places. A couple of spots and speckles of light surface dirt. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.
Sworders
Jun. 27, 2023
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Untitled 2005 aquarelle on paper 17.5 x 15cm
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Untitled 2005 aquarelle on paper signed and dated in pencil verso: Ben Quilty 05 17.5 x 15cm PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist Private collection, South Australia OTHER NOTES: Courtesy The Artist
Leonard Joel
May. 23, 2023
Ben Quilty, Bottom Feeder
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
Ben Quilty Bottom Feeder 2018 oil on linen 104.625 h x 79.75 w in (266 x 203 cm) Signed, titled and dated to verso 'Bottom Feeder Ben Quilty 2018'. Provenance: Torlano Galleries, Melbourne | Private Collection Exhibited: The Bottom Feeders, 13 - 16 September 2018, Torlano Galleries, Melbourne This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Rago Arts and Auction Center
May. 03, 2023
BEN QUILTY, THE OTTER, 2019
Est: $28,000 - $36,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 THE OTTER, 2019 oil on canvas 40.5 x 30.5 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: The Otter / 19’ / Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Private collection, New South Wales, acquired in 2019 © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 03, 2023
BEN QUILTY, WINDSOR #1, 2004
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 WINDSOR #1, 2004 oil on canvas 35.0 x 40.0 cm signed with initials lower right: BQ signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: ‘Windsor no. 1’ / oil on canvas / 35 x 40 cm / Ben Quilty / 04 PROVENANCE Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne (stamped verso) Private collection, Victoria, acquired from the above in 2005 © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 03, 2023
BEN QUILTY, WANT WANT WANT, 2006
Est: $120,000 - $160,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 WANT WANT WANT, 2006 oil and aerosol on linen 140.0 x 200.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Want Want Want / oil and aerosol on linen 2006 / Ben Quilty bears inscription on label on stretcher bar verso: BQ 22 / Want Want Want 2006 PROVENANCE GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney Private collection, Brisbane Blockprojects Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above LITERATURE Slade, L., Ben Quilty, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2009, p. 57 (illus.) ESSAY Ben Quilty’s images of cars are not simply painterly depictions of objects of desire but a kind of empathic portraiture that joyfully captures the psyche of the large group of Australian men who love their cars, along with access and participation in the world of hotted up cars and hooning that a certain type of car ownership allows. As a boy from the outer suburbs, Quilty’s interest in this realm comes from a place of understanding. Indeed, he effectively launched his career in 2003 with an exhibition of ‘portraits’ of his 1972 Torana.1 As he has said: ‘For us initiation was performed inside a car. Beer in hand we became valued members of a society and, as the motor screamed, the dizziness of expectation awakened the adult in us.’2 Quilty’s youth was one of testosterone-fuelled binge drinking and risk taking, and the muscle cars that fill his oeuvre in the early 2000s – the nuggety Torana, Ford Falcons and the ubiquitous Aussie ute – are cars that he knows intimately and has most likely behaved badly in. These cars are both an extension of self and a way of presenting oneself to the world, but in Quilty’s hands, they also speak powerfully of our collective desire for a sense of community and our need to belong. Never afraid to unveil the darker side of society’s actions and compulsions, Quilty also paints these cars as terrifying wrecks, their smashed-up distorted bodies highlighting the dire consequences that can arise from the recklessness of youth. The luscious, thick brushwork of want want want, 2006 conveys this luxury car (a Mercedes) as an object of lust and longing, well beyond the financial capacity of the artist and his mates at the time it was created. Quilty’s thick slabs of paint and use of vibrant colour deftly capture the car’s sleek low-lying body, the way in which its tyres hug the road, and its seemingly innate capacity for speed. While still, it seems to be poised to move – the artist’s confident use of aerosol (the tool of the graffitist) across the grille, bonnet and windscreen capturing a sense of immediacy and haste. Bathed in a glowing yellow halo, this is a car of dreams that seems to point to another stage of life for the artist – one beyond the machismo and potential dangers of his youth. This car offers a different kind of social status, as well stability and success, while also promising the thrill of incredible speed whenever you put your foot down. In depicting these pervasive symbols, Quilty draws on his own past and experiences to highlight the need for men to have other possibilities of ‘becoming’. As he has commented: ‘There’s no initiation process for young men. When you turn 18 you skol a yard glass and you spew on yourself and then you’re supposedly a male that’s got something to give to society. It’s just so far from how it should work. It’s definitely informed my work; it’s what I’m interested in because it's where I’ve been. It’s what I’ve done.’3 1. Torana, Maunsell Wickes Gallery, Sydney, 2003 2. The artist, quoted in Ben Quilty Live! An Interpretative Guide, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2009, p. 5, at https://issuu.com/uqartmuseum/docs/benquiltyinterpretiveguide, accessed 24 March 2023 3. Low, L. A., “The hot seat: Ben Quilty”, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 March 2007, at https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/the-hot-seat-ben-quilty-20070318-gdpowl.html, accessed 24 March 2023 KELLY GELLATLY © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 18, 2023
Ben Quilty (b. 1973)
Est: $700 - $900
Trooper Luke Korman limited edition print, edition: 39/100, Australian War Memorial Certificate of Authenticity attached verso
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 29, 2023
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Sleepless (Kenny) 2018
Est: $45,000 - $55,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Sleepless (Kenny) 2018 oil on canvas 142.5 x 132.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Sleepless (Kenny) Ben Quilty 2018
Menzies
Mar. 29, 2023
BEN QUILTY born 1973, The Lot 2 2010
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 The Lot 2 2010 oil on linen 60.0 x 70.5 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: The Lot 2 2010/ oil on linen/ Ben Quilty
Menzies
Nov. 23, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, The Encouragement Award No.2 2021
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 The Encouragement Award No.2 2021 oil on linen 142.5 x 188.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Encouragement Award no.2/ 2021/ Ben Quilty
Menzies
Nov. 23, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Self Portrait with a Hat 2021
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Self Portrait with a Hat 2021 oil on linen 112.0 x 92.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Ben Quilty/ Self portrait with a hat/ 2021
Menzies
Nov. 22, 2022
Ben Quilty (b. 1973)
Est: $200,000 - $300,000
Kuta Rorschach No. 1, 2014 oil on canvas, signed, dated and titled verso 'Ben Quilty, 2014, Kuta Rorschach No. 1' (8 panels)
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 14, 2022
BEN QUILTY, SKULL RM, 2005
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 SKULL RM, 2005 oil on linen 60.0 x 50.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: 'Skull RM'/ oil on linen / 2005 / Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Private collection, New South Wales, a gift from the artist Menzies, Sydney, 23 June 2011, lot 78 Private collection, Canberra LITERATURE Art Market Report, Issue 40, Third Quarter 2011, p. 34 (illus.) © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 14, 2022
BEN QUILTY, PAT, 2004
Est: $100,000 - $140,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 PAT, 2004 oil on canvas 130.0 x 100.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: ‘PAT’ / 04 / Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Private collection, Sydney, acquired directly from the artist ESSAY Ben Quilty is undeniably one of Australia’s most well-known contemporary artists, his face frequently gracing our television screens in the guise of spokesperson-painter and cultural commentator. Part of the appeal of the artist’s work, and of Quilty himself, is accessibility – the immediacy of the way in which both art and artist communicate. The outer-suburban environment in which Quilty grew up, and the rites of passage of young men in this milieu – drinking, fast cars, larrikinism, and risk taking – fuel his early work, and we can relate to his lusciously painted canvases as easily as we can sing the lyrics of Cold Chisel’s ‘Khe Sanh’. Yet from the outset, Quilty’s work has unflinchingly explored masculine aggression, and the way in which Australian males work to define themselves as ‘Australian’1, along with mortality, and the stains of our colonial legacy. As Nick Mitzevitch has noted, the means of communication may be deceptively straightforward, but the message is not: ‘We rarely encounter an artist whose work combines such broad appeal and such a starling, singular vision. Quilty’s paintings possess an extraordinary presence: he achieves such delicious, inviting and seductive experiences in paint that the paint surface appears as if ‘live’. But, if we step back from the tour de force of the paint surface, if we marshal the image into focus, we see that Quilty also unflinchingly investigates our culture and history.’2 Quilty first exhibited his budgerigar images in 2004 in his solo exhibition Young and Free?3, using the phrase from Australia’s national anthem (which was officially changed to ‘one and free’ on 1 January 2021) to point to the complex bundle of issues surrounding nationalism and identity that this jaunty native bird encapsulated in his paintings. As he has observed, domestic budgies are ‘far from their native form – both geographically and physically’ and are ‘a fitting representation of the way white Australian society has claimed its own identity.’4 The budgerigar’s ability to mimic human speech also highlights the role of adaptation and change in the conscious construction of any ‘new’ persona. Fittingly, Quilty’s budgies were conceived as portraits of real-life human subjects, captured in ‘mug-shot style’.5 In PAT, 2004 the blocky form is built up of slabs of green and gold paint, trowelled onto the surface of the canvas in sweeping, confident arcs. Although at rest and clearly clinging to his perch, the possibility of flight (and escape?) is captured in the zig zag-like marks on the bird’s wing, creating an uneasy tension between repose and animation. The painting exudes a love of the medium of paint and the act of painting, best summed up by the artist himself: ‘For me the most exciting thing is that incredible energy that comes about when you start to try and find something new. And painting, the whole act of it – putting one tiny, tiny, tiny bit of colour into this huge, big expansive mass of thick paint can be an incredible feeling and can leave me for a week on a high.’6 1. ‘Ben Quilty in Conversation with Lisa Slade’, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2009, https://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/artist/ben-quilty/videos/, accessed 13 July 2022 2. Mitzevitch, N., ‘Foreword’, Ben Quilty, The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2009, p. 11 3. Ben Quilty: Young and Free?, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, 2004 4. Quilty cited in Slade, L., ‘Ben Quilty: We Are History’, Ben Quilty, 2009, p. 24 5. Ibid. 6. ‘Ben Quilty and the Maggots’, Artscape, ABC Arts, 2011, https://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/artist/ben-quilty/videos/, accessed 13 July 2022 KELLY GELLATLY © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 13, 2022
Ben Quilty (b. 1973)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Nude, 2008 ink on paper, signed and dated l.r.c. '5/20, 2008, BQ'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 13, 2022
Ben Quilty (b. 1973)
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Streetscape, 2011 ink on paper, signed and dated l.r.c 'BQ, '11'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 29, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, FTW (after Sam 'Bull' Hall) 2006
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 FTW (after Sam 'Bull' Hall) 2006 gouache on paper, pins, Perspex and frame (3) (i) 146.0 x 111.5 cm (ii) 146.0 x 136.0 cm (iii) 146.0 x 179.0 cm
Menzies
Jun. 28, 2022
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Wilcannia 2012 Derwent water soluble ink and pencil on paper
Est: $5,000 - $6,000
BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Wilcannia 2012 Derwent water soluble ink and pencil on paper artist's name, title and date on gallery label verso 66 x 51cm PROVENANCE: Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (label verso) Private collection, Melbourne
Leonard Joel
May. 09, 2022
§ BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Untitled 2015 ink on paper
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
§ BEN QUILTY (born 1973) Untitled 2015 ink on paper initialled and dated lower left: bq 15' 100.5 x 71cm PROVENANCE: Lawsons, Sydney, 23 September 2021, lot 545 Private collection, Melbourne
Leonard Joel
May. 04, 2022
BEN QUILTY, RORSCHACH - THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT NO. 2, 2008
Est: $150,000 - $250,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 RORSCHACH - THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT NO. 2, 2008 synthetic polymer paint, aerosol and oil on linen 214.0 x 366.0 cm overall (diptych) each signed on tape on stretcher bar verso: QUILTY PROVENANCE GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Smashed, GRANTPIRRIE at the Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, 31 July – 3 August 2008, then touring to Newcastle University Art Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales BEN QUILTY LIVE, The University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 8 May – 19 July 2009; TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 15 August – 15 November 2009 LITERATURE Slade, L., Ben Quilty, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, 2009, pp. 116 – 117 (illus.), 135 Slade, L. (et al.), Ben Quilty, Penguin Random House, Melbourne, 2019, pp. 92 – 93 (illus.), 344 ESSAY In the early 2000s, Ben Quilty smashed his way onto the scene with his exuberant, thick impasto paintings of quintessentially blokey subjects – cars (most often the Torana), hamburgers, and close-up images of the heads of wasted mates after a big night on the turps. Characteristically Australian motifs such as the Budgerigar (which served as a form of portraiture) and iconic historical figures like Captain Cook (at least the school history book version), were also part of his arsenal at this