Ruskin Spear Auction Prices and Value Guide
Ruskin Spear auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 497 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Ruskin Spear auction prices: quick answer
Ruskin Spear auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Ruskin Spear
- Source records
- 497
- Market update
- 2026-02-16
Ruskin Spear market snapshot
Ruskin Spear shows solid auction liquidity with 123 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $2,160. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 6 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-09-04.
Realized price distribution
- Under $1,000 (36.5% · 27 sales)
- $1,000 to $10,000 (48.6% · 36 sales)
- $10,000+ (14.9% · 11 sales)
- Median sale (last 12 months)
- $2,800
- Sales recorded (last 12 months)
- 6
- Median shift vs prior year
- 0.0%
- Latest recorded sale
- 2025-09-04
Artist context
About Ruskin Spear
Ruskin Spear (1911–1990) was a British painter and art teacher celebrated as one of the leading portraitists of mid-twentieth-century Britain. Born in Hammersmith, London, he enrolled at the Royal College of Art in 1931 and later returned to teach there from 1948 until 1975, shaping a generation of post-war British artists. Appointed CBE and elected a Royal Academician, Spear built a reputation for incisive, unpretentious portraiture and vivid figurative scenes drawn from everyday London life. His work is held by major public collections including Tate. With nearly five hundred auction appearances recorded, Spear's paintings surface regularly on the secondary market, making him a familiar name for collectors of modern British art.
Twentieth-century British figurative paintingOil paintingWorks on paperPortraitureGenre scenes
Common works and media
Spear's output spans oil portraits, figure compositions, genre scenes of London life, and still-life paintings. Works on paper including drawings and watercolours also appear at auction. His portraits range from informal studies of friends and family to formal commissioned sittings. Collectors most frequently encounter mid-sized oil-on-canvas portraits and domestic interior scenes dating from the 1940s through the 1980s.
Market and appraisal context
Ruskin Spear's work appears consistently at auction, particularly in British and European painting sales. Portraits — especially commissioned likenesses of notable sitters — tend to command the strongest interest, while his genre scenes and still-life subjects trade at more accessible levels. Key valuation factors include the sitter's identity, provenance clarity, painting size and medium, condition, and whether the work dates from his recognized mature period. Collectors should verify attribution carefully, as no single catalogue raisonné was identified. Works held in or formerly held by institutional collections such as Tate may carry a provenance premium.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Appraisal caveats
- No single published catalogue raisonné was identified in the source pack; attribution should be confirmed against known signed works.
- Market records should be corroborated with specific auction-house lot descriptions.
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.
- Library of Congress library authority
- Tate museum or university
- Getty Vocabulary Program library authority
- VIAF library authority
- RKD library authority
- Wikidata library authority
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.
Artist value FAQ
How much is Ruskin Spear 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 Ruskin Spear artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.