# Egon Schiele artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/egon-schiele/
Profile generated: 2026-04-29T22:36:10.432Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1890-06-12
- Death date: 1918-10-31
- Nationality: Austrian
- Movements: Expressionism
- Common media: oil painting, drawing, watercolor and gouache, printmaking

## About Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele (1890–1918) was an Austrian painter and draftsman whose intensely expressive figurative works place him among the most significant artists of early twentieth-century Expressionism. Born in Tulln an der Donau and trained at Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts, Schiele soon diverged from academic convention under the mentorship of Gustav Klimt, developing a spare, angular line and a psychologically charged approach to the human figure. His output—nudes, self-portraits, portraits, and landscapes—is recognized for its raw emotional directness and formal boldness. Active primarily in Vienna, with formative periods in Český Krumlov and Neulengbach, Schiele produced a concentrated body of work before his death at age twenty-eight during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Today his paintings and works on paper are held by major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

## Common works and media

Schiele is most commonly encountered at auction and in private collections through works on paper: watercolors, gouaches, and ink or pencil drawings of figures, nudes, and portraits. Oil paintings on canvas or board are rarer and appear at the top of the market. Prints—including lithographs produced during his lifetime—also circulate. Subjects include nude female and male figures, self-portraits, portraits of family and associates, allegorical figure compositions, and landscapes or townscapes, particularly views of Český Krumlov and the Viennese surroundings.

## Market and appraisal context

Egon Schiele's auction market is deep and globally distributed, with 1,091 recorded lots dating from November 1995 through April 2026, of which 685 carry a realized price. The price distribution is exceptionally wide: the observed range spans €7 at the low end (reproductive prints and small works on paper sold at regional houses) to approximately $24.7 million for top-tier oil paintings at major international houses. The median realized price sits at $10,000, with the 75th percentile at $226,400—reflecting a market where the majority of lots are works on paper or prints, while a thin upper tier of important oils and significant watercolors drives the high end. Named auction houses appearing in the record include Christie's, Sotheby's, Dorotheum, Karl & Faber, Shapiro Auctions, Swann Auction Galleries, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, Venduehuis Auctioneers, A10 by Artmark, Artmark Croatia, and others, confirming broad institutional engagement across North America, the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia. Liquidity is strong: 69 priced lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window (through April 2026), down from 109 in the prior 12 months, suggesting a still-active but slightly cooled offering pace. The Dorotheum sale of an unnamed Schiele work for €2,700,000 in November 2025 and the Christie's London sale of the pencil drawing 'Mitzi Gierlinger' for £88,900 in March 2026 illustrate the continued premium placed on authenticated original works, especially figurative subjects from the mature period.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Egon Schiele's auction market is deep and globally distributed, with 1,091 recorded lots dating from November 1995 through April 2026, of which 685 carry a realized price. The price distribution is exceptionally wide: the observed range spans €7 at the low end (reproductive prints and small works on paper sold at regional houses) to approximately $24.7 million for top-tier oil paintings at major international houses. The median realized price sits at $10,000, with the 75th percentile at $226,400—reflecting a market where the majority of lots are works on paper or prints, while a thin upper tier of important oils and significant watercolors drives the high end. Named auction houses appearing in the record include Christie's, Sotheby's, Dorotheum, Karl & Faber, Shapiro Auctions, Swann Auction Galleries, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, Venduehuis Auctioneers, A10 by Artmark, Artmark Croatia, and others, confirming broad institutional engagement across North America, the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia. Liquidity is strong: 69 priced lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window (through April 2026), down from 109 in the prior 12 months, suggesting a still-active but slightly cooled offering pace. The Dorotheum sale of an unnamed Schiele work for €2,700,000 in November 2025 and the Christie's London sale of the pencil drawing 'Mitzi Gierlinger' for £88,900 in March 2026 illustrate the continued premium placed on authenticated original works, especially figurative subjects from the mature period.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a work attributed to Egon Schiele would begin by matching the physical object against the artist's catalogue raisonné and, where applicable, securing an expert committee opinion on attribution. The appraiser would document medium (oil on canvas or board, watercolor and gouache on paper, pencil or ink drawing, lithographic print), dimensions, signature or monogram, date of execution, condition (with particular attention to paper foxing, fading, tears, and any restoration), and full provenance chain. Comparable lots would be drawn from the 685 priced auction records in the Appraisily database, filtered by medium, subject, period, size, and condition to bracket fair market value. For oil paintings, the upper end of the comparable range would reference the multi-million-dollar tier recorded at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Dorotheum; for works on paper, the median band around €10,000–€115,000 would apply to significant drawings and watercolors, while reproductive prints and small-format works typically fall below €5,000. Print portfolios such as the 'Handzeichnungen' set of 15 lithographs have traded in the $18,750–$22,000 range at Shapiro Auctions. The appraiser would note whether the work is an original, a lifetime print, or a posthumous reproduction, as this classification materially affects value.