time. Quilty quickly became one of this country’s most recognisable contemporary artists, astutely using his position and profile, and most importantly, his work, to discuss some of the darker aspects of Australian culture and the ongoing legacy of our colonial past. Quilty’s paintings have an energy that expects, indeed demands, that the viewer participate in the world he creates – one where figuration hovers at the edge of abstraction, and where the handling of paint is at once immediate, rough and joyful. In his body of Rorschach paintings however, the artist deliberately destroys these luscious surfaces, painting in his characteristically thickly trowelled style before pressing a second unpainted canvas directly onto the first. While Quilty’s paintings are spontaneous and made quickly, these doubled images rely on chance, their new forms only revealed when the two canvases are pulled apart. Like the Rorschach ink blots whose patterns were used in early psychological testing, the effect of pareidolia – the experience of seeing images in visual patterns, is also at play here, and in Quilty’s mirrored images, we are encouraged to ‘see’ our own perceptions and experiences in these ‘accidental’ abstractions. The titles of Quilty’s Rorschach works are often signposts sent to guide the viewer through the canvases’ colourful squelches of paint, and several of these, such as Fairy Bower Rorschach, 2012 or the monumental Irin Irinji, 2018, refer to specific events of frontier violence in Australia’s colonial history.1 Painted after his first visit in 2016 to the community of Amata in the APY Lands of north-west South Australia, the twelve-panelled Irin Irinji depicts the site of the spearing of a white dingo scalper who defiled a significant water source, and whose death led to the massacre of a group of Aboriginal men. As curator Lisa Slade has noted, Irin Irinji powerfully evokes the burden of intergenerational dispossession and trauma and ‘… summons the contradiction of creation and destruction, the same aporia that is our lived experience of this country’.2 Quilty began the painting Rorschach – The Butterfly Effect No. 2 with an image of a skull—a symbol that recurs throughout his practice—its dome-like crown adorned by a cast of serpents. Brandished by many a rebellious youth for its countercultural associations, the gaping mouth of Quilty’s skull calls to mind the imagery of heavy metal, bikers and tattoos, along with the more highbrow associations of the vanitas tradition, and the passing of time, and ultimately, life. Regardless of the way in which you come to it, it seems to both smile at and mock the viewer at the same time. The title of Quilty’s painting refers to the ‘Butterfly Effect’ in Chaos Theory – a concept developed by American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz as a metaphor to explain the way in which small changes in conditions may have large effects on weather. For Quilty, the Butterfly Effect captures the chaos at the heart of the making of his Rorschach paintings, while also asking, on a more existential level, about the role of art and the artist in contemporary life, and about just how we can make a difference. Given the fact that the artist’s high public profile has been generated as much by his activism and campaigning for various causes as for his art in recent years, he has ably demonstrated that this question is not just a rhetorical concern. For him, in fact, the two, are integrally linked. As he has said: ‘Change is the most powerful, poignant part of my creative process, and then by default, everything that comes out of that is about change. Change is seen in conservative circles as a very dangerous thing, but in my mind, if something’s broken and not right, it needs to change, and there are plenty of parts of my community that are broken, and not right. … [Art and design] carefully, and hopefully compassionately, and constructively … suggest ways to better ourselves. While humanity is a bit broken, there’s always a place for great art to be that vehicle of change, to touch on taboos, and to bring about change …’3 1. See Slade, Dr L, ‘The Colour of Quilty’ in Flanagan, R., L. Slade, V. Namatjira, F. Young and J. Paton, Ben Quilty, Penguin Random House, Melbourne, 2019, p. 34 2. Slade, ibid., p. 33. As the artist said of this work on 12 January 2016 on Instagram: ‘This work is a pale replacement for the non-existent signage across this country commemorating the violent histories of Australia that us Irish Australians prefer to ignore.’ @benquilty (viewed 28 March 2022) 3. ‘Art and Change with Ben Quilty’, National Gallery of Victoria, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPhTIFwiG5Y (viewed 28 March 2022) KELLY GELLATLY © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 04, 2022
BEN QUILTY, RED XB STUDY, 2006
