Helen Levitt: career timeline

American · 1913–2009 · Works grouped by the decade they were made (the cataloged date, or a date in the signature or title), not by sale date. 113 of 126 lots (90% 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.

Helen Levitt: 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
1930s	31	29	$6.3kSign up	Photograph
1940s	65	56	$5kSign up	Photograph
1950s	1	0	—	Photograph
1970s	10	9	$6.3kSign up	Photograph
1980s	6	6	$9.4kSign up	Photograph

Where does mine fit?

Enter what you know about a work by Helen Levitt 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

1930s 31 works

Sold: 29 of 31
Median: $6.3kSign up
Average: $7.6kSign up
Typical size: 7 × 7 in (18 × 18 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (31)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (10), Landscapes (1)

c. 1930 Untitled$5.6kSign up
c. 1930 Untitled$5.9kSign up
c. 1936 New York (Graffiti)$2.2kSign up
1936 New York$5kSign up
c. 1936 New York$5kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (girl with graffiti)$10.2kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (graffiti on box stand)$4.1kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (graffiti battleships)$3.8kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (boy drawing)$12.7kSign up
c. 1936 N.Y.C.$4.1kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (grafitti on brick wall, 'Oh! He Said 'What a Beautiful Day. . .')$7.6kSign up
c. 1936 Untitled (graffiti surrounded by torn posters)$4.8kSign up

Show 12 more (1930s)

c. 1937 New York (Graffiti)$6.8kSign up
1938 Untitled (Bullseye)$3.1kSign up
1938 Untitled (Two Boys in Masks, One Climbing Tree)$2kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (man reading)$6.3kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (two men with hats)$6.3kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (man with hat)$6.3kSign up
c. 1938 N.Y. (four girls against car)$5.1kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (woman looking at man in hat)$7.6kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (woman sleeping on man's shoulder)$7.6kSign up
c. 1938 Subway Portrait (three women)$7.6kSign up
1938 N.Y.C. (graffiti of figures on metal door)$3.8kSign up
1939 'N.Y.C.' (Masked Children, New York)Unsold

…and 7 more works from this group in the full results list.

1940s 65 works

Sold: 56 of 65
Median: $5kSign up
Average: $5.9kSign up
Typical size: 7.5 × 8.5 in (19 × 22 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (65)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (10), Flowers & still life (1), Markets & villages (1)

c. 1940 New York$7.7kSign up
c. 1940 Untitled (I Am A Killer)$3.1kSign up
c. 1940 New York (Three Boys with Toy Guns)$1.5kSign up
c. 1940 Untitled (A Detective Lives Here)Unsold
c. 1940 Untitled (Have You Got a Jolly Face?)Unsold
c. 1940 Untitled (Greeting at the Window)$1.3kSign up
c. 1940 Boys playing with large branch, New York$4.4kSign up
c. 1940 Selected Images of Chalk Art, c. 1940sUnsold
c. 1940 Untitled (Men with Black Cat, New York City)$2kSign up
c. 1940 Untitled (Children Dancing)$4.1kSign up
c. 1940 N.Y.C. (kids fighting over door)$8.3kSign up
1940 N.Y.C. (masked children on stoop)Unsold

Show 12 more (1940s)

c. 1940 New York (children playing)$3.6kSign up
1940 New York (two boys sitting)$4.8kSign up
c. 1940 New York (two children dancing)$5.7kSign up
c. 1940 N.Y. (masked children on stoop)$7kSign up
c. 1940 N.Y.C. (children with broken mirror)$6.9kSign up
c. 1940 N.Y.C. (boys playing over doorway)$8.8kSign up
c. 1940 N.Y. (children with doll and flowers)$4kSign up
c. 1940 New York$6.7kSign up
1940 N.Y.C. (girl with milk bottles)$6.9kSign up
1940 N.Y.C. (children with broken mirror)$5kSign up
c. 1940 New York (two children dancing)$10.1kSign up
1940 N.Y.C.$4.5kSign up

…and 41 more works from this group in the full results list.

1950s 1 work

Sold: 0 of 1
Median: —
Average: —
Typical size: 9 × 13.5 in (23 × 34 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (1)
Subjects: —

1959 New YorkUnsold

1970s 10 works

Sold: 9 of 10
Median: $6.3kSign up
Average: $5.9kSign up
Typical size: 10 × 14.5 in (26 × 36 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (10)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (3), Markets & villages (1)

1971 New York (elderly couple crossing street)$4.8kSign up
1971 New York (Garment District)$4.8kSign up
1972 N. Y. (children with laundry cart)$8.3kSign up
1972 N.Y. (children with laundry)Unsold
1972 N.Y. (children with laundry)$8.1kSign up
1972 New York (boy with bubble)$8.1kSign up
1972 Untitled (Laundry Bags and Kids)$6.3kSign up
c. 1974 New York (man consoling woman)$2.5kSign up
1974 Untitled (Gumball)$6.3kSign up
1976 New York (man under car hood)$4.1kSign up

1980s 6 works

Sold: 6 of 6
Median: $9.4kSign up
Average: $9.8kSign up
Typical size: 11 × 14.5 in (28 × 37 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (4), Print (other) (2)
Subjects: —

1980 New York$8.8kSign up
1980 N.Y.$10kSign up
1980 New York$5.6kSign up
1980 N.Y.$12.5kSign up
1985 New Hampshire$1.8kSign up
1988 New York City (phone booth)$20.2kSign up

Creation date not recorded

13 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: $12.2kSign up
Average: $12.2kSign up
Typical size: 12 × 18 in (31 × 46 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2008 NEW YORK$12.2kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2010s 5 works

Sold: 5 of 5
Median: $1.9kSign up
Average: $1.7kSign up
Typical size: 9 × 14 in (23 × 36 cm)
Mediums: Other (4), Photograph (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2016 Three Roosters$2kSign up
sold 2017 Untitled$2.4kSign up
sold 2018 Boys Dancing$1kSign up
sold 2019 Untitled$1.9kSign up
sold 2019 Untitled$1.3kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2020s 7 works

Sold: 6 of 7
Median: $1kSign up
Average: $2.3kSign up
Typical size: 10.5 × 11.5 in (27 × 29 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (7)
Subjects: Markets & villages (1)

sold 2021 Three Roosters$938Sign up
sold 2023 N.Y. (Three Kids with Masks)$7.6kSign up
sold 2023 Children with Broken Mirror$3.6kSign up
sold 2025 NYC Street Scene$250Sign up
sold 2025 Masked Children on Stoop, New York$1.1kSign up
sold 2025 Bronx$406Sign up

Show 1 more (2020s)

sold 2025 Ben Raeburn and Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin WestUnsold

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 Helen Levitt auction results →