### Valuation factors

- Medium: oil paintings command the highest premiums, followed by watercolors and gouaches; pencil and ink drawings occupy a middle tier; prints and reproductive works trade at substantially lower levels.
- Subject: figurative works, nudes, and self-portraits are the most sought-after category and achieve the strongest prices; portraits of named sitters and landscapes can also attract significant bidding.
- Period: mature works from 1914–1918 typically achieve the highest prices; early academic works and pieces from the Český Krumlov period are variable.
- Provenance: documented gallery or estate provenance, exhibition history, and inclusion in a published catalogue raisonné are critical value drivers.
- Condition: works on paper are highly sensitive to foxing, fading, tears, acid migration, and restoration; any condition issues can materially reduce value.
- Authentication: catalogue raisonné inclusion or formal opinion from a recognized Schiele expert is essential; misattributions and fakes are known to circulate given the artist's fame and short career.
- Size and completeness: larger, more finished compositions tend to outperform small sketches or fragments; print portfolios trade as sets and lose value if incomplete.
- Auction house and sale context: works consigned to Christie's, Sotheby's, or Dorotheum tend to achieve higher prices due to specialist expertise and international buyer reach.

### Collector notes

- The Schiele market offers entry points at multiple levels. Collectors seeking original works on paper can find authenticated pencil drawings and watercolors in the €2,000–€20,000 range at regional houses such as A10 by Artmark, Artmark Croatia, and Venduehuis, though condition and attribution should be verified carefully at this tier. The mid-range (€20,000–€300,000) captures significant watercolors, gouaches, and drawings of figurative subjects, as seen at Karl & Faber and Swann Auction Galleries. The top tier—oil paintings and major watercolors—regularly exceeds €1,000,000 at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Dorotheum and is generally restricted to established collectors and institutions. Lifetime print portfolios such as 'Handzeichnungen' (15 lithographs) offer exposure to Schiele's imagery at around $18,000–$22,000. Buyers should be aware that the artist's short career and high market value have made Schiele a frequent target for forgery; any purchase above a nominal value should be accompanied by catalogue raisonné verification or expert authentication. The slight decline in offering volume (from 109 to 69 lots year-over-year) may reflect consignor caution rather than reduced demand, and does not by itself signal a market softening.

### Market caveats

- The Appraisily auction-record sample covers 1,091 lots over three decades but may not capture every private sale or every auction result worldwide; the price distribution should be treated as indicative rather than exhaustive.
- Several recent lots in the sample carry no realized price (e.g., the Karl & Faber portrait of Dr. Hugo Koller, Artmark Croatia lots for 'Boy in a Sailor Suit' and 'Lying Woman with Red Stockings'), which may indicate buy-ins, withdrawals, or data gaps rather than zero value.
- Works sold at regional auction houses (A10 by Artmark, Artmark Croatia, Hampel) with prices below €1,000 may include reproductions, attributed (rather than authenticated) works, or posthumous prints; the lot titles alone do not always distinguish these categories.
- Currency mix (EUR, USD, GBP) across the record introduces exchange-rate variation that is not normalized in the raw price distribution.
- Schiele's short career (roughly 1906–1918) means his oeuvre is relatively small, which supports scarcity-driven pricing but also incentivizes misattribution and forgery. Not all signed works on the market are unique originals.
- Market performance depends heavily on medium, size, subject, condition, and provenance; broad price generalizations are unreliable for any individual work.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/egon-schiele/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-austrian-1890-1918-handzeichnungen-portfolio-of-15-prints-1-c-993cbc2db8
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-tulln-donau-wien-1918-bildnis-dr-hugo-koller-portrait-of-dr-hugo-koller-708-c-bf24af4b85
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-tulln-at-the-danube-1890-1918-vienna-336-c-7a949568b0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-kummernis-1914-275-c-1ff9163d18
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-tulln-1918-wien-nach-647-c-7c6bd2e6a3
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-mitzi-gierlinger-pencil-on-paper31-3-x-22-5-cm-909-c-d4ea2b13fc
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-bronzebuste-selbstportrait-3419-c-112d855dec
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-boy-in-a-sailor-suit-154-c-0c8b03c031
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-woman-with-a-green-scarf-132-c-2a209fd668
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-lovers-130-c-7bffb5f105
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-female-nude-118-c-3ad0f6fee6
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-mother-with-two-children-115-c-5005427489
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-1890-1918-lying-woman-with-red-stockings-101-c-dc4d7bef10
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-egon-schiele-austrian-1890-1918-281-c-fa94683baa

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Egon Schiele, identity and biographical data are grounded in the Library of Congress authority file, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, Wikidata, and the Museum of Modern Art collection record.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50016083
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/70446
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5215
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44032
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/41850463/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele