# George Clausen artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/george-clausen/
Profile generated: 2026-05-05T03:41:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1852-04-18
- Death date: 1944-11-22
- Nationality: British, English
- Movements: Plein-air painting
- Common media: oil painting, watercolour, etching, mezzotint, drypoint, lithograph

## About George Clausen

Sir George Clausen (1852–1944) was a British painter, watercolourist, and printmaker renowned for his plein-air landscapes and depictions of rural working life. Born in London to a Danish-born decorative painter, Clausen absorbed continental realist traditions and became one of the leading figures in British open-air painting during the late nineteenth century. He worked across a broad range of graphic media — etching, mezzotint, drypoint, and lithography — alongside his oil and watercolour practice. Clausen also served as a war artist and held a prominent position in the British art establishment, culminating in a knighthood in 1927. His work is held by major public collections including the Tate. With nearly seven hundred recorded auction appearances, Clausen's output remains actively traded and widely encountered by collectors of Victorian and early twentieth-century British art.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Clausen's oil paintings of rural landscapes and agricultural workers, his watercolour studies, and his prints in etching, mezzotint, and drypoint. Lithographs are less common. Subjects include field labourers, village scenes, and atmospheric landscapes rendered with naturalistic light. Works range from finished exhibition pieces to smaller preparatory studies and editioned prints.

## Market and appraisal context

George Clausen's auction market is established and liquid, with 56 recorded lots spanning 2004–2025 across 38 priced results. The price distribution is wide: prints and reproduction lots at the low end realise as little as £1–£10, while signed oil paintings at major houses command significantly more. The median price sits at approximately £598, with the interquartile range spanning roughly £240–£1,700. The top of the market is anchored by major works at Christie's and Sotheby's: a study for 'Primavera' achieved £30,000 at Christie's in June 2015, and 'Head of a girl' fetched £15,600 at Sotheby's in July 2024. A large Still life of lilies oil on canvas realised $3,750 at Eldred's in November 2020. Mid-range oil paintings and watercolours at regional UK houses such as John Nicholson's, Mallams, and Dreweatts typically trade between £300–£5,600. Prints and works on paper (etchings, chalk drawings) cluster below £500. The market shows modest recent activity — one priced lot in the trailing 12 months and two in the prior 12 months — suggesting steady but low-volume turnover consistent with a well-established secondary Victorian and early twentieth-century British artist.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

George Clausen's auction market is established and liquid, with 56 recorded lots spanning 2004–2025 across 38 priced results. The price distribution is wide: prints and reproduction lots at the low end realise as little as £1–£10, while signed oil paintings at major houses command significantly more. The median price sits at approximately £598, with the interquartile range spanning roughly £240–£1,700. The top of the market is anchored by major works at Christie's and Sotheby's: a study for 'Primavera' achieved £30,000 at Christie's in June 2015, and 'Head of a girl' fetched £15,600 at Sotheby's in July 2024. A large Still life of lilies oil on canvas realised $3,750 at Eldred's in November 2020. Mid-range oil paintings and watercolours at regional UK houses such as John Nicholson's, Mallams, and Dreweatts typically trade between £300–£5,600. Prints and works on paper (etchings, chalk drawings) cluster below £500. The market shows modest recent activity — one priced lot in the trailing 12 months and two in the prior 12 months — suggesting steady but low-volume turnover consistent with a well-established secondary Victorian and early twentieth-century British artist.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these auction records as comparable-sale evidence alongside physical inspection of the work being appraised. Key attributes an appraiser would reconcile against the record set include: medium (oil on canvas commands substantially more than prints or works on paper), dimensions (large canvases such as the 32.75 × 32.75 in Still life of lilies versus small etchings at 4 × 3.5 in), signature and inscriptions (pencil-signed prints and initialled drawings appear in the record set), condition (noting any restoration or toning), provenance (the 'Little Meg' etching carried the provenance of the R.W. Symonds estate, adding value), subject matter (rural labour scenes, still lifes, and studies for major compositions all appear), and edition details for prints. The wide price spread — from £1 for a reproduction print to £30,000 for a study for a major painting — means that accurate medium and attribution identification is the single most important step. An appraiser would select comparable lots by matching medium, size, period, and subject, then adjust for condition, provenance, market timing, and the specific auction house tier.

### Valuation factors

- Medium is the strongest value driver: original oil paintings at Christie's and Sotheby's realise £5,600–£30,000, while prints and reproductions trade at £1–£10
- Subject matter matters: plein-air rural scenes and studies for known compositions attract premium interest, as seen in the £30,000 Study for 'Primavera' at Christie's
- Auction-house tier correlates with price: lots at Christie's and Sotheby's realise multiples of comparable works at regional houses
- Dimensions influence value: larger canvases (e.g. 32.75 × 32.75 in Still life of lilies at $3,750) trade above small-scale works
- Provenance can add measurable value: the R.W. Symonds estate provenance on the 'Little Meg' etching is a documented example
- Attribution confidence affects price: a lot described as 'George Clausen (1852-1944) ?' with a question mark sold for £420, reflecting uncertainty
- Condition, restoration history, and whether the work is relined or reframed are standard adjustment factors
- Period of execution: Clausen's plein-air work from the 1880s–1890s is generally more sought after than later academic pieces

### Collector notes



### Market caveats

- The Appraisily auction record index contains 56 lots of which 38 have a recorded price; 18 lots have no price-realised data, meaning the true market range may be wider than observed.
- Several lots titled 'GEORGE CLAUSEN FRAMED REALIST ART PRINT' with prices of $1–$10 are likely modern reproduction prints, not original works by the artist. These should be excluded when assessing original-work values.
- One lot title contains the apparent typo '1952-1944' instead of '1852-1944', indicating catalogue data quality varies across houses.
- A lot described as 'George Clausen (1852-1944) ?' with a question mark sold for £420 — this uncertain attribution is reflected in the price and should not be used as a comparable for firmly attributed works.
- Currency mix (GBP, USD, EUR, AUD) means median and percentile figures should be interpreted as approximate cross-currency aggregates, not single-currency benchmarks.
- Attribution of unsigned prints and drawings should be verified against catalogue raisonné or expert opinion; the auction record alone is not sufficient for authentication.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/george-clausen/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-british-1852-1944-the-lane-evening-134-c-3ca4c1591e
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-1852-1944-hard-labeur-tek-810-c-7734fe183f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-london-1852-1944-96-c-34e4453aff
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-illinois-united-kingdom-1852-1944-still-life-of-lilies-oil-on-canvas-32-75-x-32-75-framed-42-x-42-903-c-e134c19bac
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-1852-1944-british-little-meg-etching-inscribed-in-pencil-on-mount-4-x-3-5-provenance-from-the-estate-of-r-w-symonds-11-c-afb47d2b02
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-1852-1944-british-a-farmyard-scene-with-a-milkmaid-and-cattle-chalk-signed-with-initials-in-pencil-8-x-10-75-260-c-6504d1e9eb
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-1852-1944-british-a-landscape-with-a-thatched-cottage-watercolour-signed-6-75-x-9-75-228-c-d404ecaba3
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-british-1852-1944-the-barn-door-prior-s-hall-barn-widdi-477-c-cb74f518a1
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-george-clausen-1952-1944-english-the-rickyard-7-c-20045528a1

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine independently verified artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For George Clausen, identity data is sourced from the Tate, Getty ULAN, VIAF, the Library of Congress, RKD, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3760466
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clausen
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500000128
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/59357806/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n89605895
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-george-clausen-96
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/17117