Selling a Tracey Emin
With most artists the value decides the route. Here the object does it first, because a neon and a monoprint are not the same problem.
Before any of this is useful you need to know what you have. Unique, or one of a number covers how that is settled, and what sets the value covers what follows from it. This page is about the sale itself.
Two routes, and they are different products
| Consideration | Public auction | Private sale |
|---|---|---|
| Time to funds | 2–4 months | 2–6 weeks |
| Seller's cost | Commission, plus photography, insurance and an unsold fee | Our fee, agreed in advance — typically none |
| Price ceiling | Highest, for the paintings and the sought neons | Close to auction, without the downside |
| If it does not sell | A public unsold record follows the work | Nothing is published; you keep the work |
| Best when | Major unique work, or a neon with its certificate and transformer | Print editions, incomplete paperwork, or where discretion matters |
We broker private sales, so treat the second column as an interested party’s account of its own product. Check it against what an auction specialist tells you before you decide.
A neon is a logistics question before it is a sale
Glass, gas, a transformer and a mount, all of which have to arrive in the same condition they left in. That narrows the field of salerooms to those that handle the material regularly, it makes packing a line in the budget rather than an afterthought, and it means the certificate and the original transformer are worth locating before a specialist asks for them rather than after. None of this is a reason not to sell one. It is a reason to plan the sale around the object.
What we do, in order
01Photographs, including whatever is written on it
The work, any inscription in full and the reverse. Her handwriting is the medium in much of the output, so a crop to the image alone removes the part we most need to read.
02For a neon, the certificate and the transformer
Not just the lit tube. The certificate names the edition and the specified colour, and the transformer is part of what is being sold. Photograph both, and say whether the tube has ever been re-blown.
03Establishing the category
Unique or editioned, and in which medium. This is the question that decides the estimate, and it is settled before anything else — a monoprint and a screenprint of similar appearance belong to different markets.
04A written valuation, and then the route
A realistic range with the comparable results behind it, so you can see the reasoning rather than take a figure on trust. Then auction or private sale, and if auction, which house and which sale. We negotiate the seller's terms rather than accept a published rate card. No charge, and no obligation to proceed.
05Packing, and for a neon that is not a formality
Glass tubes travel badly and a crack is not a repair. We arrange purpose-built crating and specialist handling rather than leaving it to a general fine-art carrier, and the cost of that is agreed before anything moves.
06Completion
Paperwork and remittance stay in your name throughout, and you keep legal title until the funds are cleared.
Common questions
Where is the best place to sell a Tracey Emin?
It depends on the object more than on the name. The paintings and the sought neons belong in an evening or day sale at an international house in London or New York. Print editions and the smaller works on paper frequently do better at a regional saleroom that sells that material regularly, or privately. We compare the two before recommending either.
Can a neon be shipped safely?
Yes, with purpose-built crating and handlers who have done it before. What cannot be undone is a cracked tube, so this is not a place to save money on packing. We arrange it as part of the consignment rather than leaving it to whoever the saleroom's default carrier happens to be.
My neon does not light. Is it still saleable?
Usually yes. A failed transformer is an ordinary repair and does not damage the work. A cracked or broken tube is a different matter, because the tube is the work, and a re-blown tube is disclosed. Tell us which it is and keep any original components even if they no longer function.
What does it cost to sell at auction?
Seller's commission, insurance, cataloguing and, if the work does not sell, an unsold fee. We set out how each of those works on our selling at auction page, and we negotiate them on your behalf rather than accepting a published rate card.
How long does the whole thing take?
At auction, two to four months from consignment to cleared funds, driven by the sale calendar rather than by us. Privately, two to six weeks. If timing matters more than the last few per cent of the price, say so at the outset, because it changes what we would recommend.
Whitebank Fine Art is an art advisory and gallery, not an auction house, and is not affiliated with the artist, her studio, her publishers or any auction house. Nothing here is investment advice.
Send photographs and whatever paperwork came with the work. A valuation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.