# Judy Cassab artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/judy-cassab/
Profile generated: 2026-05-02T22:51:49.397Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 2015-11-03
- Nationality: Australian
- Movements: Australian post-war painting
- Common media: Oil painting, Works on paper

## About Judy Cassab

Judy Cassab (1920–2015), born Judit Kaszab in Vienna, was an Australian painter who became one of the country's most recognised portrait artists. She studied in Prague and Budapest before surviving the Holocaust in hiding during the Second World War. After the war she worked in Budapest and emigrated to Australia in 1951, where she built a decades-long career. Cassab won the Archibald Prize twice — one of only a handful of artists to achieve that distinction — and became known for her commissioned portraits of prominent Australians as well as landscape and abstract paintings. Her work is held in major Australian public collections. Collectors encounter her paintings at auction regularly, particularly in the Australian post-war and contemporary sale categories.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Judy Cassab oil paintings on canvas or board, particularly portraits and landscape compositions. She also produced works on paper including drawings and watercolours. Editioned prints and lithographs exist but are less common at auction. Her portraits of identified sitters and her landscape scenes of the Australian interior are among the most sought-after categories.

## Market and appraisal context

Judy Cassab maintains a well-established and liquid secondary market centred on Australian auction houses. Appraisily auction records index 557 total lots with 417 carrying price-realised data, spanning sales from October 2002 through May 2026. The price distribution skews toward an accessible mid-range: the 25th percentile sits at AUD 420, the median at AUD 850, and the 75th percentile at AUD 1,700. The ceiling reaches AUD 70,000 for top-tier works. Liquidity is steady, with 22 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 24 in the prior 12 months, indicating consistent supply and demand. The majority of sales are concentrated at Australian houses — Lawsons, Leonard Joel, Shapiro Auctioneers, GFL Fine Art, Theodore Bruce, and Raffan Kelaher & Thomas — with occasional appearances at Bonhams, Menzies, and international houses including Sloane Street Auctions (London), Rago Arts (US), Andrew Jones Auctions (US), and Westport Auction (US). Recent comparable results illustrate clear tiering: editioned prints realise AUD 80, smaller oils and works on paper sell in the AUD 380–900 band, larger oils on canvas and linen reach AUD 1,700–7,000, and significant compositions at major houses can exceed AUD 5,000. Multi-currency results (AUD, GBP, USD) confirm modest international reach beyond the Australian domestic market.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Judy Cassab maintains a well-established and liquid secondary market centred on Australian auction houses. Appraisily auction records index 557 total lots with 417 carrying price-realised data, spanning sales from October 2002 through May 2026. The price distribution skews toward an accessible mid-range: the 25th percentile sits at AUD 420, the median at AUD 850, and the 75th percentile at AUD 1,700. The ceiling reaches AUD 70,000 for top-tier works. Liquidity is steady, with 22 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 24 in the prior 12 months, indicating consistent supply and demand. The majority of sales are concentrated at Australian houses — Lawsons, Leonard Joel, Shapiro Auctioneers, GFL Fine Art, Theodore Bruce, and Raffan Kelaher & Thomas — with occasional appearances at Bonhams, Menzies, and international houses including Sloane Street Auctions (London), Rago Arts (US), Andrew Jones Auctions (US), and Westport Auction (US). Recent comparable results illustrate clear tiering: editioned prints realise AUD 80, smaller oils and works on paper sell in the AUD 380–900 band, larger oils on canvas and linen reach AUD 1,700–7,000, and significant compositions at major houses can exceed AUD 5,000. Multi-currency results (AUD, GBP, USD) confirm modest international reach beyond the Australian domestic market.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily uses these auction records as one input alongside the work's photographs, measured dimensions, identified medium, signature and inscriptions, condition report, documented provenance, and edition details where applicable. For Judy Cassab, the most reliable comparable benchmarks are oil paintings on canvas or linen by a named subject or titled composition, sold at established Australian auction houses within the last five years. Works on paper and mixed-media pieces typically fall in a lower price tier. Prints in numbered editions are a distinct category and should be compared against other editioned prints, not unique paintings. Attribution should be confirmed by expert opinion or catalogue raisonné reference, particularly for unsigned or ambiguously signed works. The wide price range (AUD 20–70,000) means that medium, size, subject, provenance, and condition each carry substantial weight in determining where within that band a specific work falls.

