# Giacomo Guardi artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/giacomo-guardi/
Profile generated: 2026-05-10T13:23:44.651Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1764-04-13
- Death date: 1835-11-03
- Nationality: Italian
- Movements: Venetian school, veduta tradition
- Common media: oil painting, drawing

## About Giacomo Guardi

Giacomo Guardi (1764–1835) was an Italian painter and draftsperson active in Venice, best known as the son and pupil of Francesco Guardi, one of the last great masters of the Venetian veduta tradition. Born in Venice on April 13, 1764, Giacomo trained in his father's workshop and continued the family's practice of producing views of Venice and its lagoon well into the early nineteenth century. His work is closely tied to the late Venetian school, extending the topographical and atmospheric painting style that made the Guardi name prominent among collectors of Italian view paintings. While Giacomo's output is often discussed in relation to his father's more celebrated production, his paintings and drawings appear regularly in the Old Master market, and the RKD holds nearly 800 images attributed to his hand. He died in Venice on November 3, 1835.

## Common works and media

Giacomo Guardi commonly worked in oil on canvas and on panel, as well as in ink and wash drawing. His typical subjects include Venetian city views (vedute), lagoon scenes, and architectural capricci, often on a small scale consistent with the Guardi workshop's production for the Grand Tour collector market. Works attributed to him range from finished cabinet paintings to preparatory drawings and sketches. Collectors may also encounter works catalogued as "Circle of Giacomo Guardi" or "Guardi Workshop" at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Giacomo Guardi maintains an active and liquid presence in the Old Master market, with 269 auction appearances recorded in the Appraisily dataset since 1994 and 182 of those carrying documented realized prices. The price distribution spans from €200 at the low end to €89,250 at the high end, with a median of €6,250 and an interquartile range of €3,000–€12,600. Liquidity is consistent: 22 lots appeared in the trailing twelve months (March 2025–March 2026) and 24 in the prior twelve months, indicating stable market throughput. The top tier of auction houses handling his work includes Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams, while Hampel Fine Art Auctions accounts for the largest share of recent activity in the German market. Recent Christie's results (February 2026) for watercolor views of Venice realized $5,080–$10,160, while Hampel results for oil paintings in the same period ranged from €10,000 to €25,000. Works described as follower or attributed lots trade at a discount to firmly signed pieces. The market is geographically concentrated in European houses—Germany, Italy, France, and the UK—with occasional appearances at North American salerooms.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Giacomo Guardi maintains an active and liquid presence in the Old Master market, with 269 auction appearances recorded in the Appraisily dataset since 1994 and 182 of those carrying documented realized prices. The price distribution spans from €200 at the low end to €89,250 at the high end, with a median of €6,250 and an interquartile range of €3,000–€12,600. Liquidity is consistent: 22 lots appeared in the trailing twelve months (March 2025–March 2026) and 24 in the prior twelve months, indicating stable market throughput. The top tier of auction houses handling his work includes Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams, while Hampel Fine Art Auctions accounts for the largest share of recent activity in the German market. Recent Christie's results (February 2026) for watercolor views of Venice realized $5,080–$10,160, while Hampel results for oil paintings in the same period ranged from €10,000 to €25,000. Works described as follower or attributed lots trade at a discount to firmly signed pieces. The market is geographically concentrated in European houses—Germany, Italy, France, and the UK—with occasional appearances at North American salerooms.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily uses its dataset of 269 auction records for Giacomo Guardi as a baseline comparable pool. To estimate fair market value for a specific work, Appraisily would combine these auction records with the client's submitted photographs, measured dimensions, identified medium (oil on canvas or panel, watercolor, ink and wash drawing), signature or inscription details, condition report, and documented provenance. The most impactful adjustment factor is attribution confidence: lots catalogued as "Nachfolge" (follower), "zugeschrieben" (attributed), or "taste of" trade meaningfully below firmly signed works. A signed oil view of Venice in good condition by Giacomo Guardi would typically be compared against the p50–p75 range of the priced dataset (roughly €6,250–€12,600), adjusted for scale, subject rarity, and condition. Watercolor drawings tend to cluster at the lower end of the range, while larger oil paintings of iconic Venetian landmarks can exceed the p75 threshold. Provenance linking a work to a notable collection or exhibition history can provide additional upward support.

