James Lee Byars: career timeline

American · 1932–1997 · Works grouped by the decade they were made (the cataloged date, or a date in the signature or title), not by sale date. 79 of 94 lots (84% 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.

James Lee Byars: 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
1950s	2	2	$63.4kSign up	Other
1960s	7	7	$1.9kSign up	Lithograph
1970s	31	31	$1.4kSign up	Other
1980s	31	24	$3.4kSign up	Other
1990s	8	8	$6.9kSign up	Drawing

Where does mine fit?

Enter what you know about a work by James Lee Byars 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

1950s 2 works

Sold: 2 of 2
Median: $63.4kSign up
Average: $63.4kSign up
Typical size: 36 × 36 in (91 × 91 cm)
Mediums: Other (1), Drawing (1)
Subjects: —

1957 24hrs of Byars at Bellamy$1.8kSign up
c. 1958 Untitled$125kSign up

1960s 7 works

Sold: 7 of 7
Median: $1.9kSign up
Average: $3.9kSign up
Typical size: 10.5 × 8 in (27 × 21 cm)
Mediums: Lithograph (6), Other (1)
Subjects: —

1970s 31 works

Sold: 31 of 31
Median: $1.4kSign up
Average: $3.5kSign up
Typical size: 11 × 9 in (29 × 22 cm)
Mediums: Other (13), Lithograph (6), Print (other) (4)
Subjects: —

1970 THE GERTRUDE STEIN BOOK, 1970 (4)$1.1kSign up
1970 THE GERTRUDE STEIN BOOK$660Sign up
c. 1971 collection of four postcards mailed to Tommy Longo$1.3kSign up
1971 THE BLACK BOOK$1.6kSign up
1972 red paper cutout mailed to Tommy Longo$293Sign up
1974 THE GOLDEN TOWER$2.7kSign up
1975 Luck$3.8kSign up
c. 1975 text on metallic gold paper$1.6kSign up
c. 1975 collection of three items$438Sign up
c. 1975 bookmark (Bamboo, Chinese woodcut, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)$125Sign up
c. 1975 text on vellum$688Sign up
c. 1975 cut paper strip mailed to Tommy Longo$157Sign up

Show 12 more (1970s)

c. 1975 100 Questions$715Sign up
1975 letter mailed to Tommy Longo$2.3kSign up
c. 1975 letter mailed to Tommy Longo$2kSign up
1975 THE HUNDRED ONE PAGE BOOKS, 1975 (9)$600Sign up
1975 THE HUNDRED ONE PAGE BOOKS$1.8kSign up
1976 letter mailed to Tommy Longo$195Sign up
1976 THE SHOCK OF WRITING A LETTER$3.9kSign up
1977 Mexican Gold (Money-Object 1977)$2.1kSign up
1977 TH FI TO IN PH (Mönchengladbach)$287Sign up
1978 Gold Peak of Kunsthalle Bern$1.4kSign up
1978 Four Black Pearls$944Sign up
1978 Diamond Dust$5.5kSign up

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

1980s 31 works

Sold: 24 of 31
Median: $3.4kSign up
Average: $37.7kSign up
Typical size: 18 × 15 in (46 × 39 cm)
Mediums: Other (15), Drawing (8), Mixed media (2)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (1)

1980 Home$2.8kSign up
c. 1980 Some Ephemera$772Sign up
c. 1980 Untitled$9.4kSign up
c. 1980 Casa Stefani Venice$4kSign up
1980 Ohne Titel. Späte 1980er Jahre$12.3kSign up
1980 THE WHITE BOOK$330Sign up
1980 From The New Pink Flag of Italy 39th Venice Biennale$960Sign up
c. 1981 Key of Venice$2.4kSign up
1981 No Basel Today$755Sign up
1981 The Black Giant with Ruby Glasses$17.7kSign up
1981 The Signature of the Artist$22.2kSign up
c. 1981 Ohne Titel$2.2kSign up

Show 12 more (1980s)

1982 May We Invite You?$772Sign up
c. 1982 Ohne Titel$11.5kSign up
c. 1982 7 („1 and 2 were great But 3´s for me...“)$8.8kSign up
1983 Beuys Makes Documenta 8$881Sign up
1983 Gold Dust is my Ex Libris$662Sign up
1984 The Introduction of the Sages to the Alps$767Sign up
c. 1985 Compositie$8.2kSign up
1985 Penis Letter to Jon Thompson$13.2kSign up
1985 Untitled (...Sweet Marie Puck...)Unsold
1986 Selfportrait$2.8kSign up
c. 1986 Goldflügel$7.8kSign up
1986 TSOL$13.8kSign up

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

1990s 8 works

Sold: 8 of 8
Median: $6.9kSign up
Average: $68.9kSign up
Typical size: 13 × 21 in (33 × 53 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (5), Other (2), Sculpture (1)
Subjects: Sunsets & night (1)

1990 PIITL (Perfect is in the Louvre)$5kSign up
c. 1990 Ohne Titel$6.5kSign up
c. 1990 untitled$5kSign up
1991 Golden Sphere$7.3kSign up
1992 Eros$425kSign up
c. 1993 L. To do one perfect thing, ...$2.5kSign up
1993 Eros$81.3kSign up
1994 Eros (The Moon)$18.8kSign up

Creation date not recorded

15 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 5 works

Sold: 4 of 5
Median: $13kSign up
Average: $11.8kSign up
Typical size: 48.5 × 36.5 in (123 × 93 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (2), Other (2), Watercolor (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2007 Letter$20.4kSign up
sold 2007 Untitled$15.6kSign up
sold 2008 The poet's glass. The poet's glass. I.D.L.W.S. The Page cushion. The bullet hole hat, Burned writing fingers and stabbed white shoes. The poet's belgium stone. The 7 daggersUnsold
sold 2008 Untitled$600Sign up
sold 2009 Untitled$10.5kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2010s 4 works

Sold: 4 of 4
Median: $1kSign up
Average: $8.4kSign up
Typical size: 11 × 9.5 in (28 × 24 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (2), Sculpture (1), Print (other) (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2013 Untitled$31.3kSign up
sold 2015 Ohne Titel (2-teilig)$1.8kSign up
sold 2019 collection of four performance announcements and ephemera$195Sign up
sold 2019 collection of three announcements and envelope$195Sign up

Undated, sold in the 2020s 6 works

Sold: 5 of 6
Median: $826Sign up
Average: $16.9kSign up
Typical size: 19.5 × 14 in (50 × 35 cm)
Mediums: Other (5), Drawing (1)
Subjects: Sunsets & night (1)

sold 2023 Planet Sign$78.6kSign up
sold 2023 I do nothing$772Sign up
sold 2023 TH FI TO IN PH$3.6kSign up
sold 2023 I Make the Moon$772Sign up
sold 2024 Off to the Mnt's$826Sign up
sold 2024 Silver StarsResult not published

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 James Lee Byars auction results →