Alfred de Bréanski Auction Prices and Value Guide
Alfred de Bréanski auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 1,092 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Alfred de Bréanski auction prices: quick answer
Alfred de Bréanski auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Alfred de Bréanski
- Source records
- 1,092
- Market update
- 2026-02-06
Artist context
About Alfred de Bréanski
Alfred de Bréanski (1852–1928) was a British landscape painter and watercolourist active during the late Victorian era. Born in Greenwich, England, to a Polish immigrant family, he became known for his atmospheric depictions of the British countryside, particularly Highland and Welsh scenery. Bréanski exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists, establishing a reputation among Victorian collectors for richly toned, naturalistic landscapes. He married the Welsh artist Annie Roberts, and their son, Alfred Fontville de Bréanski, also pursued a career as a landscape painter. The family connection creates a common area of attribution complexity in the secondary market. Bréanski's work remains widely encountered at auction, with over a thousand recorded sales, reflecting sustained collector interest in traditional British landscape painting of the period.
Victorian landscape paintingoil paintingwatercolourlandscapegenre pictures
Common works and media
Bréanski's auction record spans oil paintings on canvas and board as well as watercolours on paper. Typical subjects include Highland cattle landscapes, Scottish loch and mountain views, Welsh valley scenes, river and pastoral compositions, and occasional genre pictures. Works range from small cabinet-size panels to larger exhibition-scale canvases. Collectors most frequently encounter unsigned or indistinctly signed works that require attribution care, as the similarity between father's and son's styles can complicate identification.
Market and appraisal context
Alfred de Bréanski maintains a well-established secondary market with 59 documented auction lots spanning two decades (2005–2025). Of those, 38 carry realized prices, producing a median of £6,000 equivalent and an interquartile range of approximately £2,800–£10,800. The ceiling is materially higher: a Christie's New York sale in April 2012 reached $37,500, and a Christie's London sale in December 2011 realized £18,750. At the other end, smaller or less-attributed works have sold for as little as £500–£800. Liquidity is moderate but steady, with 1–2 priced lots appearing in each of the last two 12-month windows. Sales are dispersed across major international houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams) and regional specialists (Heritage Auctions, Adam's, Neumeister, Auktionshaus Stahl, Dallas Auction Gallery), indicating broad demand rather than reliance on a single venue. The breadth of houses and the long date range together signal durable collector interest in Victorian British landscape painting.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Common auction categories
- 19th Century British & European Paintings
- Victorian Art
- oil painting
- watercolour
Value drivers
- Attribution: distinguish works by Alfred de Breanski Sr. (1852–1928) from those by his son Alfred Fontville de Breanski, as both were landscape painters
- Medium: oil paintings and watercolours are both documented; medium and condition materially affect appraisal
- Provenance and exhibition history: works with documented Royal Academy or Royal Society of British Artists exhibition records carry stronger provenance
- Attribution: distinguish works by Alfred de Bréanski Sr. (1852–1928) from those by his son Alfred Fontville de Bréanski; both painted similar Highland and Welsh subjects, and the son's works typically trade at lower price points
- Medium: oil paintings on canvas dominate the higher end of the price range; watercolours and works on board generally trade lower
- Size: the recorded lots range from small cabinet panels to exhibition-scale canvases (e.g., 60.5 × 91.5 cm); larger works with strong composition consistently outperform
Appraisal caveats
- No catalogue raisonné was identified in available sources; attribution should be confirmed by a specialist
- The artist's large volume of auction appearances (over 1,000 records in the Appraisily database) indicates an active secondary market, but individual values vary widely by size, subject, condition, and provenance
- No catalogue raisonné exists for Alfred de Bréanski, making definitive attribution difficult; the similarity between the father's and son's styles is a well-documented source of misattribution in the secondary market
- Auction prices are drawn from the Appraisily database of 59 lots (38 priced); this is a substantial but not exhaustive sample and may not capture every sale, especially at smaller regional houses
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.
- Wikidata library authority
- Library of Congress library authority
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History museum or university
- VIAF / OCLC library authority
- Getty Vocabulary Program library authority
Data basis
This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.
Artist value FAQ
How much is Alfred de Bréanski worth?
Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.
Can Appraisily value my Alfred de Bréanski artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.