# Gerald Scarfe artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/gerald-scarfe/
Profile generated: 2026-05-16T21:16:02.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: English, British
- Movements: British Satirical Cartooning
- Common media: Ink drawing, Printmaking, Painting, Animation

## About Gerald Scarfe

Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1936) is an English satirical cartoonist, illustrator, and animator whose career spans editorial commentary, album artwork, and animation. He served as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and has contributed illustrations to The New Yorker, establishing a reputation for exaggerated, often grotesque visual satire directed at political figures and cultural institutions. Scarfe is also widely recognised for his collaboration with the rock band Pink Floyd, for whom he produced the iconic character designs and animation sequences associated with The Wall. His work is held in museum collections including the Tate, and he was appointed CBE for services to art. The artist's official website offers signed prints, books, and original works directly to collectors. With 340 lots catalogued in auction databases, Scarfe's output appears regularly in both illustration-art and rock-memorabilia markets.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Scarfe's signed ink drawings and prints, particularly those depicting political caricatures or imagery from Pink Floyd's The Wall. Other common work types include editorial cartoons from The Sunday Times, limited-edition lithographic prints sold through his official website, book illustrations, and animation cels or production artwork. Paintings and larger original compositions appear less often but surface periodically at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Gerald Scarfe's works appear at auction across several categories: original ink drawings, signed limited-edition prints, editorial cartoons, and Pink Floyd-related artwork. Value depends on whether a piece is an original, a numbered print, or an open-edition reproduction, as well as on provenance and the subject's recognisability. Works tied to Pink Floyd's The Wall tend to attract a distinct collector base compared to political cartoons. Auction records from major houses provide the most reliable price benchmarks; collectors should verify edition numbers, signatures, and condition before purchase.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files, museums, and official sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Gerald Scarfe, identity data is grounded in Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata, the Tate collection record, RKD, and the artist's official website.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q463132
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Scarfe
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500017278
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/85822760/
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gerald-scarfe-cbe-1901
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/70004
- Gerald Scarfe: http://www.geraldscarfe.com/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82217828
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/46486