### Valuation factors

- Medium — oil on canvas or linen commands a premium over oil on paper/board, mixed media, and works on paper; editioned prints trade at a distinct and lower tier
- Size — larger works (above 80 cm on the longest side) consistently realise stronger prices; the AUD 5,000–7,000 results are all large-format oils
- Subject and title — portraits of identified sitters, self-portraits, and titled landscape compositions attract more competitive bidding than generic or untitled works
- Auction house tier — results at Menzies, Bonhams, and Leonard Joel set the upper benchmarks; regional houses typically realise lower prices for comparable works
- Provenance — Archibald Prize association, exhibition history, and documented ownership chain add measurable value
- Condition and attribution — condition issues and uncertain attribution are significant value detractions given the wide price spread in this market
- Currency and market — the Australian domestic market (AUD) is the primary venue; international results in GBP and USD tend to cluster at the lower end of the range
- Date of execution — works from the 1960s–1990s, Cassab's mature Australian period, appear most frequently at auction and form the strongest comparable set

### Collector notes

- Judy Cassab's market is accessible and active, with new lots appearing almost monthly across Australian auction houses. Collectors entering at the mid-range (AUD 500–2,000) will find regular opportunities for oil paintings and works on paper at houses like Leonard Joel, GFL Fine Art, Aalders, and Christian McCann Auctions. For buyers seeking investment-grade works, the AUD 5,000–7,000 tier is populated by larger oils with strong titles and provenance, typically at Menzies, Bonhams, or Leonard Joel. Editioned prints (e.g., the 'Mother Love' series, ed. of 70) trade below AUD 100 and represent the most affordable entry point, though appreciation potential is limited relative to unique works. Sellers should note that smaller oils and untitled works on paper in the AUD 300–600 range may underperform estimates at regional houses; consignment to a tier-one Australian house is advisable for well-documented, larger paintings. The gap between the 75th percentile (AUD 1,700) and the maximum (AUD 70,000) is wide, so professional appraisal is recommended before any transaction above AUD 2,000 to ensure pricing is grounded in current comparables.

### Market caveats

- Price-realised data is predominantly in AUD; the GBP and USD results represent a small share of total volume and may not reflect equivalent market depth in those currencies.
- Some recent lots lack price-realised data (e.g., the 104 cm × 86 cm 'Max Ernst on Pompidou Terrace' at Christian McCann Auctions and one lot at Aalders), which may indicate passed-in or post-sale private negotiations not captured in these records.
- The recorded maximum price of AUD 70,000 is an outlier well above the 75th percentile and should not be used as a benchmark without confirming the specific lot's medium, size, provenance, and sale context.
- Appraisily auction signals are derived from public auction feeds and may not capture every private sale or gallery transaction.
- Attribution should be verified independently; some lots in the record carry minimal description and may include works with uncertain or incomplete attribution.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/judy-cassab/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable (Menzies): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-girl-with-bruegel-2-1995-98-c-9a8b06665b
- Invaluable (Leonard Joel): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-st-paul-s-cathedral-paris-1991-oil-on-linen-127-x-98cm-59-c-6a914604df
- Invaluable (Bonhams): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-binoculars-in-brett-s-studio-1996-86-c-9b641e5971
- Invaluable (Colville Auctions): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-europe-australia-self-portrait-with-mirror-model-and-flowers-35-c-e048d34e53
- Invaluable (GFL Fine Art): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-still-life-oil-on-board-37-c-30b425cb26
- Invaluable (Colville Auctions): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-europe-australia-the-black-hat-13-c-4f0e7f868c
- Invaluable (Christian McCann Auctions): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-australia-1920-2015-sun-drenched-group-bali-1976-oil-on-canvas-on-board-h-72-cm-w-72-cm-783-c-9e535cf42b
- Invaluable (Christian McCann Auctions): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-australia-1920-2015-the-wall-mixed-media-on-paper-c-1963-1971-h-54-5-cm-w-67-cm-784-c-ee3b01b258
- Invaluable (Bargain Hunt Auctions): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-judy-cassab-1920-2015-edition-4-70-of-mother-love-2004-print-524-c-2a4b700ac9

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and institutional sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Judy Cassab, identity data is sourced from Wikidata, VIAF, the Library of Congress, and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6304372
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Cassab
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/97723335/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84095512
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/15764