How much can a work of art be valued at?

Picasso Dalí Miró Chillida Warhol

Many people wonder about the benefits of buying works of art for investment and how much extra money can be made by selling them after a few years. Today at Subasta Real, we have gathered some of the works that are for sale in our gallery and have compared them with works that have already been sold at major auction houses. Although hammer prices always vary depending on other details of the work, such as: the state of conservation, the printed edition, the year, whether or not it includes the artist's signature (hand-signed increases the price over works signed in the plate, for example). Despite all these details, we wanted to offer you this comparison that will help you understand how works of art appreciate over time.

Joan Miró. "La Mélodie Acide #3". Lithograph signed in the plate and numbered 1401/1500 (1980)

Of the lithograph titled "La Mélodie Acide #3" and signed in the plate by Joan Miró, 1,500 units were printed in 1980 by La Polígrafa, S.A. Barcelona. At Subasta Real, you will find number 1401 with a starting price of €425. The selling price of these works in an art gallery is approximately €900. At Christie's in October 2013, the complete collection of 14 lithographs of "La Mélodie Acide" by Joan Miró with the printed signature was sold for €2,250, while 2 years earlier the 14 lithographs signed by Miró would be sold for €43,000.

Salvador Dalí. "The Divine Comedy, Purgatory Canto 20". Wood engraving signed in the plate, unnumbered

Salvador Dalí was commissioned to illustrate "The Divine Comedy" on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the birth of its author: Dante Alighieri. The complete work consists of 100 different watercolors divided into three parts: Purgatory, Hell, and Paradise. The wood engraving of Purgatory Canto 20 – Avarice and Prodigality edited by Editions d´art Les Heures Claires in 1962, is offered for sale at Subasta Real for €110. In September 2016, Bukowskis sold a "Purgatory Canto 20" by Salvador Dalí, a wood engraving from 1960, signed and numbered 95/150 for €680. In June 2013, Kiefer sold a unique copy with the one hundred drawings by Salvador Dalí edited by Edition d'art les Heures Claires for 6 million euros.

Pablo Picasso. "Le Visage de la paix". Lithograph signed in the plate and numbered 948/2000

In 1993, the Musée National de Vallauris published 2000 copies of this lithograph by Pablo Picasso titled "Le Visage de la paix" (The Face of Peace) which goes up for auction for €120. The original collection that Pablo Picasso drew in December 1950 consists of 23 pencil drawings and two enhanced with colored pencils. The 25 drawings variously combine the image of a dove and the face of a woman and were made to illustrate Paul Eluard's collection of poems "Le Visage De La Paix". In August 2015, Hannoverumu sold a framed lithograph from the "Le Visage de la Paix" series, published in 1993 by the Musée National / Maguelli, Vallauris, signed and dated in the print for €209. In December 1997, Christie's sold numbered copy 830 of an edition of 2000 of the complete collection of drawings signed by Picasso for €213,000.

Andy Warhol. "Panda Drummer 12" in pink and black. Lithograph signed in the plate and numbered 1923/5000

Around 1983, Andy Warhol painted a series of works for children, where he combined paintings and screen prints of different colors, based on the toys he had as a child: a locomotive, a robot, a drum-playing bear, a mouse, a parrot. The "Panda Drummer" is one of the drawings dedicated to the Toy Series found at Subasta Real with a starting price of €120. The original "Panda Drummer" painted by Warhol in 1983 was sold at Christie's in October 2016 for €212,000. But a numbered screen print from a run of 5000 can reach €390.

Eduardo Chillida. "Composition". Screen Print signed in the plate, unnumbered

Although the prices reached by Chillida's sculptures are much higher than those reached by his graphic work (the sculpture "Buscando La Luz IV" was sold at Christie's in June 2013 for €4,580,000. While Chillida's most expensive graphic work sold to date is "Mural G-46" which reached “only” €588,000). The amount of Chillida's graphic works is extensive, varied, and little known. Chillida worked with etching, aquatint, drypoint, woodcut, screen printing, and embossing. The "Composition" by Eduardo Chillida goes up for auction for €90 and in April 2014 on Catawiki an identical lithograph was sold for €420.

Find your next investment at Subasta Real.