Joan Eardley Auction Prices and Value Guide

Joan Eardley auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 417 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Joan Eardley auction prices: quick answer

Joan Eardley auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Joan Eardley
Source records
417
Market update
2026-02-06

Joan Eardley market snapshot

Joan Eardley shows solid auction liquidity with 58 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $21,600. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 0 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2024-06-06.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (0.0% · 0 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (33.3% · 13 sales)
  • $10,000+ (66.7% · 26 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$0
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
0
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2024-06-06

Artist context

About Joan Eardley

Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963) was a British painter whose short but influential career produced some of the most recognizable images of post-war Scotland. Born in Warnham, Sussex, she moved to Glasgow as a teenager and trained at the Glasgow School of Art. Her work divides into two celebrated strands: deeply empathetic portraits of children in the Townhead tenements of Glasgow, and turbulent seascapes and landscapes painted in and around the fishing village of Catterline on the north-east coast of Aberdeenshire. Eardley's Glasgow portraits capture the grit and vitality of working-class urban life, while her Catterline paintings respond directly to the Scottish weather and coastline with thick impasto and expressive colour. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1955 and became a full Academician shortly before her death from cancer at age 42. Major public collections including Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland hold significant holdings of her work.

Scottish post-war paintingoil paintingpasteldrawingstreet children (Glasgow, Townhead)seascapes and coastal landscapes (Catterline, Aberdeenshire)portraiturelandscapes of north-east Scotland

Common works and media

Eardley is best known for oil paintings on canvas and board, including large-scale seascapes of Catterline Bay and winter landscapes of the surrounding fields. Her Glasgow output includes portraits of the Samson children and other Townhead families, often executed in oil or mixed media with chalk and pastel highlights. She also produced pastel drawings, ink sketches, and watercolour studies. Print editions are not a significant part of her oeuvre. Collectors encountering Eardley works at auction will most typically see original oils from either the Glasgow figurative period (c. 1950–1957) or the Catterline landscape period (c. 1958–1963).

Market and appraisal context

Joan Eardley's works appear regularly in UK and international auctions of Modern British and Scottish art. Her oil paintings from the Catterline period and her Glasgow street-children portraits are the two categories most frequently encountered at auction. Because she died at 42, her total output is relatively small, which adds to collector interest. Factors affecting appraisal include medium and scale, whether the work belongs to the Catterline landscape series or the Glasgow figurative series, provenance and exhibition history, and condition. Works with gallery or museum exhibition records tend to command stronger results. Drawings, studies, and works on paper also circulate but typically at lower price points than finished oils.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Value drivers

  1. Medium: oil on canvas works from the Catterline period are most sought after
  2. Subject: seascapes and landscapes from Catterline and Glasgow street-children portraits are the two principal collectible groups
  3. Provenance: works with exhibition history or estate provenance carry stronger market interest
  4. Estate: Eardley died at 42 with a relatively small surviving oeuvre, contributing to scarcity

Appraisal caveats

  • The source pack does not include auction-house records; no specific price ranges or realized prices are cited here.
  • Attribution should be confirmed through the artist's catalogue or recognized Eardley scholars, as unsigned or lesser-known works require expert review.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

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.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Joan Eardley

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Joan Eardley 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 Joan Eardley artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.