Rating and value of paintings by Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz

If you own a work by or based on the work of artist Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will guide you.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, if you wish to sell your work, we will direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of the artist

A major Polish artist of realism, Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz is rapidly establishing herself as a sure bet on the art market.

Sought after by collectors the world over, the artist's works boast a high rating that continues to grow.

As a result, a signed work by Bilinska Bohdanowicz can fetch tens of thousands of euros at auction, as evidenced by her oil on canvas Man Halfnude, dating from 1884, fetched €102,360 in 2022, whereas it was estimated at between €102,360 and €128,000. His works are rare on the market, suggesting record-breaking auctions to come. 

Order of value from a single work to the most prestigious

The artist's works and style

Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz is a realist artist of Polish origin, active between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Educated at the Académie Julian in Paris, she mastered the principles of academic drawing (proportions, perspective, anatomy) and integrated a naturalist aesthetic.

She depicts volumes and proportions precisely, striving for anatomical accuracy without rigidity, through the use of controlled foreshortening. Her chromatic palette is characterized by a sober, harmonized range, dominated by half-tones and neutral values, which serve to reinforce the intimate atmosphere of her compositions.

For light and modeling, she employs soft, often lateral lighting, allowing a gradual shaping of forms through subtle tonal transitions. The artist uses fine superimposed glazes to enrich the depth of skin tones and materials, while the pictorial surface is smoothed to limit brush marks for a meticulous finish.

The framing is tightened on the bust or face, with a neutral or solid background, accentuating the model's psychological presence. The artist also emphasizes the gaze and posture, which are studied as vectors of expression, in an approach that analyzes character rather than mere mimetic reproduction.

Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz thus assimilates the classical codes and influences of late 19th-century French portrait painting, while retaining a personal approach in the emotional rendering.

The life of Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz

Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz (1857 - 1893) was a Polish artist born in Zlotopol (Russian Empire, today Ukraine), into a cultured Polish family, which gave her early access to artistic education.

She received her first artistic instruction in Warsaw from Wojciech Gerson, a central figure in Polish realist painting.

The artist moved to Paris in 1882, and enrolled at the Académie Julian, a private institution that already welcomed women with a full academic education. She made rapid progress thanks to her mastery of life drawing and her aptitude for psychological portraiture.

Her recognition quickly became international, and she took part in the Paris Salon from 1884, winning medals and distinctions at world exhibitions and salons, consolidating her reputation in Europe.

She produced portraits for French and foreign clients, testifying to her integration into international artistic networks. The artist's ambition was to create an art school for women in Poland, to bridge the gap in feminist art training, but the project was interrupted by her untimely death.

Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz died in Warsaw in 1893, aged just 36, probably as a result of heart disease, bringing an upwardly mobile career to an end.

She is regarded today as a pioneer of Polish painting by women, and as an example of international success at a time when women's access to artistic training was restricted.

Artist's quote and value

The quote for Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz is currently very attractive, as it is for many other female artists of this period.

Works are mainly segmented on the market between accomplished portraits (oil on canvas) and studies in pencil or watercolor, and the rarer landscapes or interior scenes.

Demand is largely directed towards female bust or three-quarter portraits, often executed between 1884 and 1892, during her Parisian period.

Oil paintings sell for between €50,000 and €100,000 on average, depending on condition, provenance and the presence of major exhibitions in the work's history.

Preparatory drawings, meanwhile, sell for between €3,000 and €8,000, and €8,000 to €20,000 for watercolors, with higher peaks for the most accomplished compositions.

Recently, the oil on canvas Portrait d'une dame en robe noire was auctioned for €210,000 in Poland in 2021, a world record driven by a dynamic Polish market and a museum policy of repatriating works.

The increase in the artist's works is estimated at between +60% and +80% over the last 10 years, and was accelerated after the Polish national retrospective in 2017 and the increasing international recognition of 19th-century women artists.

With regard to geographical areas, 55% of sales were in Poland (Warsaw, Krakow), 30% on the French market, which represents a significant share, and 15% on the Anglo-Saxon market (London, New York).

The valuation factors for Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz's works overlap with those of artists of the same period, with a direct, documented provenance, a link to her Parisian production, a presence at the Salon or World's Fair in the history, or conservation in its original format and medium.

When compared with other female portraitists, Louise Abbéma achieves lower values (€15,000 - €50,000), despite institutional recognition. Cecilia Beaux, meanwhile, achieves higher bids (€70,000 - €250,000), but the geographical spread is different.

Anna Bilinska remains undervalued compared with her French or American counterparts, leaving a fair amount of potential for growth. The market is generally on the rise, driven by the rediscovery of 19th-century women artists and a growing interest from Polish and European museums to add to their collections.

The revaluation potential is estimated at +20 - 30% over 5 years for the artist's major works.

Her signature

Not all of Anna Bilinska Bohdanowicz's works are signed.

Although there are variations, here is a first example of her signature:

Expertise your property

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A member of our team of experts and licensed auctioneers will contact you to provide an estimate of the market value of your work.

If you are considering selling your work, our specialists will also guide you through the various alternatives available to obtain the best possible price, taking into account market trends and the specific features of each object.