# Felice Beato artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/felice-beato/
Profile generated: 2026-05-26T14:06:30.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1909-01-09
- Nationality: Italian, British
- Movements: Early photojournalism, Pioneering travel photography
- Common media: Albumen silver prints, Hand-colored photographs, Wet collodion process

## About Felice Beato

Felice Beato (1832–1909) was an Italian-born, British-naturalised photographer recognised as one of the first image-makers to work extensively in East Asia and among the earliest practitioners of war photography. Born in Venice, he began his career in Istanbul alongside his brother Antonio and brother-in-law James Robertson in the studio Robertson, Beato & Co. Between 1856 and 1877 he photographed major conflicts — the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the Second Opium War in China — producing what many historians regard as the first substantial body of photojournalism. From 1863 he ran a studio in Yokohama, Japan, where he created celebrated hand-coloured albumen prints of Japanese life, architecture, and landscapes, and taught or influenced a generation of local photographers. His work provides an unmatched visual record of nineteenth-century Asia and the Mediterranean.

## Common works and media

Beato's output spans albumen silver prints (both uncoloured and hand-coloured), panoramic multi-panel city views, cartes-de-visite, and stereographs. Common subjects include Japanese street scenes, portraits, temples and gardens, views of Canton, Hong Kong, and Peking, battlefields and fortifications after the Indian Mutiny and Opium War, and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern topographical views. Bound albums of Japanese views and costume studies were produced for the tourist market and appear frequently at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Felice Beato's photographs appear regularly at major auction houses, with over 230 recorded lots. Value depends heavily on the period, subject, and print characteristics. Hand-coloured Yokohama-era prints and views from the Second Opium War and Indian Rebellion tend to attract the strongest bidder interest. Condition, tonal range, colouring quality, and clear provenance are important factors. Collectors should distinguish between lifetime vintage prints and later reissues from negatives sold to Stillfried & Andersen in 1877. Co-attribution with James Robertson or the Robertson, Beato & Co. studio is common for pre-1860 works and affects cataloguing and valuation.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from authority files and institutional records with public auction records, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots from the Invaluable database. When available, provenance notes, condition reports, and catalogue entries from major auction houses are also considered.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/380378
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q318352
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Beato
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500002985
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/95698883/