Australian Blue-Chip Artists on a Shoestring Budget (Part 1)
You may not be able to buy the paintings. But the prints are a different story.
Artworks by Australia’s top artists will often set you back six figures. Major paintings by the biggest names can sell for well over $1 million. For most collectors, that puts them well out of reach.
But not entirely. Many of these artists also made prints. These works regularly appear at auction at a fraction of the price of their paintings.
This week, I’m looking at my picks. Most sell for under $10,000. That is not small change, but it is a much more realistic entry point into some of the biggest names in Australian art. I’ve focused on recognisable artists and prints that appear reasonably often at auction. It is about works you can actually watch for, bid on, and potentially own.
Part one covers the blue-chip classics. These are the names most collectors already know. Part two will look at more contemporary names in the Australian market.
Margaret Preston (1875 - 1963)
Printmaking was central to Margaret Preston’s practice. Her woodcuts and hand-coloured prints helped define her reputation, especially her bold still lifes and native flower subjects. The challenge is price. The best Preston prints are no longer especially “cheap”, with many now carrying five-figure expectations. But there are some buying opportunities in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, including works such as Wooden Bridge, Mosman (edition of 50) and Flowers in Jug (edition of 125). Examples from these editions have also sold for more, so patience will likely be necessary.
Sidney Nolan (1917 - 1992)
Sidney Nolan’s works of Ned Kelly are amongst the most recognisable in Australian art. The paintings are out of reach for almost everyone, but his prints give collectors a way in at a far lower price. I would focus on the Kelly prints, there are two series that come up at auction somewhat frequently: Ned Kelly I (1970-71, edition of 60) and Ned Kelly II (1978-79, edition of 75). A set of each is in the collection of the Tate Britain. While a full set can sell for $50,000, individual works are more likely to sell around $5,000.
Arthur Boyd (1920 - 1999)
Boyd produced a large body of prints, which makes him one of the more accessible names on this list. That was clear in Leonard Joel’s auction last year, when a collection of Boyd prints from his printmakers, Tony and Indra Deigan, came to market. Many sold for around $1,000. For a major Australian artist whose paintings can sell for very large sums, that is a surprisingly affordable entry point. The key is to be selective. There is a lot of Boyd print material around, so I would focus on images that connect clearly to his best-known subjects, particularly the landscapes of Shoalhaven.
John Brack (1920 - 1999)
John Brack is best known for sharp, tightly composed paintings of postwar suburban and working life. My pick of his prints is La Traviata (edition of 150), which was originally commissioned by the Australian Opera. Two examples have sold recently for $7,500 and $11,250 both at Leonard Joel. There are also numerous other prints of nude female figures that typically sell for around $1,000 to $4,000. But La Traviata feels more distinctive and more memorable than many of the smaller nude prints.
Jeffrey Smart (1921 - 2013)
Smart’s works feel more contemporary than many of those by his peers. The industrial and city settings, often with waiting figures and bold blocks of colour, still look fresh. Three prints that regularly capture this world are The Waiting Bus (edition of 80), The Last Train (edition of 65), and Man with Bouquet (edition of 100), which generally sell in the $6,000 to $10,000 range. Another option is Cable Coils, which has sold for around $3,000 - $6,000 in recent years and is an etching of an original work of the same name by Smart that sold for $828,000 in 2024.
Margaret Olley (1923 - 2011)
Olley is best known for her richly coloured interiors and table-top still lifes filled with flowers, fruit and ceramics. Her prints carry much of that same appeal at a much lower price. Recent examples have sold for around $3,000 to $5,000. The works I would watch for are Flowers, Plums and Oranges (edition of 50), Marigolds and Fruits (edition of 80) and Basket of Oranges, Lemons and Jug (edition of 150).
John Coburn (1925 - 2006)
Coburn is not the most well known name on this list, but his works are perhaps the most distinctive. His bold, colourful abstract works have an immediate decorative appeal and are reminiscent of Matisse’s cut-outs. His prints appear regularly at auction, with many selling for under $1,000. My pick is the Seasons series (edition of 99), especially Spring, which has regularly sold for between $2,000 and $3,000 in recent years. Other editions to watch are Paradise Garden (edition of 99) and the various versions of Tree of Life.
