Tracey Emin
Blue-chip#3
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
9/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
10/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
1/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
1/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Price Ranges by Medium
- Neons
- Note: Neon works became 'must-haves for collectors' during 2000s; Typical Range GBP: 60,000+
- Works on Paper
- Recent Sales: Seven works at £50,000 each sold at Frieze London 2022 (White Cube VIP); Typical Range GBP: 20,000-50,000
- Prints Editions
- Unsold Rate: ~20% (improved from 37% in 2018); Recent Sales: ["Birds (2012 lithograph) - £12,000 Christie's Oct 2024", "3.30 Am – Again (lithograph with hand additions) - £35,000 Christie's Oct 2023"]; Market Growth: Turnover surged from £37,002 (2015) to £365,385 (2024) - nearly 10x increase; Popular Series: These Feelings Were True (2020) £3,000-6,000; No Surrender £6,000-10,000; Typical Range GBP: 3,000-12,000; High End Prints GBP: 10,000-35,000; Trading Volume 2024: 208 lots; Unique Monoprints GBP: 20,000-35,000
- Unique Paintings Installations
- Note: Paintings averaging yearly increases post-2020; Current Range USD: 500,000-2,500,000+; Historical Context: Major paintings 2018-2024 achieving £500,000-£1.4 million; record remains £2.5M (My Bed, 2014); Average 12 Months USD: 166260
- Liquidity
- Annual Lots
- 200+ auction lots annually (prints)
- Auction Record Count
- 2,623 artworks offered at auction (MutualArt data)
- Price Range Realized
- $28 - $4,365,646 USD depending on medium
- Auction History
- Date
- 2014
- Work
- My Bed
- Buyer
- Jay Jopling (White Cube founder)
- Estimate
- Doubled high estimate
- Amount GBP
- $2,500,000
- Amount USD
- $4,365,646
- Auction House
- Christie's London
- Market Performance Trends
- 5 Year Growth
- 31% average value increase (2019-2024)
- Collector Demand
- Strong and active - print market averages 100+ sales annually
- Institutional Impact
- Major exhibitions correlate with price increases
- Clearance Improvement
- Unsold rate dropped from 37% to 20% consistently
- Print Market Momentum
- Annual turnover tripled from £124,876 (2019) to peak £426,939 (2022)
- Recent Major Sales 2023 2025
Work Year Price GBP Auction House Context Estimate GBP Sale Date I Told You Don't Try to Find Me 2007 $1,400,000 Christie's London — February 2023 But You Never Wanted Me 2018 Sotheby's New York #MeToo-era work from White Cube 'A Fortnight of Tears' show May 2024 This Is Life Without You - You Made Me Feel Like This 2018 $889,000 Phillips London — 600,000-800,000 October 2024 The Shower 2024 $504,000 Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale — 300,000-500,000 October 2024 Like A Cloud of Blood 2022 $2,300,000 Christie's Artist-consigned to benefit TKE Studios; first painting after cancer treatment October 2022
- Market Position
- Market Positioning
- Liquidity
- High - consistent auction presence across price points
- Volatility
- Moderate - established market with predictable performance
- Market Segment
- Blue-chip contemporary British artist
- Peer Comparison
- Among top YBAs with Damien Hirst; outperforming many female contemporaries
- Price Trajectory
- Steady upward trend with particular strength post-2020
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Touring Exhibitions
- Exhibited extensively including Kunstmuseum Bern (2009), Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Málaga (2008), Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney (2003, 2010), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2002), Leopold Museum Vienna (2015), MCA Miami (2013), MALBA Buenos Aires (2012), Turner Contemporary Margate (2012), Musée d'Orsay Paris (2019), Munchmuseet Oslo (2021), Château La Coste (2017)
- Major Solo Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Location Significance My Major Retrospective 1993 White Cube London First solo exhibition Every Part of Me's Bleeding 1999 Lehmann Maupin Gallery New York First US solo exhibition This Is Another Place 2002-2003 Modern Art Oxford Oxford, UK Marked museum reopening Tracey Emin: 20 Years 2008 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Edinburgh First major retrospective Love Is What You Want 2011 Hayward Gallery London Major retrospective with 160 works A Fortnight of Tears 2019 White Cube Bermondsey London Return to White Cube after 5 years Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul 2020 Royal Academy of Arts London Dialogue exhibition with Munch Lovers Grave 2023-2024 White Cube New York Inaugural exhibition for White Cube New York I followed you to the end 2024 White Cube Bermondsey London Post-cancer work exhibition Sex and Solitude 2025 Palazzo Strozzi Florence, Italy First institutional exhibition in Italy A Second Life Feb 27 - Aug 31, 2026 Tate Modern London Largest ever survey - 40 years of practice, 90+ works - Biennials Major Group Shows
Work Year Venue Event Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 1997 Royal Academy Sensation My Bed 1999 Tate Britain Turner Prize nomination — 2007 — Venice Biennale - British Pavilion
- Museum Collections
- Tier 1 Museums
