William Beechey Auction Prices and Value Guide

William Beechey auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 395 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

William Beechey auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
William Beechey
Source records
395
Market update
2026-02-06

William Beechey market snapshot

William Beechey shows developing auction liquidity with 22 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $3,200. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 5 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-10-15.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (15.4% · 2 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (84.6% · 11 sales)
  • $10,000+ (0.0% · 0 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$4,000
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
5
Median shift vs prior year
+26.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-10-15

Artist context

About William Beechey

Sir William Beechey (1753–1839) was a leading British portrait painter whose career spanned the late Georgian and Regency periods. Born in Burford, Oxfordshire, he trained as a painter in London and rose to prominence through his ability to capture the likeness and social standing of his sitters with restrained elegance. Beechey was appointed portrait painter to Queen Charlotte and elected a Royal Academician, receiving a knighthood in 1798. His portraits of royalty, military officers, and fashionable society figures placed him among the foremost portraitists of his generation. Major institutions including the Tate, the Royal Academy, and the National Portrait Gallery hold his work. Collectors today encounter Beechey's paintings primarily through the Old Master and British Pictures auction markets.

Golden Age of British PaintingOil on canvasPortraitsSociety figures and royaltyConversation pieces and group portraits

Common works and media

Beechey is best known for oil-on-canvas portraits ranging from intimate half-length and bust-format sittings to imposing full-length state portraits and group conversation pieces. Subjects include members of the royal family, senior naval and military officers, landed gentry, and prominent society figures. Engraved reproductions after his paintings were widely circulated in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and these prints also appear at auction. Smaller cabinet portraits and occasional landscape or genre works attributed to his circle are encountered less frequently.

Market and appraisal context

Beechey's works appear regularly at major auction houses in the Old Master Paintings and British Pictures categories. Values are influenced by the identity and historical significance of the sitter, the scale and format of the portrait (full-length versus bust-length), condition including any overcleaning or relining, and documented provenance. Attribution can be complicated by the practice of his workshop and the fact that his sons George Duncan Beechey and Henry William Beechey were also active portrait painters. Buyers should verify attribution through expert connoisseurship or catalogue raisonné references.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Appraisal caveats

  • Beechey's large output and workshop practice mean attribution requires careful connoisseurship; unsigned or poorly documented works may appear at auction.
  • The high number of recorded lots (395 in Appraisily data) reflects steady auction circulation, but prices vary widely by sitter importance, size, and condition.

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 William Beechey

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is William Beechey 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 William Beechey artwork?

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