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 RED XB STUDY, 2006 oil on canvas 40.5 x 45.5 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Red XB Study / 2006 Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Private collection, Sydney, acquired directly from the artist Annette Larkin Fine Art, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales, acquired from the above in 2017 EXHIBITED Autumn 2017 - Part II, Annette Larkin Fine Art, Sydney, 8 - 29 April 2017, cat. 1 ESSAY Ben Quilty’s friend and assistant director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Lisa Slade, noted in her 2009 survey exhibition of his work: ‘Cars are, of course, a type of currency – not only do they reflect the identity of their owners, but they also provide a means of bartering, and sometimes altering that identity.’1 The visual symbol of a second-hand muscle car has been a relatable prism through which a generation of suburban Australians have experienced and acted upon the landscape. Ben Quilty, keen to depict objects, people and landscapes that also function as social commentary, has endowed the prized Ford cars with gravitas beyond their shiny surfaces. The old maxim of ‘paint what you know’ has served Quilty well and has sustained his enduring series of candy-coloured and lusciously thick paintings of iconic Australian cars. Red XB Study, 2006 is a quintessential Quilty oil paint and aerosol study of the artist’s dream car. It is closely related to several works of the same subject and same name, all painted with Quilty’s idiosyncratic vigorous style, combining thick impasto strokes and slabs underpinned by spray-painted armatures and outlines. As Quilty has explained: ‘Most of my work investigates the relationship between a luscious surface and the darker and more confronting nature of the overall image. I enjoy the theatrics of forcing the viewer to move back from the enticing surface to see the more figurative imagery hidden in the paint.’2 The vigour and aggression of his painting technique mirrors and emphasises his thematic content, equating it with the recklessness of youthful hooning and macho posturing. The abstract landscape in which this car is placed is sketched out with cursory marks of pink spray paint, appearing again in the larger related works, Red XB and Red XB II. Quilty’s use of spray paint underpainting and overpainting began in 2006 following a residency in Barcelona through the Australia Council for the Arts. Soon it extended beyond the canvas, continuing the painted scene on the surrounding walls, and linking previously unrelated singular works into vast metamorphic sequences. What we see in Red XB Study is a palimpsest of its wider context which, on the walls of Quilty’s studio, included a row of suburban houses and front gates, with a footpath receding into the distance. The cross hatching of the gate that runs along the bonnet of the car is present in all these Red XB works, to varying degrees of painterly abstraction. With a saturated scarlet hue, the eponymous Red XB surges towards the viewer, barely contained by the tight edges of its stretched canvas, and steel frame. As opposed to other Quilty cars and vans, this Red XB model of the muscle car needn’t pop its hood in a gaudy display of power, not is it described by the artist as a landscape. Its simple design alone is a compelling subject, and the artist delights in the sensual pursuit of the act of painting it in sweeping and paint-laden gestures of its forms, stark against a pared-back landscape. 1. Slade, L., ‘Ben Quilty – We are History’, Ben Quilty Live!, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 2009, p. 22 2. correspondence between Lisa Slade and Ben Quilty, January 2008, MCA Collection Handbook [https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/ben-quilty/] (accessed 4/4/22) LUCIE REEVES-SMITH © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 31, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Untitled No.1 (Paris) 2014
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Untitled No.1 (Paris) 2014 oil on canvas (diptych) 60.0 x 50.0 cm (each); 60.0 x 100.0 cm (overall) (i) signed and dated verso: Quilty 2014 (ii) inscribed verso: Untitled no. 1 (Paris)
Menzies
Mar. 31, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Australian Landscape No. 6 2005
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Australian Landscape No. 6 2005 oil on canvas 150.5 x 150.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Australian Landscape/ NO 6/ oil on canvas/ Ben Quilty 05
Menzies
Mar. 31, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Grey Skull 2006
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Grey Skull 2006 oil on canvas 100.0 x 105.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Grey Skull/ 2006/ 100 x 105 cm/ Ben Quilty
Menzies
Mar. 31, 2022
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Self Portrait as a Budgie 2004
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Self Portrait as a Budgie 2004 oil on canvas 100.0 x 95.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: Self Portrait as/ a budgerigar/ (Parakeet)/ oil on canvas/ Ben Quilty 04/ 100 x 95 cm
Menzies
Dec. 10, 2021
BEN QUILTY SIGNED
Est: $200 - $250
Ben Quilty by Flanagan Richard, Slade Lisa, Namatjira Vincent, Young Frank, Paton Justin. Quarto Hardcover. Penguin, 2019 Signed by Ben Quilty. Excellent condition.
