What is my painting worth?

It depends on six things, in this order: who painted it, what it is painted on, where it sits in that artist's career, how large it is, what condition the surface is really in, and what papers you hold. The Valuation Walk on this page asks those six and returns an indicative range anchored on the artist's highest published auction result, showing every factor that moved the figure. It is an indicative view and not a valuation: a valuation needs the work on the table.

How do I find out if a painting is valuable?

Start with the signature and the back of the work, which usually carries more information than the front: labels, stamps, stretcher marks and old inventory numbers. Then establish whether the artist has an auction record at all. An artist with no published results is not necessarily without value, but the value cannot be anchored on evidence, and a specialist should see it directly.

Does provenance affect the value of a painting?

More than almost anything except the name. Two identical canvases by one artist, same year and same condition, one with an unbroken ownership record and one with a decade missing, are not worth the same money. The difference is not aesthetic, it is documentary, and it is recoverable only by work done before the sale rather than after it.

What is a painting worth with no papers at all?

Materially less, because the work is then sold on the strength of the object alone and the buyer carries the risk of attribution. It is not unsellable. Ownership history can often be rebuilt from exhibition catalogues, old auction results, family correspondence and the labels on the reverse, and that reconstruction is usually worth more than the fee it costs.

Is an online art valuation accurate?

It is an indication, not an appraisal, and any tool that says otherwise is overselling. A form cannot judge whether a work is by the hand it is attributed to, cannot read the surface under raking light, cannot weigh whether the subject is one the market wants, and cannot see what has sold privately. Those four limits are printed with the result on this page rather than left for the reader to find out later.

How much does an art valuation cost?

The opening assessment of a work offered for sale is not chargeable: send photographs and you receive a written view within five working days, stating what the work appears to be, an estimated range, and the comparable results behind it. A formal written valuation for insurance, succession or division between heirs is a separate service, quoted on the work.

Why is an auction record not what my painting is worth?

A record is one work on one night with two bidders who would not stop. It is an exceptional event, not the top of a scale, and it usually stands well above what a fine work by the same hand normally makes. Any tool that multiplies down from a record without correcting for that is flattering you, which is why the walk applies and displays a separate factor separating a good example from a record-setter.

What is it worth?

AB / VALUATION WALK

Six questions. The house answers with a range, the published auction record it is anchored on, every factor that moved the figure, and a plain statement of what a form cannot know. It is an indicative view, not a valuation: a valuation needs the work on the table.

Step 1 of 6

Why it is built this way

The record is a ceiling

Every artist here has a published auction record, and it is the best work of the best period in the best condition. Quoting it back at the owner of a small late drawing would be flattery. The walk starts at that ceiling and works down.

The arithmetic is shown

Each answer applies a factor, and the factor and the reason are printed beside it. You can disagree with a judgement, which you cannot do with a number that arrives on its own.

The gaps are stated

Attribution, surface, subject and the private market are all beyond what a form can see. They are listed with the result rather than left for the reader to discover later.