Peter Hill Beard Auction Prices and Value Guide

Peter Hill Beard auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 1,281 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Peter Hill Beard auction prices: quick answer

Peter Hill Beard auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Peter Hill Beard
Source records
1,281
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Peter Hill Beard

Peter Hill Beard (1938–2020) was an American photographer, collage artist, diarist, and writer whose work merged documentary photography with mixed-media assemblage. Born in New York City, he studied art at Yale University under Josef Albers, earning his degree in 1961. Beard first traveled to Africa in 1955 and later established a decades-long connection to Kenya, where his photographs of wildlife and the transforming East African landscape became his defining subject. He divided his time between New York City, Montauk on Long Island, and Africa for most of his career. His best-known publication, The End of the Game (1965), documented the consequences of habitat encroachment on Kenyan wildlife. Beard's elaborately layered photo-diaries—combining gelatin silver prints with ink, paint, newsprint, and found objects—have been exhibited and collected internationally since the 1960s. He remained active until his death in Montauk in 2020.

photography (gelatin silver prints)collage (mixed-media photo-diaries)paintingdrawingAfrican wildlifeEast African landscapeshunting scenescelebrity and fashion portraits

Common works and media

Beard's output spans gelatin silver photographs of African wildlife and landscapes, large-scale mixed-media collages layering photographic prints with ink, paint, newsprint clippings, and organic materials, and unique hand-assembled diary pages. He also produced notable photography books, including The End of the Game (first published 1965, later expanded editions), Eyelids of Morning (1973, with Graham A. D. Chilvers), and Longing for Darkness (1975). Signed books, exhibition posters, and reproduction prints also circulate in the secondary market. Common subjects include elephants, crocodiles, East African savanna landscapes, hunting scenes, and fashion or celebrity portraits from his New York social circle.

Market and appraisal context

Peter Hill Beard's work has a deep and well-documented secondary-market presence, with 754 auction lots recorded since 2001 and 533 carrying realized prices. His market is anchored by consistent appearances at top-tier houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams—with additional breadth through Freeman's | Hindman, Piasa, Swann Auction Galleries, and European houses such as Pierre Bergé & Associés and Hessink's. Prices span an exceptionally wide range: from $30 at the low end (typically small editioned prints or books) to $672,500 at the high end (unique mixed-media collages or major Kenya-period diary pages). The interquartile range of approximately $2,400–$23,750 reflects the substantial gap between editioned photographs and one-of-a-kind works. The median realized price of $9,600 places Beard firmly in the established-artist tier for post-war and contemporary photography. Liquidity has moderated slightly: 33 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window versus 50 in the prior 12 months, suggesting a normal market cadence rather than a decline. Signature subjects—Kenya wildlife die-off imagery, Tsavo Park scenes, and collage diary pages from the 1960s–1970s—command the strongest results, with lots such as Starvo the Die-off (1972) reaching $40,000 and Kaputi Plains / Athi River (Christie's, 2024) achieving €40,320.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Photography (gelatin silver prints)
  • Mixed-media collage and photo-diary pages
  • Works on paper (ink, oil, enamel)
  • Photography books and multiples
  • Polaroid and instant-print works

Value drivers

  1. Medium: unique mixed-media collages and diary pages typically command stronger interest than editioned gelatin silver prints
  2. Subject: East African wildlife and landscape subjects from the 1960s–1980s Kenya period are among the most recognized
  3. Provenance: documented exhibition history or Peter Beard Estate provenance adds value
  4. Edition and uniqueness: hand-assembled diary pages are one-of-a-kind; photographs may exist in variable edition sizes
  5. Condition: mixed-media works incorporate fragile materials (newsprint, ink, organic matter) that affect condition assessment
  6. Medium: unique mixed-media diary pages and collages command the highest prices (upper quintile); editioned gelatin silver prints trade in the lower-to-mid range.

Appraisal caveats

  • Beard produced work across a wide range of formats—from unique collages to editioned photographs to mass-produced books—and professional appraisal is recommended to distinguish between categories.
  • Exact death date is uncertain (body found April 19, 2020; believed to have died in late March or early April 2020); posthumous editions and estate-authorized prints may affect market context.
  • No auction-house price records were included in the source pack; valuation factor descriptions are qualitative, not price predictions.
  • A secondary Peter Beard (born 1951) is a British studio potter whose stoneware vessels appear in the same auction feeds; several lots in the recent data (Adam Partridge Auctioneers, Roseberys, Kinghams Auctioneers) are pottery, not photographs or collages by Peter Hill Beard (1938–2020). These lots inflate the low end of the price distribution and should be excluded when appraising the photographer's work.

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 Peter Hill Beard

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Peter Hill Beard 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 Peter Hill Beard artwork?

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