Jeffrey Smart Auction Prices and Value Guide
Jeffrey Smart auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 697 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Jeffrey Smart auction prices: quick answer
Jeffrey Smart auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Jeffrey Smart
- Source records
- 697
- Market update
- 2026-02-16
Artist context
About Jeffrey Smart
Jeffrey Smart (1921–2013) was an Australian painter celebrated for his meticulously rendered depictions of modern urban and industrial landscapes. Born Frank Jeffrey Edson Smart in Adelaide, he developed a distinctive realist style that transformed mundane architectural subjects—highways, bus terminals, gas stations, and concrete structures—into compositions of formal precision and enigmatic stillness. Smart spent much of his adult life in Italy, settling in Montevarchi, Tuscany, where the Mediterranean light and spatial clarity deepened his compositional approach. His work occupies a singular position in twentieth-century Australian art, combining technical exactitude with an eerie, almost surreal stillness that invites comparison to both Precisionism and Metaphysical painting. Collectors encounter his paintings in major Australian and international gallery collections and regularly at auction.
ModernismOil on canvasUrban landscapes and architectureIndustrial and infrastructure scenes
Common works and media
Smart is best known for oil on canvas paintings depicting isolated urban architecture: highway overpasses, bus stations, airport control towers, garages, and industrial structures rendered with photographic precision and still, empty atmospheres. He also produced drawings, gouaches, and prints. Recurring compositional motifs include lone figures set against vast built environments, strong geometric perspective, and saturated, warm color palettes. Notable works documented in authority files include Bus Terminus, Central Station II, Control Tower, and The Bicycle Race (Death of Morandi). Collectors may also encounter exhibition posters and limited-edition prints.
Market and appraisal context
Jeffrey Smart has a deep and active Australian-dominated auction market spanning over two decades, with 434 recorded lots of which 338 carry realized prices. Auction activity has increased sharply year over year (44 lots in the trailing 12 months vs. 21 in the prior period), indicating rising collector demand and institutional attention. The market is anchored by major Australian houses—Menzies, Deutscher and Hackett, Leonard Joel, and Lawsons—with occasional appearances at Christie's and Sotheby's. The price distribution is exceptionally wide: the interquartile range runs from AUD 850 to AUD 120,000 with a median of AUD 6,995, while the recorded maximum reaches AUD 1,600,000. Recent 2025 results show major oil paintings commanding six and seven figures—Night stop, Bombay (1981) realized AUD 1,300,000 at Deutscher and Hackett in November 2025, The Park (1959) fetched AUD 320,000 in May 2025, and Study for Approach to E.U.R. (1970) reached AUD 230,000 in August 2025. Prints, multiples, and works after the artist trade at the lower end (AUD 90–950). The market is overwhelmingly denominated in AUD and centered on Australian Post-War and Contemporary Art sales.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Common auction categories
- Post-War and Contemporary Art
- Oil on canvas
- Works on paper
- Prints and multiples
Value drivers
- Medium and format: major oil on canvas paintings from the Italian period command the highest results (up to AUD 1,600,000), while prints, etchings, and works after the artist trade at AUD 90–950.
- Period and date: early Australian works (pre-1963) such as Study for Wallaroo (1951, AUD 58,000) and The Park (1959, AUD 320,000) attract premium results; mature Italian-period oils with signature architectural subjects also achieve top prices.
- Subject complexity: fully realized architectural compositions with urban infrastructure motifs (highway overpasses, bus stations, control towers) are more sought after than portrait studies or simpler compositions.
- Provenance: works with gallery or estate provenance, exhibition history, or publication in catalogues raisonnés carry significant premiums over works without documented history.
- Size and scale: larger canvases are considerably rarer and more valuable; studies and smaller works on paper trade at a fraction of major paintings.
- Condition: oil paintings should be assessed for craquelure, relining, overpainting, and UV sensitivity; works on paper for foxing, toning, and mounting damage.
Appraisal caveats
- No specific auction records were available in the collected source pack; comparable sales should be verified via auction databases.
- Attribution and authentication may require expert scholarly opinion due to the artist's long career and evolving style.
- All price data is sourced from Appraisily's auction-record index, which aggregates public auction feeds; individual records may be incomplete (e.g., some lots lack realized prices or category tags).
- Prices are reported in AUD and may not include buyer's premium; actual transaction costs are higher than the stated realized prices.
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.
- Wikidata library authority
- Getty Vocabulary Program library authority
- VIAF library authority
- Library of Congress library authority
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History 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 Jeffrey Smart 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 Jeffrey Smart artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.