Fred Williams (1927 - 1982)
Williams is one of the more visually restrained artists in this list. But that is also the point. His best works reduced the Australian landscape to marks, spacing and rhythm, and his prints can capture that very well. He produced a series of 12 prints, the Lithographs 1976-1978 (edition of 50), amongst these Wild Dog Creek I and Wild Dog Creek II are the more interesting and have sold for around $5,000 in recent years. Also look for his prints of the You Yangs from the early to mid 1960s, as his paintings of this landscape were one of the key moments in Williams’ career. The titles and categorisation of the prints appear messy, but they have also sold for around $5,000 recently.
Charles Blackman (1928-2018)
Blackman produced a number of prints, the two I would focus on are Blackman’s Schoolgirls (edition of 75) and Blackman’s Alice (also an edition of 75). Both sets of prints are based on earlier defining periods in his career.
Blackman Schoolgirls is a set of five prints, based on Blackman’s original Schoolgirls series from the early 1950s that have been described as a turning point that established him as a significant painter of postwar modern life. A full set sold for around $5,000 in 2024. Blackman’s Alice is a series of six prints that connect directly to his most famous body of work from the late 1950s; a full set of the six works sold for $7,364 in 2024 at Menzies, while individual prints from this series sell for less.
Prices for Blackman’s prints have fallen since the 2010s, which may suggest he is currently out of favour. But that could mean a good buying opportunity for collectors.
John Olsen (1928 - 2023)
Olsen, much like Fred Williams captured the Australian landscape in an almost abstract expressionist way. But where Williams is pared back, Olsen embraces energy, movement and colour. He created numerous prints, and my pick would be Lake Eyre in December (edition of 75). Although it most recently sold for just $2,000, it hasn’t appeared at auction frequently. Appearing at auction more frequently is Tropical Rainshower (edition of 300). Condition seems to vary, which may explain the wide range of prices. One example sold for under $1,000 in 2025, while others have sold for more than $4,000 in recent years.
Brett Whiteley (1939 - 1992)
Whiteley is probably the biggest name on this list, which makes his prints especially interesting. Many of his most recognisable prints are already well beyond a shoestring budget. Lipstick (edition of 50) sold for just over $80,000 in 2025, while The Cat (edition of 100) often sells for $40,000 to $70,000.
But there are still Whiteley prints under $10,000. The better opportunities are usually smaller etchings, animal and bird subjects, Paris works, and Bali screenprints. The three Swinging Monkey works (edition of 50) sells below $10,000, while Garden in Sanur, Bali (edition of 100) sold for $6,150 in 2025 at Bonhams. With Whiteley, I would be cautiously selective. Don’t buy for the name alone. Hold out for something within budget that still captures the style of his best work.
A few names are worth mentioning because they almost fit this list, but not quite.
Dorrit Black (1891 - 1951) and Ethel Spowers (1890 - 1947) are both important Australian printmakers, but their best prints are now well beyond the shoestring category. Last year, Black’s The Lawn Mower sold for $67,500 and Dutch Houses sold for $41,727. Spowers is in similar territory, with Tug of War selling for $71,182 and The Rain Cloud for $51,545.
First Nations artists are another difficult category for this exercise. There are prints worth tracking down, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s State of My Country and Rover Thomas’s Red Rock Stockyard, but they appear infrequently and printmaking has not been central to their practices.
Russell Drysdale, Arthur Streeton and Ethel Carrick Fox are three big Australian names that produced prints but very infrequently appear at auction. Meanwhile John Peter Russell, Grace Cossington Smith, and Ian Fairweather seem to have stayed away from prints almost entirely.
These are amongst the biggest names in Australia art. The important point is that their prints are not a cheap substitute for paintings. The best ones stand on their own. But they also give collectors a realistic way into artists whose major works are now far beyond their reach.
You just need to be patient and selective. Not every print by a famous artist is worth chasing. But if you focus on strong images, good condition and sensible prices, there are still opportunities to own serious works.
Next week we’ll look at more contemporary names and print editions to collect.