Public sale records, not an appraisal

How much is The Lady of Shalott worth?

The Lady of Shalott is not for sale: it is held by Tate Britain, London, so it has no market price. The closest guide is Waterhouse's highest documented sale: $9 million for St Cecilia, at Christie's London in 2000. Prints and posters of it usually sell for $5–$250, and hand-painted copies for $100–$800.

Artist: John William Waterhouse
Date: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Held by: Tate Britain, London

Waterhouse's record$9MSt Cecilia · 2000

Own a print or copy of The Lady of Shalott?

Most copies of The Lady of Shalott in homes are prints, posters or hand-painted copies. They sell as decorative pieces, not as Waterhouse's work. These are the resale ranges Art Scanner's value estimate starts from.

Poster or unframed print$5–$60

Framed decorative or museum-shop print$40–$250

Large framed archival print$150–$800

Hand-painted copy$100–$800

An oil copy painted by hand, often sold as decor

Resale value in US dollars on a log scale: what copies actually sell for second-hand, not retail.

Dots under a magnifier

A regular grid of tiny coloured dots means a print, however old the frame looks.

Strokes that match the picture

Raised brushstrokes that follow the image mean a hand-painted copy. A few strokes over a flat print are added texture.

Labels on the back

Publisher, framer or gallery labels often say exactly what it is and when it was made.

Step by step: how to tell if a painting is valuable. Or scan it with Art Scanner: it checks original or print from the photo and gives a value range for the object you own.

About the painting

The Lady of Shalott is a painting of 1888 by the English painter John William Waterhouse. It is a representation of the ending of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1832 poem of the same name. Waterhouse painted three versions of this character, in 1888, 1894 and 1915. It is one of his most famous works, which adopted much of the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though Waterhouse was painting several decades after the Brotherhood split up during his early childhood.

More on the artist: the most expensive Waterhouse ever sold, and where the famous ones hang.

Waterhouse next to other famous artists

Each artist's highest documented sale, from the same research. Waterhouse: $9 million for St Cecilia, in 2000.

Goya$16.4MPortraits of Doña María Vicenta Barruso Valdés and Doña Leonora Antonia Valdés de Barruso · 2023
El Greco$14MSaint Dominic in Prayer · 2013
Delacroix$9.88MTigre jouant avec une tortue · 2018
Corot$9.01MVenise, vue du Quai des Esclavons · 2018
Waterhouse$9MSt Cecilia · 2000
Cassatt$7.49MYoung Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right · 2022
David$7.21MPortrait of Ramel de Nogaret · 2008
Millais$3.48MSisters · 2013
Friedrich$3.17MLandscape with Mountain Lake, Morning · 2018

Nominal US dollars as reported at the time of sale, buyer's premium included where the source includes it.

Why it has no price

The Lady of Shalott is held by Tate Britain, London. Works in public collections are not sold, so no one can put a market price on them. Sale records of other works by the same artist are the closest guide to what it would fetch.

Scan it, see the price tag

Point Art Scanner at a famous painting and it names the work and shows its sale record or the artist's, with the museum that holds it. Painted something yourself? Try the free pricing calculator.

Art Scanner result for the Mona Lisa with its $100M insured value tag — The Mona Lisa in Art Scanner: insured value $100M, Musée du Louvre, 1962

Questions

How much is The Lady of Shalott worth?

The Lady of Shalott is not for sale: it is held by Tate Britain, London, so it has no market price. The closest guide is Waterhouse's highest documented sale: $9 million for St Cecilia, at Christie's London in 2000. Prints and posters of it usually sell for $5–$250, and hand-painted copies for $100–$800.

How much is a print of The Lady of Shalott worth?

Most prints and posters of The Lady of Shalott sell for $5–$250, with framed ones at the top of that range, and hand-painted copies for $100–$800. They are priced as decorative pieces, not as Waterhouse's work.

Is The Lady of Shalott for sale?

No. It is held by Tate Britain, London. Works in public collections are not sold, so they have no market price.

What is Waterhouse's most expensive work?

St Cecilia, which sold for $9 million at Christie's London in 2000. Prices are nominal US dollars as reported at the time.

Where is The Lady of Shalott?

The Lady of Shalott (1888, oil on canvas) is held by Tate Britain, London.