# Alfred Hrdlicka artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/alfred-hrdlicka/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T10:16:00.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1928-02-27 - Death date: 2009-12-05 - Nationality: Austrian - Movements: Figurative Expressionism - Common media: sculpture (bronze, stone, plaster), painting (oil), printmaking (etching, lithograph, woodcut), fresco, drawing and pastel ## About Alfred Hrdlicka Alfred Hrdlicka (1928–2009) was an Austrian sculptor, painter, printmaker, and professor whose figurative work confronted themes of political violence, human suffering, and historical memory. Born in Vienna, he studied painting under Josef Dobrowsky and Albert Paris Gütersloh at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1946 to 1952, then turned to sculpture under Fritz Wotruba from 1953 to 1957. Hrdlicka became one of Austria's most recognized postwar artists, producing raw, expressive figuration that engaged directly with the traumas of twentieth-century European history. He held teaching positions at academies in Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Vienna between 1971 and 1989. His work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his official estate maintains a dedicated website. Collectors encounter Hrdlicka's work primarily through sculptures, prints, drawings, and paintings at auction houses across Europe and internationally. ## Common works and media Hrdlicka produced sculptures in bronze, stone, and plaster; oil paintings; large-scale frescoes; and extensive bodies of prints including etchings, lithographs, and woodcuts. His graphic work frequently addresses political and historical subjects, often in series format. Drawings and pastels also appear regularly at auction. Editioned prints are among the most commonly encountered works for collectors entering the Hrdlicka market. ## Market and appraisal context Alfred Hrdlicka's secondary market is well established and broadly distributed across Central European auction houses. Appraisily auction records index 430 lots, of which 220 carry realized prices spanning from €10 to €65,000. The interquartile range (P25 €125, median €450, P75 €1,600) shows that the majority of transactions fall in the three-to-mid-four-figure EUR band, dominated by editioned prints and works on paper. Bronze sculptures and signed multiples (e.g., a "Sappho" bronze at €650, untitled drawings at €1,600, and a single lot reaching €2,800 at Auktionshaus am Grunewald) sit at the upper end of routine results. The top hammer of €65,000 likely reflects a large-scale bronze or unique sculpture. Liquidity is healthy: 27 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months (down from 47 in the prior 12), with material offered at Dorotheum, Im Kinsky, Henry's Auktionshaus, Quittenbaum, Schuler Auktionen, and numerous regional German and Austrian houses. The decline in volume year-over-year may reflect normal market cyclicality rather than a structural contraction. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Alfred Hrdlicka's secondary market is well established and broadly distributed across Central European auction houses. Appraisily auction records index 430 lots, of which 220 carry realized prices spanning from €10 to €65,000. The interquartile range (P25 €125, median €450, P75 €1,600) shows that the majority of transactions fall in the three-to-mid-four-figure EUR band, dominated by editioned prints and works on paper. Bronze sculptures and signed multiples (e.g., a "Sappho" bronze at €650, untitled drawings at €1,600, and a single lot reaching €2,800 at Auktionshaus am Grunewald) sit at the upper end of routine results. The top hammer of €65,000 likely reflects a large-scale bronze or unique sculpture. Liquidity is healthy: 27 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months (down from 47 in the prior 12), with material offered at Dorotheum, Im Kinsky, Henry's Auktionshaus, Quittenbaum, Schuler Auktionen, and numerous regional German and Austrian houses. The decline in volume year-over-year may reflect normal market cyclicality rather than a structural contraction. ### Appraisal notes An Appraisily appraisal for an Alfred Hrdlicka work would begin by establishing medium, dimensions, edition number (for prints and bronze multiples), signature, date, and condition against published catalogue references. The auction-record pool of 220 priced lots provides a strong comparable base. Prints and etchings can be benchmarked against the dense cluster between €60 and €800. Unique works—paintings, drawings, sculptures—require closer comparison by subject, period, and scale, with recent results at houses like Im Kinsky (€1,600 for untitled drawings) and AaG (€2,800) serving as reference points. Provenance linking a work to a named series (e.g., the Büchner etchings, the Hamlet cycle) or a documented exhibition adds measurable premium. Photos showing signature, edition stamp, plate marks, or foundry marks for bronzes would be cross-referenced against lot images in the record set. ### Valuation factors - Medium and scale: bronze sculptures command significantly more than editioned prints or works on paper; the observed price ceiling (€65,000) likely represents a major bronze or unique sculpture - Edition status: numbered prints and bronze multiples are common and sit in the €60–€800 range; lower edition numbers and signed impressions carry premium - Series and subject: works from named cycles (Büchner etchings, Hamlet, Zweikampf) and politically charged subjects (Tod des Demonstranten, Steinigung) may attract stronger bidder interest - Auction house tier: lots at major houses like Dorotheum and Im Kinsky tend to realize higher prices than regional German houses - Condition and provenance: undamaged impressions with clear provenance and documented exhibition history are essential for upper-range estimates - Dating: earlier works from the 1960s–1970s, particularly those tied to Hrdlicka's most recognized political series, may carry period premium - Market volume: with 430 indexed lots, the market is liquid but price dispersion is wide (€10–€65,000), so medium identification is critical before selecting comparables ### Collector notes - Hrdlicka's print market offers an accessible entry point: etchings and lithographs regularly sell between €60 and €800 at Central European auction houses. Collectors seeking sculptural work should expect to pay mid-three to five figures for bronzes, depending on scale and edition. Buying through major houses (Dorotheum, Im Kinsky) provides stronger provenance documentation but may carry higher premiums. Regional German houses (Henry's, Kastern, Kloss) frequently offer lower starting estimates, though cataloguing detail can vary. Works from Hrdlicka's well-known political and literary series tend to hold value better than undated individual prints. Always verify edition numbers, signatures, and plate or foundry marks before purchasing. Sellers should ensure professional photography and clear medium attribution, as the wide price dispersion between prints and sculptures makes accurate cataloguing essential for achieving fair value. ### Market caveats - Approximately 49% of indexed lots (210 of 430) lack realized prices, which may indicate unsold lots, buy-ins, or as-yet-unrecorded results; this skews the observed price distribution toward successfully sold material. - The recent 12-month lot count (27) is noticeably lower than the prior 12 months (47); a single year does not establish a trend, but sustained volume decline would warrant reassessment of market liquidity. - Category labels are not consistently recorded in the auction data; medium classification was inferred from lot titles and the existing artist profile rather than structured category fields. - The maximum recorded price (€65,000) is an outlier well above the P75 of €1,600 and should not be treated as representative of typical results. - Hrdlicka worked across sculpture, painting, fresco, printmaking, and drawing over approximately fifty years; works must be individually identified by medium and period before valuation, as aggregate statistics mix very different market segments. - Prices are recorded in both EUR and CHF; currency should be noted when comparing lots from Swiss houses (e.g., Schuler Auktionen). - All price data is sourced from Appraisily auction records and reflects hammer prices inclusive of buyer's premium where recorded; results may not capture private sales or gallery pricing. ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/alfred-hrdlicka/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-hrdlicka-188-c-28b0e7a404 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-hrdlicka-161-c-0f144e7b79 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-hrdlicka-zweikampf-3678-c-d334a3eac2 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-hrdlicka-1928-2009-night-watch-coloring-6383-c-546449288c ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. ## Sources - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q78646 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hrdlicka - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/95883946/ - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50029220 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2743 - RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/40199 - Alfred Hrdlicka Estate: https://www.alfred-hrdlicka.com - Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032859