John Melville Auction Prices and Value Guide

John Melville auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 344 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

John Melville auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
John Melville
Source records
344
Market update
2026-02-06

John Melville market snapshot

John Melville shows deep auction liquidity with 232 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $420. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 5 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-12-10.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (77.7% · 94 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (19.8% · 24 sales)
  • $10,000+ (2.5% · 3 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$180
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
5
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-12-10

Artist context

About John Melville

Born

1902

Died

1986

Nationality

English, British

Also known as

John William Melville

John William Melville (1902–1986) was an English artist described in the collected public biography as a self-taught British Surrealist painter. The available authority records consistently identify John Melville as the artist born in 1902 and deceased in 1986, helping distinguish him from other people who share the name. His work is associated with the history of Surrealism in Britain, where imaginative painting developed alongside the movement’s better-known continental centers. Public authority links connect the artist to Getty ULAN, VIAF, the Library of Congress, ISNI, RKD, the British Museum, Art UK, and Wikidata. Collectors are therefore most likely to encounter his name in relation to twentieth-century British painting and Surrealist material. The collected source pack does not provide enough accessible institutional text to establish a detailed chronology, exhibition history, recurring subjects, or named series, so those aspects should remain provisional until checked against museum or scholarly records.

Surrealism in BritainPainting

Common works and media

The available biography identifies Melville principally as a painter working in a British Surrealist context. Paintings are therefore the best-supported work type for auction and appraisal classification. The collected evidence does not establish recurring subjects, favored supports, named series, print editions, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, posters, or other categories, so those should not be presented as characteristic without object-level or institutional documentation.

Market and appraisal context

Appraisal of a work attributed to John Melville should begin by confirming that it belongs to the English artist who lived from 1902 to 1986, since the name is not unique. The collected pack signals an Appraisily auction-record corpus but does not expose the underlying lot descriptions, sale dates, realized prices, condition reports, or provenance. A responsible comparison should therefore match the proposed work to records for the same artist and examine medium, dimensions, date, subject, condition, provenance, inscriptions, and attribution language before drawing a value conclusion. No reliable price trend or forecast can be inferred from this source pack alone, and records should be screened for namesakes or cataloguing errors.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Paintings

Value drivers

  1. Secure attribution to the English artist John Melville who lived from 1902 to 1986, rather than another person with the same name
  2. Comparison with documented public auction records attributed to the same artist
  3. Medium and work type, with the collected biography identifying Melville principally as a painter

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected pack contains no accessible lot-level descriptions, realized prices, sale dates, or major-auction-house biography for this artist.
  • The input reports 344 directory records, but the collected Appraisily page returned a rate-limit response and the records were not individually reconciled to the 1902–1986 artist.
  • Claims about subjects, named series, editions, rarity, price direction, and market performance are not supported by the collected evidence.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.

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 John Melville

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is John Melville 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 John Melville artwork?

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