Sydney Rare Book Auctions
Dec. 01, 2021
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Windsor No. 5 2004
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Windsor No. 5 2004 oil on canvas 44.0 x 50.0 cm signed, dated, and inscribed verso: 'Windsor no. 5'/ Oil on canvas/ 44 x 50 cm/ Ben Quilty/ 04
Menzies
Dec. 01, 2021
BEN QUILTY born 1973, Overpass 2002
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 Overpass 2002 oil on canvas 180.5 x 140.0 cm signed with initials lower left: bq signed, dated and inscribed verso: 'Overpass'/ Oil on canvas/ 2002/ B Quilty/ signed LL/ 180 x 140 cm/ To: University &/ Schools Club/ 60 Phillip Street/ Sydney
Menzies
Nov. 10, 2021
BEN QUILTY, THE LOT NO.1, 2010
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 THE LOT NO.1, 2010 oil on canvas 60.0 x 70.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: The Lot I/ 2010/ Ben Quilty PROVENANCE GrantPirrie Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Menzies, Sydney, 10 December 2015, lot 10 Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED GrantPirrie at the Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong, 27 – 30 May 2010 RELATED WORK The Lot, 2006, oil on canvas, 150.0 x 160.0 cm, in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide ESSAY Painted in 2010, in a series following on from a metamorphic painting of his squalling infant son as a hamburger, Joe Burger, 2006, The Lot No 1 is an expressive display of a solitary, precariously stacked hamburger. Quilty’s still lives of the ubiquitous fast food are gutsy, reflecting plainly the attractions and dangers of the world in which we live today. Ben Quilty is the closest thing Australia has to a celebrity artist and as Brooke Turner suggested, some of his public acclaim can be attributed to his blokey charisma and masculine subject matter: ‘artists do better if they’re blokes first, artist second… with references to cars and soldiers, birds, burgers and babies’.1 Quilty’s longstanding dedication to the reflection of the activities and machismo of the Australian whitefella would not be complete without images of the occasional burger, packed with bacon, egg, beetroot and a hashbrown – humorously known throughout the land as ‘the lot’! The genre still life historically was associated with grandiose displays of food, the rarity and fragile nature of which illustrated the wealth of the painting’s commissioner and in a succinct vanitas, reminds us of the fleeting nature of life. Viewed in the context of Quilty’s early motifs associated with suburban reckless youths: the muscle cars, portraits of catatonically drunk mates and skulls, this seemingly anodyne appetizing burger acquires a slightly more sinister and cautionary subtext. In its ‘loaded’ form, the local hamburger is a little different to the simple cheeseburger, epitomizing symbol of American consumer culture and high capitalism. As an artistic motif, popularized by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, the burger has historically been a vehicle for cultural criticism. Warhol in particular emphasized the democratizing effect of the burger in American culture, as a unifying commodity available and enjoyed by all Americans regardless of class or social standing, mass-produced and enjoyed by the masses. Painted quickly with cake decorating implements, in emphatic swathes of heavy impasto, Quilty’s painting becomes more than the faithful representation of subject matter. Instead, it tends toward becoming the subject itself, recreating the viscous contents of a burger sliding from the crusty bun top, and collapsing across the canvas. No wonder the Art Gallery of South Australia chose to hang their version above the Art Gallery Food+Wine foyer during Quilty’s recent retrospective exhibition, in a cheeky exploitation of hungry audiences! 1. Turner, B., Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 February 2019 LUCIE REEVES-SMITH © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
BEN QUILTY, PORTRAIT OF HELEN MARCOOLA, 2005
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 PORTRAIT OF HELEN MARCOOLA, 2005 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 40.0 x 30.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: ‘Portrait of / HELEN Marcoola” / acrylic on canvas / 2005 / Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane Private collection, Queensland © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
BEN QUILTY, PORTRAIT OF JIMMY MARCOOLA, 2005
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
BEN QUILTY born 1973 PORTRAIT OF JIMMY MARCOOLA, 2005 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 40.0 x 30.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed verso: ‘Portrait of Jimmy / Marcoola’ / Acrylic on / polyester / 2005 / Ben Quilty PROVENANCE Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane Private collection, Queensland © Ben Quilty
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 28, 2021
BEN QUILTY (1973 - ) Air Commodore John Oddie, after Afghanistan archival pigment print, ed. 24/100 90 x 90 cm .
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
BEN QUILTY (1973 - ) Air Commodore John Oddie, after Afghanistan archival pigment print, ed. 24/100 90 x 90 cm .
Lawsons
Sep. 28, 2021
Ben Quilty (b. 1973)
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Paris Pink, 2001 oil on canvas, titled, signed and dated verso 'Paris Pink, Ben Quilty, 2001'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 23, 2021
BEN QUILTY (1973 - ) Nude Studies, 2015 ink on paper 105.5 x 71 cm (frame: 120 x 85 x 4 cm) signed and dated lower left
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
BEN QUILTY (1973 - ) Nude Studies, 2015 ink on paper 105.5 x 71 cm (frame: 120 x 85 x 4 cm) signed and dated lower left
Lawsons

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