W. Eugene Smith: career timeline

American · 1918–1978 · Works grouped by the decade they were made (the cataloged date, or a date in the signature or title), not by sale date. 68 of 83 lots (82% 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.

W. Eugene Smith: 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
1940s	15	12	$2.3kSign up	Photograph
1950s	45	32	$3.3kSign up	Photograph
1960s	5	2	$3.3kSign up	Photograph
1970s	3	3	$12.7kSign up	Photograph

Where does mine fit?

Enter what you know about a work by W. Eugene Smith 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

1940s 15 works

Sold: 12 of 15
Median: $2.3kSign up
Average: $6.9kSign up
Typical size: 12 × 10 in (31 × 26 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (15)
Subjects: Sea & coast (1)

1944 'Leyte Cathedral, Philippines'$614Sign up
c. 1944 A Portfolio of Ten Photographs$20.5kSign up
1944 Burial at Sea, from the U.S.S. Bunker Hill Marshall Islands Campaign$1.8kSign up
1944 Saipan (Soldier Holding Baby)Unsold
1945 The Battle of Iwo Jima$2.8kSign up
c. 1945 Untitled$445Sign up
1946 'Walk to Paradise Garden'$19.2kSign up
1946 Walk to Paradise Garden$23.8kSign up
c. 1947 Selected ImagesUnsold
1947 Untitled from New Mexico$1.6kSign up
1948 Grandma Moses$333Sign up
1948 Grandma MosesUnsold

Show 3 more (1940s)

1950s 45 works

Sold: 32 of 45
Median: $3.3kSign up
Average: $5.4kSign up
Typical size: 10 × 12 in (25 × 31 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (44), Other (1)
Subjects: Markets & villages (13), Figures & portraits (4)

Show 12 more (1950s)

1951 The Spinner, Spanish VillageUnsold
1951 Maud Callen, Nurse MidwifeUnsold
1951 Spanish Wake$6kSign up
1951 Wake-Man in Doorway, from Spanish Village seriesUnsold
1951 Wake-Man in Doorway, from Spanish Village seriesUnsold
1953 Death of Gus-Gus$1.7kSign up
1953 Detergent Factory (from 'The Reign of Chemistry')$2kSign up
1953 Death of Gus GusUnsold
1954 Leper Patient and Religious Medal at Dr. Albert Schweitzer's$538Sign up
1954 Schweitzer's Hands (from 'Man of Mercy')$640Sign up
1954 Albert Schweitzer from 'A Man of Mercy'$4kSign up
1954 Guardia Civil$6.3kSign up

…and 21 more works from this group in the full results list.

1960s 5 works

Sold: 2 of 5
Median: $3.3kSign up
Average: $3.3kSign up
Typical size: 10.5 × 10.5 in (27 × 27 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (5)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (1)

1961 Violinist from the Hitachi SymphonyUnsold
c. 1961 Two men reading newspapers, Hitachi, JapanUnsold
c. 1961 Hitachi, JapanUnsold
1965 Bob Dylan at Piano, New York$5.7kSign up
1969 Impeach the Red Mayor (Hard Hat Riot against Government War Policy)$960Sign up

1970s 3 works

Sold: 3 of 3
Median: $12.7kSign up
Average: $11.5kSign up
Typical size: 8.5 × 13 in (21 × 33 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (3)
Subjects: —

c. 1971 Untitled (Tomoko Uemera and her Mother) (from the Minamata Series)$699Sign up
c. 1971 Tomoko Uemura Being Bathed by her Mother, Minamata$21.3kSign up
1972 Tomoko in Bath, Minamata, Japan$12.7kSign 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 2010s 4 works

Sold: 3 of 4
Median: $342Sign up
Average: $4.4kSign up
Typical size: 9.5 × 11.5 in (24 × 29 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (4)
Subjects: —

sold 2011 Thelonius Monk and his Smashed Cigarette, from the loft inside$12.6kSign up
sold 2014 UntitledUnsold
sold 2016 Aerial Of U.S. Naval Shipyard, Baltimore$228Sign up
sold 2016 The Jazz Singer$342Sign up

Undated, sold in the 2020s 11 works

Sold: 5 of 11
Median: $1.5kSign up
Average: $1.8kSign up
Typical size: 12.5 × 10.5 in (32 × 27 cm)
Mediums: Photograph (10), Other (1)
Subjects: Figures & portraits (1), Markets & villages (1)

sold 2020 Nurse Midwife, Maud Callen Cases Pain of Birth - Life and DeathResult not published
sold 2020 Nurse Midwife, Maud Callen Cases Pain of Birth - Life and DeathResult not published
sold 2020 Nurse Midwife, Maud Callen Cases Pain of Birth - Life and DeathResult not published
sold 2022 Sticks and Stones, n.d., estate stamp verso$3.3kSign up
sold 2022 The Vanquished on Tarawa$750Sign up
sold 2023 Stockade, Africa (from the A Man of Mercy series)$1.5kSign up

Show 5 more (2020s)

sold 2023 Mad Eyes, Haiti$2.8kSign up
sold 2024 American Hospital in Leyte CathedralUnsold
sold 2025 The Spinner (from the Spanish Village portfolio)Unsold
sold 2026 Silhouette of Patient in Trance, Haiti$635Sign up
sold 2026 Model on Bed,Unsold

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 W. Eugene Smith auction results →