Prince of Wales (Midpul) value and auction results

Artworks offered at auction: 99
Sold: 78%
Highest hammer price: $130,000 AUD
Median hammer price: $10,500 AUD

For his life, Larrakia ceremonial background, painting style and the development of his Body Marks paintings, see the main Prince of Wales (Midpul) Aboriginal artist page.

Prince of Wales (Midpul) paintings have developed a substantial secondary market despite his remarkably short painting career. His most desirable works are generally the larger Body Marks paintings produced from the late 1990s to 2002, particularly examples with strong Karen Brown Gallery provenance, important exhibition histories or distinguished previous collections.

Auction results vary considerably according to size, date, composition, provenance and exhibition history. Smaller works and works on paper can sell for only a few thousand dollars, while major canvases have achieved prices in the tens of thousands

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 1994-1996

Body Marks, c. 1994

Size
38.5 × 28 cm

Medium
Acrylic on board

Auction
Lawson~Menzies (now trading as Menzies), Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 25 May 2004, Lot 8

Provenance
Private Collection, New South Wales. Painted during the artist’s first workshop in Darwin, circa 1994.

Price Realised
$2,400 AUD

Two early 1995 Body Marks paintings by Prince of Wales (Midpul), with red, blue, black and white dotted designs.

Untitled; Untitled, 1995

Size
46 × 35.5 cm each

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Bonhams, Aboriginal Art; Aboriginal Art from The Superannuation Fund of William Nuttall and Annette Reeves, Sydney, 28 May 2012, Lot 166

Provenance
Painted in 1995; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection.

Price Realised
$5,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1996

Size
125 × 91 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Bonhams, Important Australian Art; Sidney Nolan, The Heide Years, Sydney, 23 August 2022, Lot 7

Provenance
Shades of Ochre, Darwin; Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1996.

Price Realised
$15,000 AUD

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 1997-1998

Body Marks, 1997

Size
122 × 92 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian and International Fine Art, Melbourne, 6 May 2015, Lot 55

Provenance
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi; Private collection, United States of America.

Price Realised
$22,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1997

Size
120 × 85 cm

Medium
Acrylic on linen

Auction
Lawsons, Collector’s Edit: Fine Art, Editions & Sculpture, Sydney, 8 October 2025, Lot 5007

Provenance
Estate of the Late Russell Mears.

Price Realised
$10,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1997

Size
136 × 88 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen on canvas

Auction
Lawsons, The Connoisseur’s Capsule – A Timed Online Auction. Lawsons x Menzies, Melbourne, 17 June 2026, Lot 15

Provenance
Karen Brown Fine Art, Northern Territory (cat. EP33); Hogarth Galleries, Sydney; Russell Mears, Sydney; Estate of the above; Private collection, Melbourne.

Price Realised
$7,750 AUD

Body Marks, 1998

Size
102 × 102 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Indigenous Art, Melbourne, 26 March 2025, Lot 7

Provenance
Commissioned by Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Adelaide, acquired from the above in July 1999.

Price Realised
$14,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1998

Size
152 × 91.5 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 17 March 2021, Lot 3

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Galerie Exler, Frankfurt, Germany; Private collection, Hesse, Germany; Van Ham Kunstauktionen, Cologne, Germany, 17 June 2020, Lot 787; Private collection, United Kingdom.

Price Realised
$7,500 AUD

Body Marks, 1998

Size
76 × 56 cm

Medium
Acrylic and watercolour on paper

Auction
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art), Indigenous Fine Art Auction, Sydney, 11 October 2022, Lot 2

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Northern Territory (cat. KB-MP-0016); Private Collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$5,000 AUD

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 1999

Body Marks, 1999

Size
223 × 132 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 18 May 2011, Lot 28

Provenance
Kululuk Community, Darwin; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Northern Territory; Private collection, Queensland.

Price Realised
$48,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
126.5 × 71 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Indigenous Art, Melbourne, 25 March 2026, Lot 33

Provenance
Commissioned by Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Adelaide, acquired from the above in 2004.

Price Realised
$25,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
133 × 97 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Bonhams, The Laverty Collection: Contemporary Australian Art, Sydney, 24 March 2013, Lot 89

Provenance
Purchased from Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin, in April 2000; The Laverty Collection, Sydney.

Price Realised
$25,000 AUD

Untitled (Body Marks), 1999

Size
91 × 120 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, New York, 23 May 2023, Lot 39

Provenance
Painted in Darwin, 1999; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private Collection, Perth, Western Australia; Bonhams, Sydney, Aboriginal Art, 28 June 2011, Lot 31; The Dennis and Debra Scholl Collection, Miami; Sotheby’s, London, Aboriginal Art, 14 March 2018, Lot 39; Private Collection.

Price Realised
$20,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
128.5 × 83 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 24 March 2010, Lot 16

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Sydney; Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 31 July 2006, Lot 117; Private collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$18,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
126 × 105 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, The Ainsworth Collection – Contemporary & Aboriginal Art; Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 26 March 2014, Lot 88

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Sydney; Annette Larkin Fine Art, Sydney; Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in September 2009.

Price Realised
$16,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
138 × 102.5 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Inaugural Aboriginal Art Auction, Melbourne, 25 March 2009, Lot 19

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$15,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
123 × 86 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 30 March 2022, Lot 34

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private Collection; Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 24 July 2007, Lot 166; Private collection, Melbourne.

Price Realised
$14,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
127 × 74 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 25 July 2005, Lot 173

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Sydney.

Price Realised
$10,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
66.5 × 63.5 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Lawson~Menzies (now trading as Menzies), Australian Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 14 November 2007, Lot 52

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery (cat. EP5/99); Songlines Gallery, USA; Private Collection, Netherlands.