### Valuation factors

- Attribution confidence is the single most important value driver: firmly signed works by Giacomo Guardi command significantly more than lots catalogued as 'follower of,' 'attributed to,' or 'workshop of'
- Medium matters: oil paintings of Venetian views generally achieve higher prices than watercolors and drawings, though exceptional watercolors of landmark subjects can approach mid-range oil prices
- Subject and iconography: views of the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco, and other iconic Venetian landmarks tend to outperform less recognizable lagoon or capriccio subjects
- Scale: the Guardi workshop produced many small-scale cabinet paintings and drawings for the Grand Tour market; larger works are comparatively rarer and may command premiums
- Condition and restoration history: given the age of these works (late 18th–early 19th century), condition issues such as craquelure, relining, overpaint, or foxing in drawings can materially affect value
- Provenance: documented ownership history, especially through notable collections or dealer records, strengthens attribution confidence and supports higher valuations
- Distinguishing Giacomo's hand from his father Francesco Guardi's is a critical connoisseurship issue; works by Francesco trade at a substantial premium, making correct attribution essential for accurate valuation

### Collector notes

- Collectors considering a work attributed to Giacomo Guardi should be aware that the market is active and relatively liquid, with roughly two dozen lots appearing at auction each year across major European salerooms. The broad price range (€200–€89,250) reflects wide variation in attribution confidence, medium, scale, and quality. Buying at the lower end of the range often means accepting an attribution qualifier such as 'follower of' or 'workshop of.' For sellers, the strongest results tend to come from works with clear signatures, recognizable Venetian subject matter, good condition, and—ideally—documentation linking the work to a known collection. Hampel Fine Art Auctions in Munich handles the highest volume of Guardi material and is a useful barometer for the German-language market, while Christie's and Sotheby's provide the international benchmark. Pairs and groups of views (such as the pair of Venetian scenes at Roseberys in March 2026 for £2,000) can represent value, though individual iconic views typically achieve higher per-lot prices. Always request a condition report and, for higher-value works, consider an independent specialist opinion on attribution before purchase.

### Market caveats

- A significant portion of the lots catalogued under Giacomo Guardi carry attribution qualifiers ('Nachfolge,' 'zugeschrieben,' 'taste of,' 'circle of') rather than firm authorship, which means the dataset mixes confirmed works with workshop and follower material.
- The Appraisily dataset includes 269 lots but only 182 have documented realized prices; unsold lots and buy-ins are not always distinguishable from lots where the price was simply not recorded.
- Prices in the dataset span multiple currencies (EUR, USD, GBP); direct comparison requires currency normalization at the relevant sale date.
- The distinction between Giacomo Guardi's work and that of his father Francesco remains a subject of specialist connoisseurship; auction catalogue attributions may not reflect current scholarship.
- The market is concentrated in European auction houses, especially Hampel Fine Art Auctions in Germany; results from this house may skew the dataset toward a particular collector base and price level.
- The highest recorded price (€89,250) is an outlier well above the p75 threshold and may reflect exceptional provenance, scale, or subject matter not representative of the typical market.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/giacomo-guardi/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-1764-venedig-1835-ebenda-nachfolge-des-19-jahrhunderts-1185-c-23e6f6a6cb
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-1764-venedig-1835-ebenda-317-c-d3978e5046
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-1764-venedig-1835-ebenda-206-c-63a531b903
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-1764-venedig-1835-ebenda-199-c-d8ade587ec
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-italian-1764-1835-a-pair-of-venetian-sce-96-c-e958e2d9e7
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-venezia-1764-1835-2-c-20b9c63ed0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-1764-1835-1-c-64ed5025f6
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-venice-1764-1835-a-view-of-the-zattere-watercolor-and-bo-51-c-15cea65c95
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-venice-1764-1835-view-of-the-island-of-san-secondo-water-50-c-0db2a2986d
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-venice-1764-1835-view-of-the-rialto-bridge-watercolor-an-49-c-91bc05c95a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-giacomo-guardi-italian-1764-1835-a-view-of-the-porto-di-lido-with-the-226-c-56e4ea8a9c

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from library authority files, museum records, and scholarly databases with publicly available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. For Giacomo Guardi, identity data is sourced from the Getty ULAN, VIAF, the Library of Congress, RKD, and Wikidata. Market context is informed by 433 auction appearances in the Appraisily dataset and RKD image records.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3105058
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500023608
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/10682664/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85053334
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/34399