Felice Beato Auction Prices and Value Guide
Felice Beato auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 235 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Felice Beato auction prices: quick answer
Felice Beato auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Felice Beato
- Source records
- 235
- Market update
- 2026-02-06
Artist context
About Felice Beato
Felice Beato (1832–1909) was an Italian-born, British-naturalised photographer recognised as one of the first image-makers to work extensively in East Asia and among the earliest practitioners of war photography. Born in Venice, he began his career in Istanbul alongside his brother Antonio and brother-in-law James Robertson in the studio Robertson, Beato & Co. Between 1856 and 1877 he photographed major conflicts — the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the Second Opium War in China — producing what many historians regard as the first substantial body of photojournalism. From 1863 he ran a studio in Yokohama, Japan, where he created celebrated hand-coloured albumen prints of Japanese life, architecture, and landscapes, and taught or influenced a generation of local photographers. His work provides an unmatched visual record of nineteenth-century Asia and the Mediterranean.
Early photojournalismPioneering travel photographyAlbumen silver printsHand-colored photographsWet collodion processWar and military campaignsArchitecture and landscapes of AsiaPortraits and genre scenesPanoramic city views
Common works and media
Beato's output spans albumen silver prints (both uncoloured and hand-coloured), panoramic multi-panel city views, cartes-de-visite, and stereographs. Common subjects include Japanese street scenes, portraits, temples and gardens, views of Canton, Hong Kong, and Peking, battlefields and fortifications after the Indian Mutiny and Opium War, and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern topographical views. Bound albums of Japanese views and costume studies were produced for the tourist market and appear frequently at auction.
Market and appraisal context
Felice Beato's photographs appear regularly at major auction houses, with over 230 recorded lots. Value depends heavily on the period, subject, and print characteristics. Hand-coloured Yokohama-era prints and views from the Second Opium War and Indian Rebellion tend to attract the strongest bidder interest. Condition, tonal range, colouring quality, and clear provenance are important factors. Collectors should distinguish between lifetime vintage prints and later reissues from negatives sold to Stillfried & Andersen in 1877. Co-attribution with James Robertson or the Robertson, Beato & Co. studio is common for pre-1860 works and affects cataloguing and valuation.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Appraisal caveats
- Some sources give Beato's birth year as 1832, others as 1834; a few authority files list 1825–1907, reflecting cataloguing disagreements. Collectors should note this when cross-referencing auction records.
- Prints issued by Stillfried & Andersen from Beato's original Yokohama negatives after 1877 are not lifetime prints by Beato himself and may differ in market value.
- With 235 auction records in the Invaluable database, Beato has a substantial but specialist market; comparable sale results should be consulted for individual appraisal.
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History library authority
- Wikidata library authority
- Wikipedia wikipedia
- Getty Vocabulary Program library authority
- VIAF 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 Felice Beato 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 Felice Beato artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.