Julian Opie Auction Prices and Value Guide

Julian Opie auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 2,652 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Julian Opie auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Julian Opie
Source records
2,652
Market update
2026-02-16

Artist context

About Julian Opie

Julian Opie (born 1958) is a British visual artist recognized for his distinctive, reductive style that translates figures, portraits, and landscapes into pared-down graphic forms. Associated with the New British Sculpture movement, Opie works across painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, and digital media. His portraits and walking figures—rendered in bold outlines and flat color—have become widely identifiable, appearing in public commissions, album covers, and gallery exhibitions worldwide. Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London hold his work in their collections. Opie maintains an active studio practice, with recent paintings employing auto paint on aluminium surfaces. His official site documents ongoing production across painting, sculpture, film, multiples, and editions.

New British Sculpturesculpturepaintingprintmakingfilm and digital mediaportraits and figures

Common works and media

Common works by Julian Opie include portrait paintings (often executed in auto paint on aluminium or vinyl), figurative sculptures in bronze, Corten steel, or painted aluminium, LED and lenticular panel works, screenprints and digital prints in numbered editions, and multi-panel figure compositions. His subjects center on stylized portraits, walking figures, and simplified landscapes. Collectors may also encounter public-edition multiples and smaller-format works produced through his studio.

Market and appraisal context

Julian Opie maintains a deep and liquid secondary market with 1,283 auction lots tracked since 2003, of which 954 carry recorded prices. His work trades regularly at top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams, as well as specialist and regional firms such as Forum Auctions, Tate Ward, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, and Roseberys. Liquidity is strengthening: 135 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window versus 119 in the prior period. The price distribution is wide and stratified by medium. At the lower end, exhibition invitations and small-format prints realise under £300. Mid-range editioned screenprints, inkjet panels, and sculptural multiples trade between roughly £500 and £6,000. Lenticular and LED works at major houses can reach significantly higher figures—Christie's Hong Kong recorded a lenticular inkjet at HKD 50,800 in November 2025. The recorded maximum of approximately £28,000,000 likely represents a unique large-scale sculpture or commission and is a strong outlier; the p75 price of £12,500 is a more representative upper bound for typical auction encounters. The bulk of priced lots cluster between £900 (p25) and £12,500 (p75), with a median near £3,000, reflecting a market dominated by editioned prints and multiples rather than unique paintings or major sculptures.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Contemporary Art
  • Prints and Multiples
  • Post-War and Contemporary Art
  • Modern and Contemporary Prints

Value drivers

  1. Medium and support (e.g., auto paint on aluminium, vinyl, LED, lenticular, screenprint, bronze)
  2. Edition size and format for prints and multiples
  3. Provenance, exhibition history, and date of execution
  4. Medium and support: unique paintings (auto paint on aluminium or vinyl), sculptures (bronze, Corten steel, painted aluminium, marble), LED installations, lenticular panels, screenprints, and inkjet prints each occupy distinct price tiers
  5. Edition size and number: smaller editions command higher prices; large or open editions trade significantly lower
  6. Publisher and gallery provenance: works published by Cristea Roberts Gallery or Lisson Gallery carry recognisable provenance markers

Appraisal caveats

  • Opie works across a wide range of media and editions; appraisal value varies substantially by medium, scale, edition size, and date.
  • No specific auction records or price data are available in the current source pack; comparable sales should be verified through auction databases.
  • The recorded maximum price of approximately £28,000,000 is a strong outlier; the vast majority of Opie lots trade well below £20,000.
  • Price distribution figures (min, p25, median, p75, max) aggregate across currencies (GBP, USD, EUR, HKD) without conversion, so cross-currency comparisons require adjustment.

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 Julian Opie

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Julian Opie 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 Julian Opie artwork?

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