Painting Value Calculator
A rough orientation, from medium, size, condition and the artist's standing.
Who painted it decides most of a painting's value. A signed oil by an unknown or emerging artist usually sits in the hundreds of dollars to low thousands, a work by an established artist with an auction record in the thousands to tens of thousands, and a blue-chip name far higher. Medium, size, condition and provenance then move the figure; recent auction results for the same artist are the only real evidence.
Figures reviewed September 2026
$8,000 – $18,500
Listed / established · Oil · Medium
A named artist changes this entirely
An indicative range, not a valuation.
Why the range is wide
Two works of the same size can sit worlds apart. The artist decides most of it.
How much is my painting worth, and how the figure is reached
Art value is almost entirely a question of authorship. The same canvas, the same size, the same competence — one signature makes it a four-figure decorative picture and another makes it a seven-figure lot. Everything else adjusts a number that the artist's name has already set.
This indicator works in that order. It starts from the artist's standing in the market, then scales for medium, size, condition, signature and documentation. The range it returns is wide on purpose, and it is an orientation rather than an appraisal.
Find the artist first
Before any figure means anything, establish who painted it. Read the signature, then look for what is on the back: gallery labels, exhibition stickers, framer's marks, stretcher stamps, inventory numbers, old auction lot tags. The verso often tells a clearer story than the front.
Then look for comparable sales — the same artist, a similar period and subject, a similar size, sold publicly and recently. Auction results are the only prices that are actually evidence. Asking prices on retail sites are not, and neither is what a similar-looking picture is listed for.
What moves a painting's value
In descending order of effect:
- The artist, and where the work sits within their output — a strong period and a characteristic subject are worth multiples of a weak one.
- Whether the attribution is secure. A confident name, a catalogue raisonné reference or an accepted expert opinion changes the category entirely.
- Medium. Oil on canvas leads, then acrylic, then works on paper and drawings, with prints and reproductions far behind.
- Condition. Tears, flaking, heavy overpaint, relining and light damage all discount a work, and restoration is priced into any offer.
- Provenance and exhibition history, which underwrite both confidence and price.
- Size and subject, which matter mainly through demand: pictures that suit a wall sell more readily than very large or very dark ones.
Retail, auction and what you would be paid
A gallery price, an auction estimate and an offer from a dealer are three different numbers for the same painting. Auction returns arrive after the seller's commission and charges, so the hammer price is not what lands in your account. Work that out before you consign anything.
As a rule of thumb, fair market value — what a work realises at auction — commonly sits at 45 to 70 percent of a retail gallery price, and a dealer buying outright pays 25 to 45 percent. The art insurance instrument lays those figures out from any single number you have.
How to find comparable sales
Search the artist's name in the free results archives the major auction houses publish, then in a price database if you have access to one. Filter to works sold, not offered, in the last five to ten years. Keep only the ones that match on medium and size first, then on period and subject.
Three or four genuinely comparable results are worth more than thirty loose ones. If the artist has no public results at all, that is information too: the work will be priced as a decorative picture, and the lowest row of the table below is the honest one.
- Same artist, and the same kind of work — an oil is not comparable to a drawing by the same hand.
- Similar size, within roughly a quarter either way.
- Similar period and subject; an artist's strongest decade can be worth several times their weakest.
- Condition noted in the lot description, so a damaged result is not read as a market price.
- The price including buyer's premium, and the date, since markets for individual artists move.
The arithmetic, in the open
The calculator starts from a mid figure for the artist's standing, then multiplies by factors for medium, size and condition, adds twelve percent for a signature and twenty-five percent for documented provenance, and returns a range from sixty to one hundred and forty percent of the result. The tables below are computed from those same figures.
| Artist's standing | Indicative range | What confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown / emerging | $510 – $1,200 | Decorative and local sales |
| Listed / established | $8,000 – $18,700 | Auction records under the artist's name |
| Renowned / blue-chip | $199,900 – $466,500 | Catalogue raisonné and major-house results |
From the calculator above, without documented provenance. Adding provenance lifts each range by a quarter.
| Input | Factor applied | Why it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Artist's standing (starting mid figure) | Unknown / emerging $900 · Listed / established $14,000 · Renowned / blue-chip $350,000 | Authorship sets the order of magnitude before anything else |
| Medium | Oil ×1.00 · Acrylic ×0.90 · Watercolour ×0.70 · Drawing ×0.60 · Print / edition ×0.15 | Oil on canvas leads; a print is priced as a multiple |
| Size | Small (under 40cm) ×0.70 · Medium (40–100cm) ×1.00 · Large (over 100cm) ×1.45 | Larger works carry more of the artist's hand, up to what suits a wall |
| Condition | Excellent ×1.00 · Good ×0.85 · Fair ×0.60 · Poor ×0.35 | Restoration is priced into every offer |
| Signed | ×1.12 | Supporting evidence, never proof on its own |
| Documented provenance | ×1.25 | Labels, invoices and exhibition history underwrite the name |
| Range | ×0.6 to ×1.4 around the result | Two works by one hand can sit far apart on period and subject |
Indicative US figures. A named artist with an auction record overrides every row here.
Questions we are asked
- How much is my painting worth?
- Start with the artist. Enter their standing, along with medium, size and condition above, for an indicative range — then confirm it against recent auction results for the same artist, since authorship decides most of the figure.
- How do I find out who painted a picture?
- Read the signature, then examine the back for gallery and exhibition labels, stretcher stamps and inventory numbers. Those, together with the style and materials, are how attribution is argued.
- Is a signature enough to prove a painting is genuine?
- No. Signatures are the easiest thing on a picture to add. Authorship is argued from the handling of paint, the materials, the documentation and expert opinion, with the signature as supporting evidence at best.
- Where can I get a painting appraised?
- For insurance or estate purposes you want a qualified appraiser working to a recognized standard. For a market opinion, the specialist department of an auction house will look at photographs without charge, since they are hoping to sell it.
- Is an unsigned painting worth anything?
- It can be. Many period paintings were never signed, and a signature is the easiest thing to add to a picture. An unsigned work is valued on what can be established about its hand, period and quality — expect a lower figure until attribution is argued, not a worthless one.
- How much does a painting appraisal cost?
- A qualified appraiser should charge by the hour or per item, never a percentage of the value they assign. Auction house specialists give a free verbal market opinion from photographs, but that is an estimate for selling, not a written appraisal for insurance or tax.
Art Print Value by Artist
What the prints and editions people actually own sell for at auction — artist by artist, dated and sourced.
Beyond the EstimateRead the work itself
This indicator works from what you type. The instrument works from a photograph — the likely hand and period, and a range with them.