# William Dargie artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/william-dargie/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T19:29:38.095Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1912-06-04
- Death date: 2003-07-26
- Nationality: Australian
- Movements: Australian realism
- Common media: oil on canvas, portraiture

## About William Dargie

Sir William Alexander Dargie (1912–2003) was an Australian painter celebrated as one of the country's foremost portraitists. Born on 4 June 1912, he achieved national prominence through a distinguished career spanning decades. Dargie holds the record for winning the Archibald Prize—Australia's premier award for portraiture—on eight separate occasions, a feat unmatched since 1952. Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) and knighted for his services to art, Dargie painted many of Australia's most prominent public figures during the mid-twentieth century. His work is grounded in a realist tradition, emphasizing careful observation and technical control. Collectors and institutions seeking examples of Australian portraiture from this era frequently encounter Dargie's paintings at auction and in public gallery collections.

## Common works and media

Dargie is most commonly encountered in appraisal and auction contexts as an oil-on-canvas portrait painter. Works include formal commissioned portraits of public figures, military officers, and civic leaders, as well as self-portraits and landscape subjects. His paintings are typically medium to large format. Original oil paintings are the primary collectible medium; prints and reproductions of his Archibald Prize works also circulate but carry significantly less value.

## Market and appraisal context

William Dargie's paintings appear regularly in Australian and international auction markets. His Archibald Prize-winning works and portraits of notable sitters command the strongest collector interest. Value is influenced by the identity and prominence of the portrait subject, whether the work has documented exhibition history, canvas size, condition, and the completeness of provenance records. Attribution should be verified through signature examination and provenance documentation, as Dargie's style is representative of mid-century Australian academic portraiture and may resemble contemporaries in the same school.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified artist identity data from library authority files and institutional records with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot information when available. Sources include the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), VIAF, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/20062
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8007588
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dargie
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/96306466/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500086391
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92006176