Jim Dine Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

Jim Dine’s current auction record is held by Hearts (1969), a collection of 57 individual heart paintings, which sold at Sotheby’s New York in November 1989 for more than double their high estimate. The heart motif, which Dine first explored in 1966, became one of his most recognisable symbols - a template for exploring colour, texture, and emotional depth. It was never merely a Pop symbol, but rather a deeply personal emblem. When the set of paintings resold in 1996 for £279,400, their decrease in value reflected the broader market correction of the early 1990s rather than any decline in appreciation for Dine's work.

Red Robe (Self-Portrait Study) (1964) secured this impressive result at Christie's New York in November 1989, just one day before the record sale of Hearts (1969), emerging from the prestigious Robert B. Mayer Collection. The empty bathrobe, which Dine adopted as a form of self-portraiture in 1964, became as significant in his oeuvre as the heart motif. Dine was inspired by an advert in The New York Times that featured a robe with the wearer airbrushed out - he remarked that when he saw the robe “it looked like me,” opening the door for his use of the robe as representative of the “everyman.”

Breaking from the pattern of 1960s works dominating his top prices, Twin 6' Heart (1999) achieved this significant result at Phillips New York in June 2021. This monumental bronze sculpture, measuring almost six feet tall and in an edition of just six with four artist proofs, demonstrates Dine's successful translation of his signature motif into new dimensions and materials. He began producing tabletop sculptures and large-scale installations in the 1980s, but had been incorporating three-dimensional elements into his painted canvases before this.

An example of Dine’s interest in found objects, The Fence, Sydney Close (1982), includes real branches to form the shape of the title fence. This method is a twist on Marcel Duchamp’s concept of “readymades,” with a more overt dedication to elevating the everyday through artistic embellishment. The piece also shows Dine’s evolution beyond the more Pop-influenced works of the 1960s, introducing more abstraction alongside his favoured themes. The painting's success at auction, selling at Christie’s New York in November 2001, reflects collector appreciation for works that showcase Dine's technical virtuosity while maintaining connections to his earlier explorations of everyday objects and environments.

When The Mirror The Meadow (1971) sold at Sotheby's New York in May 1998, it marked another significant achievement for Dine's early 1970s work. This period saw him developing a more nuanced approach to his established themes, moving further still from his early associations with Pop Art after his return to London from the US in 1971. The themes of reflection and the pastoral are typical of Dine’s ongoing exploration of autobiography through art - in his work, everyday objects and landscapes often became representations of memory, personal identity, and self-reflection.

The Studio (Landscape Painting) (1963) is a combination of painting and sculpture. Consisting of five individual canvases and a wooden shelf, this intriguing piece sold for £100,000 more than its high estimate at Sotheby's New York in November 2015. It incorporates actual objects - the wooden shelf displaying bottles and cups - to tell a clearer story of the life of an artist. The mundane objects are set against vastly contrasting colours and textures, as if highlighting the brightness of art against everyday life. Its inclusion in the Guggenheim New York's 1999-2000 exhibition enhanced its provenance and market appeal, but its true value comes from its representation of Dine’s early experimentation with breaking the picture plane, a technique that would influence his approach to dimensionality throughout his career.

A Robe In The Winter (2002) achieved this result at Sotheby's New York in September 2010, demonstrating sustained market interest in Dine's robe imagery well into the 21st century. Nearly four decades after first adopting the bathrobe as a surrogate self-portrait, Dine continued to find new ways to explore this personal iconography, this time by incorporating sand into the paint used. This investment into everyday objects is part of why Dine refuted the title of “Pop Artist.” He did not produce artwork primarily concerned with celebrity, branding, and passing cultural movements; instead, he focused on objects that captured both universality and individual personality. The painting's success in 2010 not only indicates the unique appeal of Dine’s work but also the value placed on his mature style, with a more expressive handling of paint and colour.

Big Black Zipper (1962), which sold at Christie's New York in November 2015, is one of Dine’s earliest explorations of incorporating actual objects into his paintings. In this case, the fabric canvas features a mounted zip, seeming to keep the artwork together in the middle. It is reminiscent of the work of Lucio Fontana, who often cut sharp tears in his canvases. Fontana and Dine alike are known for their disruption of the classification of fine art, challenging what it means to create artwork on a canvas. In the early 1960s, Dine was exploring the boundary between everyday life and art; and, as in Dine’s Robes and Hearts, Big Black Zipper (1962) hints at some deeper emotional significance - the zip is more than just a simple found object or cultural commentary, it is a symbol of self-identification.

Another significant sale from 2015, Shoes Walking On My Brain (1960) exceeded its high estimate in May at Christie’s New York. As the earliest work on this list, this painting demonstrates a theme that characterised Dine’s early body of work, with three-dimensional objects attached to the canvas. The work's title and imagery also reflect his recurring interest in the intersection between everyday objects and psychological states - in this case, an actual pair of shoes appears to walk across a child-like face.

March, Without You (1969) achieved Dine’s tenth-highest auction result in the same year that Hearts (1969) secured the top spot. It sold at Christie's New York in May 1989, following its significant exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art that same year. This collection of 16 watercolours is at once a departure from Dine’s usual style and a perfect culmination of his heart motif. Its strong performance at auction underscores the market's appreciation for works from this pivotal period in Dine's career, as well as his ability to combine abstraction with personal symbolism.