Ben Nicholson: career timeline

British · 1894–1982 · Works grouped by the decade they were made (the cataloged date, or a date in the signature or title), not by sale date. 85 of 107 lots (80% of works) have a usable creation date; the others are listed at the end by the decade they were sold. Each work is shown once, even when it sold more than once.

Ben Nicholson: works at auction by decade the work was made. Each work counted once; medians use sold works only, in US dollars.

Decade made	Works	Sold	Median sold price	Main medium
1920s	2	2	$45.8kSign up	Drawing
1930s	8	5	$1.9kSign up	Woodcut / linocut
1940s	3	2	$13.7kSign up	Drypoint
1950s	8	6	$83.9kSign up	Oil
1960s	56	40	$2.4kSign up	Etching
1970s	4	3	$15.7kSign up	Oil
1980s	3	1	$11kSign up	Mixed media

Where does mine fit?

Enter what you know about a work by Ben Nicholson to see the closest recorded works from the same period, with their auction results. These are past records only, not a valuation: condition, authenticity, provenance and the market all change what a work brings. For an auction estimate of your work, get a free auction estimate.

Year madeHeight (in)Width (in)MediumSubject

1920s 2 works

Sold: 2 of 2
Median: $45.8kSign up
Average: $45.8kSign up
Typical size: 9.5 × 14.5 in (25 × 37 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (1), Oil (1)
Subjects: —

c. 1920 View from Bankshead Looking East, 1920s$2.7kSign up
1925 Red to Black$88.9kSign up

1930s 8 works

Sold: 5 of 8
Median: $1.9kSign up
Average: $150kSign up
Typical size: 6.5 × 7 in (16 × 18 cm)
Mediums: Woodcut / linocut (4), Mixed media (1), Print (other) (1)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (1)

c. 1933 Oh Boy!, circa 1933$12.6kSign up
1933 Foxy & Frankie (C. 3, P.Q. II.I.b)Unsold
1933 Foxy & Frankie (C. 2, see P.Q. II.2)Unsold
c. 1934 Five Circles$1.5kSign up
c. 1934 Five Circles (1934/62)$1.9kSign up
1934 White Relief$732kSign up
1934 Five Circles$1kSign up
c. 1935 WHITE RELIEF - 1935/1969Unsold

1940s 3 works

Sold: 2 of 3
Median: $13.7kSign up
Average: $13.7kSign up
Typical size: 7 × 9.5 in (18 × 25 cm)
Mediums: Drypoint (2), Etching (1)
Subjects: —

1950s 8 works

Sold: 6 of 8
Median: $83.9kSign up
Average: $125kSign up
Typical size: 14.5 × 14 in (37 × 35 cm)
Mediums: Oil (4), Drawing (2), Drypoint (1)
Subjects: —

1960s 56 works

Sold: 40 of 56
Median: $2.4kSign up
Average: $9.7kSign up
Typical size: 10 × 10 in (26 × 25 cm)
Mediums: Etching (45), Other (5), Drawing (2)
Subjects: Landscapes (5), Flowers & still life (1)

1960 Western Landscape$239kSign up
1962 Aug 62 (Copernicus)Unsold
1962 Goblet Forms (Untitled)$2.3kSign up
1962 Court of Honour, Urbino$18.2kSign up
1965 SMALL SILENT SIENA, FROM 'ARCHITECTURAL SUITE' (LAFRANCA 19; CRISTEA 121), 1965$3.3kSign up
1965 White Relief$4.2kSign up
1965 URBINO,1965 (LAFRANCA 1)$1.7kSign up
1965 Olympic Fragment (L. 11)$1.6kSign up
1965 Olympic Fragment; and Olympic Fragment (L. 28, C. 118; L. 29, C. 118)Unsold
1965 Urbino (L. 26, C. 34)Unsold
1965 Aquileia, from Architectural Suite (L. 12, C. 31)$5.8kSign up
1965 Siena (large version) (L. 22, C. 39)$2kSign up

Show 12 more (1960s)

