# William Rothenstein artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/william-rothenstein/
Profile generated: 2026-05-24T20:57:55.753Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1872-01-29
- Death date: 1945-02-14
- Nationality: English, British
- Movements: Early 20th-century British art
- Common media: Oil painting, Printmaking (lithography, etching), Drawing

## About William Rothenstein

Sir William Rothenstein (1872–1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and writer on art, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He trained from the late 1880s and built a career spanning portraiture, landscape, and scenes of Jewish religious life in London. During both World Wars he served as an official war artist, producing drawn and painted records of military subjects. More than two hundred of his portrait drawings of prominent figures are held by the National Portrait Gallery in London. From 1920 to 1935 he served as Principal of the Royal College of Art, shaping a generation of British artists. He was knighted in 1931 for his contributions to art. His memoirs, published in the 1930s, remain a valuable record of British cultural life in the early twentieth century. A major exhibition at Bradford's Cartwright Hall in 2015 renewed public attention to his work.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Rothenstein's portrait drawings and prints, many depicting well-known cultural and political figures of his era. He also produced landscape paintings, particularly of French and English scenes, interior views of London synagogues, and wartime subjects from both World Wars. His printed work includes lithographs and etchings, often issued in small editions. Oil paintings span portraits, landscapes, and narrative genre scenes. Drawings range from quick portrait sketches to finished compositional studies.

## Market and appraisal context

Rothenstein's work appears regularly at auction, primarily as prints, drawings, and oil paintings in British Art and Works on Paper sales. Portraits of identifiable, notable sitters and his wartime commissions tend to attract the strongest bidder interest. His prints and works on paper are relatively accessible at auction, while larger oil paintings, particularly from his periods as a war artist or depicting his characteristic synagogue interiors, can achieve higher results. The extensive holdings of his work at the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery sustain his institutional reputation and support collector confidence. Provenance, condition, date, subject matter, and whether the work has been exhibited or published are key factors in appraisal.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity data from museum, library-authority, and biographical sources with public auction records, auction-house catalogue context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. The information on this page should not be treated as a formal appraisal.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/68472
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2580416
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/34674307/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500005992
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-william-rothenstein-1874
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rothenstein
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/64793