Lourdes Castro Auction Prices and Value Guide

Lourdes Castro auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 244 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Lourdes Castro auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Lourdes Castro
Source records
244
Market update
2026-02-06

Lourdes Castro market snapshot

Lourdes Castro shows solid auction liquidity with 120 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $1,500. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 10 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-12-10.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (35.1% · 27 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (55.8% · 43 sales)
  • $10,000+ (9.1% · 7 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$2,800
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
10
Median shift vs prior year
+55.6%
Latest recorded sale
2025-12-10

Artist context

About Lourdes Castro

Lourdes Castro portrait
Manuelvbotelho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Born

1930

Died

2022

Nationality

Portuguese

Also known as

Maria de Lourdes Bettencourt de Castro

Lourdes Castro, born Maria de Lourdes Bettencourt de Castro in Funchal, Madeira, was a Portuguese artist whose practice moved across painting, collage, silkscreen printing, installation, and theatre. After an early engagement with abstract art, she turned during the 1960s to collages and silkscreens concerned with fleeting appearances and the trace of a person or object. Shadows subsequently became central to her work. From the 1970s, Castro and her partner Manuel Zimbro developed Shadow Theatre productions that extended her visual research into staged movement and performance. Her practice also included collaborative installation: in 1998 she worked with Francisco Tropa on Portugal's contribution to the São Paulo Art Biennial. Collectors may therefore encounter her name on materially different objects, from paintings and works on paper to prints and documentation associated with installation or theatrical projects. Correctly identifying medium, date, format, and any collaborative context is essential when researching a work attributed to Castro.

Abstract artPaintingCollageSilkscreen printingShadow puppetry and theatreShadows and ephemeral presence

Common works and media

Works associated with Castro include paintings, collages, and silkscreen prints, alongside installations and material connected with shadow puppetry and Shadow Theatre. Her best-documented recurring concern in the collected sources is the shadow as a way of registering an ephemeral presence. Because her output crosses unique objects, editioned prints, collaborative installations, and performance-related work, cataloguing should state the medium and format precisely rather than treating every object as a conventional painting or print.

Market and appraisal context

Lourdes Castro's varied practice makes like-for-like comparison especially important. A painting, unique collage, silkscreen, or item connected with Shadow Theatre belongs to a different production context and should be assessed against comparable works of the same kind. Date can help place an object within her abstract work, the collages and silkscreens of the 1960s, or her later shadow-based and theatrical activity. Documentation should also clarify whether a work is solely by Castro or part of a collaboration. When usable auction records exist, appraisal should consider sales with similar medium, format, dimensions, date, and edition status, while separately examining attribution, provenance, and condition. The collected evidence does not justify generalized price forecasts.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Paintings
  • Collages
  • Silkscreen prints
  • Installation and shadow-theatre material

Value drivers

  1. Medium and process, particularly the distinction among paintings, collages, silkscreens, and installation-related material
  2. Date and relationship to the artist's abstract, 1960s collage and silkscreen, or later Shadow Theatre phases
  3. Whether a work is solely by Castro or connected to a documented collaboration with Manuel Zimbro or Francisco Tropa
  4. Comparison with public auction records for works of the same medium, date, dimensions, and format when suitable records are available

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected sources do not support a price trend or forward-looking price prediction.
  • Installation and performance-related material should not be compared directly with paintings or editioned prints.
  • Authorship, collaboration, medium, date, dimensions, edition information, condition, and provenance should be verified from the object and its documentation before selecting comparable sales.

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 Lourdes Castro

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Lourdes Castro 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 Lourdes Castro artwork?

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