Price Realised
$6,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
78 × 106 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen

Auction
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art), Indigenous Fine Art Auction, Sydney, 20 June 2023, Lot 20

Provenance
Karen Brown Fine Art, Northern Territory (cat. EP1/99); Hogarth Galleries, New South Wales; Private Collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$5,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
94.4 × 67 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Bonhams, Important Australian Art, Sydney, 25 November 2020, Lot 47

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands; Bonhams, Sydney, The Thomas Vroom Collection, 6 September 2015, Lot 61; Private collection, Sydney.

Price Realised
$4,000 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
85.5 × 67 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Bonhams, The Thomas Vroom Collection, Sydney, 6 September 2015, Lot 62

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin.

Price Realised
$3,200 AUD

Body Marks, 1999

Size
58 × 55 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 29 July 2003, Lot 507

Provenance
Painted in Darwin in 1999; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private Collection, Adelaide.

Price Realised
$2,000 AUD

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 2000

Body Marks, 2000

Size
187 × 146 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, London, 14 March 2018, Lot 57

Provenance
Painted in Darwin in 2000; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired October 2000; Bonhams, The Laverty Collection: Contemporary Australian Art, Sydney, 24 March 2013, Lot 41; The Dennis and Debra Scholl Collection, Miami.

Price Realised
$80,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2000

Size
160 × 120 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, New York, 13 December 2019, Lot 23

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin (cat. KB0223); The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands.

Price Realised
$28,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2000

Size
120 × 91 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal Art from the Laverty Collection, Sydney, 8 March 2015, Lot 121

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, purchased September 2001.

Price Realised
$26,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2000

Size
131 × 102.5 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Auction, Melbourne, 4 April 2012, Lot 1

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$24,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2000

Size
104 × 74 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on paper

Auction
Lawson~Menzies (now trading as Menzies), Australian Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 14 November 2007, Lot 1

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery; AMP Collection.

Price Realised
$15,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2000

Size
120 × 78 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Mossgreen Auctions, The Ross & Rona Clarke Collection, Brisbane, 9 September 2012, Lot 84

Provenance
Lynda Bonson of Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin (reference no. LBB52000).

Price Realised

$10,000 AUD

Body Marks IV, 2000

Size
78 × 56 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on paper

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 18 May 2011, Lot 118

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Queensland.

Price Realised
$4,000 AUD

Body Marks III, 2000

Size
78 × 56 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on paper

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 18 May 2011, Lot 116

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Queensland.

Price Realised
$3,600 AUD

Body Marks II, 2000

Size
78 × 56 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on paper

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art, Melbourne, 18 May 2011, Lot 115

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Queensland.

Price Realised
$2,600 AUD

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 2001

Body Marks, 2001

Size
146 × 205 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 24 July 2007, Lot 94

Provenance
Not stated.

Price Realised
$130,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2001

Size
161.5 × 125 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 5 June 2012, Lot 26

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private Collection, Melbourne; Sotheby’s Australia, Aboriginal Art; Including the Wallent Collection of Hermannsburg Watercolours, Melbourne, 31 October 2006, Lot 46; Private Collection, New South Wales.

Price Realised
$38,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2001

Size
140 × 60.5 cm each; 140 × 121 cm overall

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Indigenous Art, Melbourne, 26 March 2024, Lot 21

Provenance
Commissioned by Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Adelaide, acquired from the above in 2001.

Price Realised
$20,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2001

Size
120 × 91 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 18 March 2020, Lot 11

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Darwin.

Price Realised
$18,000 AUD

Prince of Wales (Midpul) value 2002-2003

Body Marks, 2002

Size
137 × 81.5 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 15 October 2012, Lot 9

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin (stock KB0535); Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; Private Collection, United States; Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, 25 July 2005, Lot 175; Private Collection, South Australia.

Price Realised
$27,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2002

Size
137 × 80 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian & International Fine Art, Sydney, 20 September 2017, Lot 66

Provenance
Commissioned by Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Aboriginal Pacific Arts, Sydney; Private collection, New South Wales, acquired from the above in 2002.

Price Realised
$13,000 AUD

Body Marks, 2002

Size
92 × 77 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Fine Art + Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 2 December 2015, Lot 107

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private collection, Melbourne.

Price Realised
$10,000 AUD

Wadjinginy Ceremonial Body Designs 2002 by Prince of Wales (Midpul), a diptych of blue outlined forms filled with red, blue and ochre body-mark dots

Wadjinginy Ceremonial Body Designs (Diptych), 2002

Size
92 × 34 cm each

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Lawson~Menzies (now trading as Menzies), Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 25 May 2004, Lot 7

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Private Collection, Sydney.

Price Realised

$10,000 AUD

Body Marks 2002 by Prince of Wales (Midpul), with black linear ceremonial body-mark form surrounded by blue and black dotting on white

Body Marks (KB 1180), 2002

Size
91 × 76 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Modern & Contemporary, Melbourne, 13 June 2018, Lot 28

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; Gene and Brian Sherman Collection, Sydney.

Price Realised
$4,500 AUD

Body Marks, 2002

Size
45.5 × 36 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on linen

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Aboriginal Art from the Laverty Collection, Sydney, 8 March 2015, Lot 120

Provenance
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin; The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney.

Price Realised

$2,800 AUD

Body Marks, 2003

Size
120 × 135 cm

Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Auction
Deutscher and Hackett, Important Australian Indigenous Art, Melbourne, 26 March 2025, Lot 8

Provenance
Commissioned by Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin (cat. KB1125); Private collection, Adelaide, acquired from the above.

Price Realised
$30,000 AUD

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