1965 White Relief$15kSign up
1965 Olympia (L. 10, C. 42)$1.9kSign up
1965 Urbino$11.5kSign up
1965 Urbino (Gewölbe einer Kathedrale)$2.5kSign up
1966 VERONA, 1966$3.5kSign up
1966 FORMS IN A LANDSCAPE (COLUMNS AND JUGS), 1966 (LAFRANCA 15)$1.9kSign up
1966 Moonshine (L. 62, C. 53)$1.6kSign up
1966 Tesserete (L. 52, C. 52)$1.6kSign up
1966 forms in a landscape, 1966$1.6kSign up
1966 Moonshine (L. 31, C. 53)$1.4kSign up
1966 Forms in a landscape (Columns and jugs)$652Sign up
1966 Forms in a landscape (Columns and jugs)$409Sign up

…and 32 more works from this group in the full results list.

1970s 4 works

Sold: 3 of 4
Median: $15.7kSign up
Average: $16.1kSign up
Typical size: 13.5 × 14 in (34 × 35 cm)
Mediums: Oil (2), Drawing (1), Mixed media (1)
Subjects: Flowers & still life (1)

1972 Still life in relief$13.6kSign up
1973 LAMBOUSA 2, 1973Unsold
c. 1974 small red diamond, circa 1974$18.8kSign up
1978 1978 June (group in movement)$15.7kSign up

1980s 3 works

Sold: 1 of 3
Median: $11kSign up
Average: $11kSign up
Typical size: 18.5 × 17 in (47 × 43 cm)
Mediums: Mixed media (2), Drawing (1)
Subjects: —

1981 4 Forms, 1981$11kSign up
1981 Jul-81 1981Unsold
1982 Uxbridge 1894 - Londra 1982 / May (Querceto), 1960Result not published · sold 2×

Creation date not recorded

21 works have no cataloged or signed date. They are grouped here by the decade they were last sold, which says nothing about when they were made.

Undated, sold in the 2000s 1 work

Sold: 1 of 1
Median: $3.3kSign up
Average: $3.3kSign up
Typical size: 13.5 × 13.5 in (35 × 35 cm)
Mediums: Aquatint (1)
Subjects: Flowers & still life (1)

sold 2005 Still life with grey$3.3kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2010s 6 works

Sold: 6 of 6
Median: $3.6kSign up
Average: $10.1kSign up
Typical size: 15.5 × 17 in (39 × 43 cm)
Mediums: Other (3), Etching (2), Drawing (1)
Subjects: Abstract (1)

sold 2010 May 64 (Valle Maggia)$42.7kSign up
sold 2012 Untitled$7kSign up
sold 2014 Line Abstract$2.8kSign up
sold 2017 Movement; 5 Circles (2)$4.4kSign up
sold 2017 Fragment of Tuscan Cathedral$2.5kSign up
sold 2019 Tuscan Pillars$1.3kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2020s 14 works

Sold: 12 of 14
Median: $2.2kSign up
Average: $4.1kSign up
Typical size: 12 × 16 in (30 × 41 cm)
Mediums: Lithograph (3), Sculpture (2), Etching (2)
Subjects: Markets & villages (1)

sold 2021 Guardsmen use Shell$4.2kSign up
sold 2021 Untitled$1.1kSign up
sold 2023 Untitled$2.3kSign up
sold 2023 White ReliefUnsold
sold 2023 Untitled$2kSign up
sold 2024 Italian mountain village$8.8kSign up

Show 6 more (2020s)

sold 2024 Untitled$1.5kSign up
sold 2024 White Relief$13.9kSign up
sold 2025 Untitled$191Sign up
sold 2025 Untitled$1.7kSign up
sold 2025 Untitled$6.6kSign up
sold 2025 Untitled$5.3kSign up

…and 2 more works from this group in the full results list.

Medians and averages count sold works only (each work's most recent sale), in US dollars at the sale-date rate. Works cataloged as “attributed to”, “circle of” or similar are left out. All Ben Nicholson auction results →