Institution Location Notable Works Status Tate (Tate Britain, Tate Modern) London, UK My Bed (1998, on long-term loan from Duerckheim Collection), Hate and Power Can be a Terrible Thing (2004), The Last Thing I Said To You Is Don't Leave Me Here I & II (2000) — Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, USA 19 works online including collaborative series with Louise Bourgeois 'Do Not Abandon Me' (2009-2010) — Centre Pompidou Paris, France — Confirmed holdings Smithsonian Institution Washington D.C., USA — — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, USA — Confirmed holdings - Tier 2 Museums
Institution Location Notable Works Victoria & Albert Museum London, UK — Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands I Promise To Love You (neon) National Portrait Gallery London, UK Death Mask (acquired 2005 for £67,500), National Portrait Gallery Portfolio (2024) Saatchi Gallery London, UK Owned My Bed until 2014 sale; The Last Thing I Said To You Is Don't Leave Me Here I & II British Museum London, UK — Yale Center for British Art New Haven, USA — - Curatorial Interest
- Subject of over 60 major institutional exhibitions; significant scholarly attention; extensive museum acquisitions continue; 2026 Tate Modern retrospective represents pinnacle institutional validation
- International Museums
- Dallas Museum of Art, TexasFundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico CityGetty Institute, Los AngelesIstanbul Museum of Modern ArtMuseum MACAN, JakartaCastello di Rivoli, TurinGoetz Collection, MunichMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesMuseum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoMori Art Museum, TokyoWhitney Museum of American Art, New YorkGoss-Michael Foundation, Dallas (25 works acquired)
- Awards and Recognition
Institution Year Award — 1999 Turner Prize nomination Royal Academy of Arts 2007 Elected Royal Academician Royal Academy of Arts 2011 Appointed Professor of Drawing — 2013 Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) — 2024 Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) Royal College of Art 2007 Honorary Doctorate University of Kent 2007 Honorary Doctorate — 2022 Honorary Freewoman of Margate
Career & Biography
- Career
Year Event 1993 Opened 'The Shop' with Sarah Lucas in Bethnal Green; first solo exhibition 'My Major Retrospective' at White Cube 1995 Created 'Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995' (tent work, destroyed 2004) 1997 Work shown in Sensation exhibition at Royal Academy; infamous drunk TV appearance 1998 Created 'My Bed' installation 1999 Turner Prize nomination; first US solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin 2007 Elected Royal Academician; represented Great Britain at Venice Biennale 2011 Appointed Professor of Drawing at Royal Academy (first two female professors with Fiona Rae); major retrospective 'Love Is What You Want' at Hayward Gallery 2013 Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 2020 Diagnosed with bladder cancer; underwent surgery including urostomy, hysterectomy, removal of bladder, uterus, and part of colon 2022 Married Turkish Cypriot artist Mehmet Ali Uysal 2023 Opened TKE Studios in Margate (subsidized artist studios and residency program) 2024 Awarded Damehood (DBE) in King's Birthday Honours - Identity
- Current Location
- Lives and works in Margate, London, and South of France
- Key Relationships
- Member of Young British Artists (YBAs) alongside Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas; collaborated with Sarah Lucas 1993-1994; personal and professional relationship with gallerist Jay Jopling
- Artistic Context
- Artistic Influences
- Edvard MunchEgon SchieleBilly Childish (early relationship and creative influence)Louise Bourgeois (collaborative series 2009-2010)
Artistic Profile
- Influences
- Influences Influenced
- Influenced
- Subsequent generations of confessional artists; opened space for personal trauma in art; impact on female artists addressing sexuality and body; neon text works widely imitated; contributed to acceptance of 'life-into-art' practices
- Influenced by
- Edvard Munch (expressionism, psychological intensity), Egon Schiele (nude self-portraiture), Louise Bourgeois (female body, trauma), feminist art movement, Medway Poets (confessional text), Billy Childish (early influence)
- Themes and Subjects
- Primary Themes
- Autobiography and confessionFemale sexuality and desireRape and sexual assault (age 13 experience)Abortion (multiple experiences, age 18 onward)Love, heartbreak, relationshipsGrief and bereavement (mother's death 2016)Body and illness (cancer experience 2020)Margate and childhood nostalgiaLoneliness and isolationSurvival and resilience
- Recurring Motifs
- Birds (freedom, ascension, escape)Female nude (often reclining, legs spread)Beds and domestic spacesHandwritten text/phrasesBloodHeartsBeach huts and seaside imageryCats (especially post-cancer work)
- Movements and Periods
- Media Versatility
- Painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, film, neon, photography, printmaking (etching, lithography, screenprinting, monoprinting, woodcut), embroidery/appliqué, writing, performance
- Artistic Philosophy
- Core Beliefs
- Art should be revelatory; honesty is paramount even when painful; the artist IS the work; personal experience is universal; vulnerability as strength
- Key Statements
