John Cage: career timeline

American · 1912–1992 · Works grouped by the decade they were made (the cataloged date, or a date in the signature or title), not by sale date. 48 of 53 lots (91% 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.

John Cage: 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	5	5	$8.4kSign up	Drawing
1960s	17	17	$2.3kSign up	Lithograph
1970s	2	2	$1.7kSign up	Other
1980s	17	16	$5kSign up	Aquatint
1990s	7	7	$7.5kSign up	Print (other)

Where does mine fit?

Enter what you know about a work by John Cage 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 5 works

Sold: 5 of 5
Median: $8.4kSign up
Average: $7.5kSign up
Typical size: 8.5 × 8.5 in (22 × 22 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (5)
Subjects: —

c. 1957 Concert for Piano and Orchestra, Solo for Piano, 1957-58, Stony Point, New York$10.6kSign up
1958 Variations I (My Realization for Piano)$15.2kSign up
1958 Page 69, From Concert For Piano and Orchestra$8.4kSign up
c. 1958 Variations I$938Sign up
c. 1958 Variations I$2.1kSign up

1960s 17 works

Sold: 17 of 17
Median: $2.3kSign up
Average: $2.5kSign up
Typical size: 14.5 × 24 in (37 × 61 cm)
Mediums: Lithograph (7), Screenprint (7), Other (2)
Subjects: —

Show 5 more (1960s)

1969 Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel Lithograph A$2.4kSign up
1969 Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel I$4.3kSign up
1969 Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel$1.5kSign up
1969 Not Wanting to Say Anything about Marcel, Plexigram I-VIII, 1969,$2.7kSign up
1969 Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel, Lithograph B$646Sign up

1970s 2 works

Sold: 2 of 2
Median: $1.7kSign up
Average: $1.7kSign up
Typical size: 11.5 × 21.5 in (29 × 55 cm)
Mediums: Other (1), Engraving (1)
Subjects: —

1980s 17 works

Sold: 16 of 17
Median: $5kSign up
Average: $7.1kSign up
Typical size: 19.5 × 19.5 in (49 × 49 cm)
Mediums: Aquatint (6), Drawing (4), Drypoint (2)
Subjects: Markets & villages (2)

Show 5 more (1980s)

1990s 7 works

Sold: 7 of 7
Median: $7.5kSign up
Average: $8.3kSign up
Typical size: 17.5 × 19.5 in (45 × 50 cm)
Mediums: Print (other) (4), Other (2), Aquatint (1)
Subjects: —

1991 Smoke Weather Stone Weather 15$5.9kSign up
1991 Medicine Drawings$16.7kSign up
1991 Variations II$8.8kSign up
1992 Variations III 53$4.1kSign up
1992 Variations III 36$7kSign up
1992 Variations III 29$7.9kSign up
1992 Variations III 53$7.5kSign up

Creation date not recorded

5 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 2 works

Sold: 2 of 2
Median: $22.8kSign up
Average: $22.8kSign up
Typical size: 16 × 24.5 in (41 × 62 cm)
Mediums: Drawing (1), Watercolor (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2006 8R / 14$30.5kSign up
sold 2008 Untitled (Strings)$15.2kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2010s 1 work

Sold: 1 of 1
Median: $4.7kSign up
Average: $4.7kSign up
Typical size: —
Mediums: Other (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2019 R 2/1 (Where R = Ryoanji)$4.7kSign up

Undated, sold in the 2020s 2 works

Sold: 2 of 2
Median: $22.8kSign up
Average: $22.8kSign up
Typical size: 18 × 46.5 in (46 × 118 cm)
Mediums: Screenprint (1), Acrylic (1)
Subjects: —

sold 2020 30 Drawings by Thoreau (from the Merce Cunningham portfolio)$5.3kSign up
sold 2024 Extended Lullaby$40.3kSign up

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 John Cage auction results →