Arthur Bowen Davies Auction Prices and Value Guide

Arthur Bowen Davies auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 872 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Arthur Bowen Davies auction prices: quick answer

Arthur Bowen Davies auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Arthur Bowen Davies
Source records
872
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Arthur Bowen Davies

Arthur Bowen Davies (1862–1928) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, and graphic artist who became one of the most influential advocates of modern art in the United States during the early twentieth century. Active from roughly 1888 until his death, Davies studied at Gotham Art Students in the late 1880s before developing a distinctive style that blended romantic figurative compositions with emerging modernist sensibilities. He is widely recognized for championing avant-garde ideas at a time when American audiences were largely unfamiliar with European modernism. Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York hold his work in their permanent collections. Davies also worked as a designer, collector, and draftsperson, moving fluidly across media throughout his four-decade career. Collectors encounter his paintings, prints, and drawings at auction today, where his role as a bridge figure between traditional American art and the modernist movement continues to generate scholarly and market interest.

American modernismoil paintingsculptureprintmaking and graphic artdrawing

Common works and media

Davies produced oil paintings on canvas and panel, watercolor drawings, pastel works on paper, lithographs and other graphic prints, and sculpture. His paintings often feature dreamlike or allegorical figurative subjects, nudes in pastoral or mythological settings, and landscape compositions. Prints and works on paper constitute a significant portion of his auction appearances. Collectors may also encounter illustrated books and design work bearing his name.

Market and appraisal context

Arthur Bowen Davies has a well-established and moderately liquid secondary market. Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 351 total lots, of which 258 carry realized prices spanning $25 to $67,100 USD. The interquartile range sits between $325 (25th percentile) and $2,000 (75th percentile), with a median of $850—indicating that most lots are modestly priced works on paper or prints, while significant oil paintings with strong provenance or subject matter command substantially more. The highest recent recorded price is $6,000 for 'Sicillian Idyll' at STAIR (April 2026), and a Christie's sale of the oil 'With Summer Flowers (Hepatica)' realized $4,826 in January 2026. Market activity has accelerated: 22 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window versus 11 in the prior period, suggesting growing auction visibility. Major and regional houses both handle Davies material—Christie's, Bonhams, and Heritage Auctions among the nationals; Rago, Eldred's, STAIR, Skinner, Swann, and John Moran among respected regional specialists. This breadth of house participation supports reliable price discovery.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • oil painting
  • watercolor
  • drawing
  • printmaking and graphic art
  • sculpture

Value drivers

  1. Medium: oil paintings generally command higher auction results than works on paper or prints
  2. Provenance and exhibition history: works with documented exhibition records or museum provenance are more significant
  3. Attribution should be confirmed as Davies produced work across multiple mediums and sometimes collaborated in organizing exhibitions rather than executing every attributed piece
  4. Medium is the strongest price driver: major oils on canvas or board regularly realize $2,000–$6,000+ at auction, while watercolors typically fetch $400–$600 and pencil drawings or small prints can fall below $200.
  5. Provenance and exhibition history significantly amplify value—works with documented museum exhibition records, publication in Davies scholarship, or gallery labels from his lifetime command premiums.
  6. Subject matter matters: Davies' allegorical and mythological figurative compositions are more sought after than straightforward landscapes, though named-location landscapes (e.g., 'Hudson Valley,' 'Tarquinia') still attract competitive bidding.

Appraisal caveats

  • The source pack does not include specific auction records or price-realization data; market estimates should be supplemented with comparable sale results from major auction houses.
  • Davies is collected by major institutions (MoMA holds his work), but his market profile is less prominent than some contemporaries, which can make pricing inconsistent.
  • The all-time high of $67,100 is an outlier that should not be used as a benchmark for typical Davies works; it likely represents a major oil with exceptional provenance or museum-quality significance.
  • Six Broward Auction Gallery lots for an identically titled chalk painting (2020–2022) have no price-realized data; these may have been bought-in or withdrawn and should not be treated as comparable sales.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Arthur Bowen Davies

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Arthur Bowen Davies worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Arthur Bowen Davies artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.