Riccardo Licata Auction Prices and Value Guide

Riccardo Licata auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 692 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Riccardo Licata auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Riccardo Licata
Source records
692
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Riccardo Licata

Riccardo Licata (1929–2014) was an Italian artist born in Turin who worked across an unusually broad range of media, including painting, engraving, sculpture, glass painting, ceramics, and graphic art. Active in post-war Italy and based later in Venice, Licata developed an abstract visual language that earned him institutional recognition during his lifetime. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his career is documented by major library authority files including the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Library of Congress, and the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD). The breadth of his practice—from set painting to glass work—makes his output varied and sometimes surprising to collectors encountering it at auction.

paintingprintmaking and engravingsculptureglass paintingabstraction

Common works and media

Collectors are most likely to encounter Licata's abstract paintings, engravings and graphic prints, sculptural works, and glass-painted pieces. He also produced ceramics and worked as a set painter. His graphic output—etchings, lithographs, and other print media—appears with some frequency at auction. Subjects are predominantly abstract, reflecting the direction identified in RKD documentation.

Market and appraisal context

Riccardo Licata has a well-established auction footprint spanning nearly three decades, with 439 recorded lots and 232 priced results between October 1997 and April 2026. The market is liquid and active: 63 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month period, up from 42 in the prior 12 months, indicating growing supply and collector interest. Prices are dispersed but centered in an accessible range—the median realized price is €750, with a 25th percentile at €280 and a 75th percentile at €1,875. The ceiling reaches €17,000, likely for early-period or large-scale unique works. The bulk of trade flows through Italian regional houses (Felima Art Casa D'Aste, Pananti Casa D'Aste, Finarte, Cambi Casa d'Aste), but the artist has also appeared at Christie's and Bonhams, confirming international saleroom recognition. A Murano glass piece attributed to Licata for Cenedese Vetri d'Arte sold at Schuler Auktionen (CHF 700), illustrating the crossover into decorative-arts categories. Works are predominantly abstract and untitled, spanning from 1953 to 2013, with no single dominant category label in the auction data—consistent with Licata's known versatility across painting, printmaking, sculpture, glass, and ceramics.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • painting
  • printmaking and engraving
  • works on paper
  • sculpture
  • glass and decorative art

Value drivers

  1. Medium: unique paintings and early-period works tend to realize higher prices than later prints or multiples
  2. Period: works from the 1950s and 1960s (e.g., P/3, 1962 at €2,000–€2,400) generally outperform later untitled works from the 1990s–2000s (often €70–€300)
  3. Edition size and technique for prints: etchings, lithographs, and other multiples should be evaluated for edition number, total run, and plate quality
  4. Condition: given the age range (1950s–2013), condition reports are essential, especially for works on paper and glass
  5. Provenance: works with gallery or institutional provenance (e.g., MoMA collection history) carry a premium over undocumented pieces
  6. Attribution: Licata's broad media practice sometimes leads to cataloguing inconsistencies; signature, style, and period must be verified

Appraisal caveats

  • No auction-house records were available in the collected source pack; auction categories are inferred from documented mediums and the artist's post-war Italian context.
  • Provenance, edition size (for prints), condition, and attribution should be verified by a qualified appraiser for any individual work.
  • Price data covers 232 of 439 lots; approximately 47% of lots lack a recorded realized price, which may reflect unsold lots, withdrawn works, or data gaps.
  • The majority of priced results come from Italian regional auction houses; comparables should be adjusted for house-tier differences when benchmarking against Christie's or Bonhams results.

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 Riccardo Licata

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Riccardo Licata 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 Riccardo Licata artwork?

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