# John Opie artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/john-opie/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T20:29:03.249Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1807-04-09
- Nationality: British, English
- Movements: British portrait painting, late 18th century
- Common media: Oil painting, Drawing, Illustration

## About John Opie

John Opie (1761–1807) was an English painter renowned for portraits and historical subjects during the late Georgian era. Born in Saint Agnes, Cornwall, and baptized in May 1761, Opie rose from modest rural origins to become one of the most sought-after portraitists in London, painting prominent figures of his day including members of the British royal family and leading names in the arts and literature. His work drew wide attention for its direct, unidealized realism, and he was elected a Royal Academician in 1787. The RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History records him as an illustrator, painter, and draftsperson, and his works are held in major public collections including Tate. Opie died in London on 9 April 1807, leaving a body of work that bridges the worlds of provincial British painting and the London art establishment.

## Common works and media

Opie's output spans oil portraits (single-figure and group compositions), historical and literary scene paintings, portrait drawings, and book illustrations. His most commonly encountered works at auction are oil-on-canvas portraits of named sitters, often in three-quarter or half-length format. He also produced smaller-scale historical subjects and was active as an illustrator. Works on paper, including preparatory sketches and finished drawings, appear less frequently but are documented in the RKD collections.

## Market and appraisal context

John Opie's works appear at auction primarily within Old Master Paintings and British Art sales. Portraits of identifiable, historically prominent sitters generally attract stronger interest than anonymous or genre subjects. As with many late-18th-century British painters, provenance documentation, condition reports, and secure attribution are central to appraisal. Opie's paintings have on occasion been confused with those of his contemporaries, so expert connoisseurship may be required. Collectors should also consider whether a work is a finished cabinet painting, a full-scale portrait, or a preparatory drawing, as medium and scale significantly influence value. Comparable public auction records should be consulted for current pricing context.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist 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 John Opie, identity data has been cross-referenced against the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Tate, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2481088
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500011687
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/2739832/
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-opie-406
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/60856
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr91026286
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Opie