- 'I realised I was my work, I was the essence of my work'
- 'The most beautiful thing is honesty, even if it's really painful to look at'
- 'There should be something revelatory about art. It should be totally creative and open doors for new thoughts and experiences'
- 'My emotions force the drawing out of my hand'
- 'I don't work towards an exhibition. I just work all the time'
- Art Historical Position
- Bridge between feminist art legacy and contemporary practice; expanded definition of what art can be; challenged fine art hierarchies
- Techniques and Mediums
- Methods
- Gestural painting with drips; layering and overpainting; erasure; handwriting integration; neon fabrication; appliqué stitching; monoprint techniques; installation assembly
- Materials
- Acrylic paint (not oils - deliberate difficulty), neon gas lights, appliqué and embroidery, canvas, paper, found objects, textiles/blankets, bronze (recent sculpture), video, photography
- Innovations
- Integration of craft techniques (embroidery) into fine art; neon as drawing; bed/domestic objects as sculpture; confessional video
- Studio Practice
- Continuous working process; doesn't work toward exhibitions; instinctive; embraces mistakes; constant reworking
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Lectures
- Victoria and Albert Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney (2010), Royal Academy (2008), Tate Britain (2005)
- Books by Artist
- Exploration of the Soul (1994) - autobiographicalStrangeland (2005) - memoirOne Thousand Drawings (2009) - career survey
- Critical Themes
- Comparison
- Described as 'Sandra Bernhard and Beuys rolled into one'; compared favorably to Edvard Munch
- Autobiography
- Pioneering use of personal trauma as artistic material; life-into-art practice
- Emotional Honesty
- Uncompromising commitment to personal truth; 'The most beautiful thing is honesty, even if it's really painful to look at' (Emin)
- Formal Innovation
- Multimedia practice across painting, installation, neon, textiles, film, sculpture
- Feminist Discourse
- Raw confessional nature contributes to feminist discourse; challenges gender stereotypes; uses domestic/intimate materials
- Academic Interest
- Extensive scholarship on feminist art, YBA movement, confessional art, autobiography in contemporary practice
- Catalogue Raisonne
- No official catalogue raisonné of prints yet published
- Critical Evolution
- 1990s
- Controversial 'enfant terrible' reception; tabloid scrutiny; divided critical opinion; 'sensationalist' label
- 2000s
- Shift toward recognition of emotional authenticity; major institutional shows; mellowing of public perception; market flourishing
- 2010s
- Establishment acceptance; Royal Academy membership; institutional recontextualization; market maturity
- 2020s
- Icon status; #MeToo context giving new relevance; post-cancer work praised for vulnerability; 'an iconoclast turned icon' (Xavier Hufkens)
- Current Assessment
- Recognized as major voice in contemporary art; 'one of the most important contemporary artists of her generation' (Tate); transformed understanding of what art can be
- Publications and Media
- Media Presence
- Social Impact
- Influenced discourse on female artists, sexuality, mental health, trauma
- Public Profile
- High-profile public figure; media-savvy; infamous 1997 drunk TV appearance paradoxically boosted career
- Celebrity Status
- Recognizable beyond art world; successful navigation of fame
- Documentary Coverage
- Multiple films including How It Feels (1996); new documentary on living with stoma premiering Tate Modern 2026
- Major Publications Reviews
Coverage Publication Multiple reviews since 1990s; October 2024 portfolio with interview by Editor Tina Ryan; significant critical engagement Artforum — ArtReview Regular coverage including 'The radical, ravishing rebirth of Tracey Emin' The Guardian Regular art market and exhibition coverage Financial Times Ongoing critical attention to exhibitions and market Frieze Regular exhibition and market reporting including major sales The Art Newspaper International art world coverage ARTnews Featured in art market analysis Observer
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Art Fair Presence
- Major Fairs
- Frieze London (regular exhibitor)Art Basel (various editions)Art Basel Hong Kong (2025)
- Performance
- Seven works on paper at £50,000 each sold at Frieze London 2022 VIP opening (White Cube); large painting £950,000 (Xavier Hufkens)
- Representation
- Former Representation
- Gallery
- Lehmann Maupin
- Locations
- New York
- Relationship
- 1999-2017
- Significance
- First US representation; relationship ended 2017
- Secondary Market Galleries
- Hang-Up Gallery, LondonCounter Editions, Margate (print publisher)Lougher ContemporaryGuy HepnerVarious UK and international dealers
- Geographic Reach
- Market Note
- Major unique works rarely available; print market active and accessible
- Unique Works
- Increasingly scarce; major institutions hold key pieces; occasional auction appearances
- Pricing Access
- Contact White Cube, Xavier Hufkens, or Lorcan O'Neill for current pricing on available works
- Editions Prints
- Regular availability through primary galleries and auction; strong secondary market
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