Art auctions for drawings are categorized into antique, modern and contemporary. Antique drawings are any drawings that were produced before 1900. Modern drawings have to have been created between 1900 and 1949. Contemporary drawings are drawings that were created from 1950 until the present.

There are a lot of contemporary drawings listed in art auctions that never get a bidder. There are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is that the starting bid is set so high that it discourages interest. There was an art auction for a drawing that was created in 2000 that depicted James Dean welcoming Elvis Presley into heaven. The starting price for this art auction was twelve million dollars. I am not surprised that it did not get a bidder.

I found another pen and ink drawing in an art auction that was listed for a lot more than it was worth. The original listing started at $825,000.00 and when it didn't sell, the artist lowered the price to $545,000.00. He offers the copywrite to the design, which he thinks would translate well for prints, posters or greeting cards.

There was an art auction for a drawing that was purchased in 1971 London that did very well. The seller of the drawing inherited it from his grandfather, who was the original owner. He started the bidding at a reasonable $599.00 and the drawing ultimate sold in the art auction for over twelve thousand dollars. He did a great job describing and picturing the drawing.

Antique drawings in art auctions can garner a lot of interest. I saw a drawing of two men in the nude that was drawn in the 1800's go for more than eleven thousand dollars. This drawing was pen and ink and had a brown wash and traces of charcoal on lines of black pencil.

I was very taken with an antique drawing made by Sir Francis Grant in 1832. The drawing in the art auction was of a woman and her daughter in Scotland. The drawing was a signed original and sold for two thousand dollars. I hope that it ends up framed and hanging in a collection of similar pieces. It was really nice.

Another reason that art auctions for drawings don't sell is that they are listed in the wrong categories. I found several contemporary pieces that were listed in the antique category. With so much competition in art auctions, it is important to make sure every detail is noticed.

Modern drawings are by far my favorite art auctions. I wanted the stamped Degas I saw up for auction, but it was way out of my budget. I'm sure that the person that ended up with the highest bid at the art auction will love and treasure it.

Well known artist's drawings can fetch a lot of money in online art auctions. If the title of the art auction contains the words original Picasso, for example, it is sure to go over two thousand dollars. If the item is signed, it can go for much more.

I really liked a drawing I found in an art auction from an artist that I was unfamiliar with. The artist was Patrick Caulfield and he titled his drawing Grapes. He used colored pencils on black paper in the late 1980's. This drawing sold for the opening bid, $4,250.00.