Frederick Sommer Auction Prices and Value Guide
Frederick Sommer auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 173 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Frederick Sommer auction prices: quick answer
Frederick Sommer auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Frederick Sommer
- Source records
- 173
- Market update
- 2026-02-16
Frederick Sommer market snapshot
Frederick Sommer shows solid auction liquidity with 138 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $11,250. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 2 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-11-04.
Realized price distribution
- Under $1,000 (7.1% · 6 sales)
- $1,000 to $10,000 (35.3% · 30 sales)
- $10,000+ (57.6% · 49 sales)
- Median sale (last 12 months)
- $950
- Sales recorded (last 12 months)
- 2
- Median shift vs prior year
- 0.0%
- Latest recorded sale
- 2025-11-04
Artist context
About Frederick Sommer
Born
1905
Died
1999
Nationality
Italian, American
Frederick Sommer (1905–1999) was an Italian-born photographer and multidisciplinary artist who later became an American citizen. Born in Angri and raised in Brazil, he earned a graduate degree in landscape architecture from Cornell University in 1927. Sommer moved to Arizona during the 1930s, first settling in Tucson and then in Prescott, a location closely associated with his mature career. Public references describe an experimental practice extending beyond photography into drawing, painting, and collage. That breadth matters when identifying his work: collectors may encounter his name on photographs as well as less familiar works on paper or mixed-media objects. The collected evidence supports his importance as an experimental twentieth-century artist, but it does not provide enough institution-grade text to assign a specific movement, recurring subject list, or named series confidently. Those classifications should therefore be tied to the documentation for each individual work rather than inferred from his name alone.
PhotographyDrawingPaintingCollage
Common works and media
Collectors may encounter photographs most often, alongside drawings, paintings, and collages attributed to Frederick Sommer. Because the source pack does not document specific photographic processes, editions, subjects, or named series, those details should be taken from the physical object, its labels and inscriptions, provenance records, or an authoritative collection entry. A photograph and a unique work on paper should not be treated as interchangeable auction comparables.
Market and appraisal context
Frederick Sommer’s market should be assessed work by work because the available sources describe a practice spanning photography, drawing, painting, and collage. The collected pack confirms that public auction-price records are associated with his name, but it does not include an accessible auction-house analysis, edition history, or realized-price dataset. A defensible appraisal should identify the exact medium and photographic process, establish the work’s date and dimensions, inspect condition, and review provenance, inscriptions, printing history, and edition information where applicable. Public sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots can then provide context, provided the comparisons match the object’s work type and characteristics. The present evidence does not support predictions about price direction, rarity, or market demand.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Common auction categories
- Photographs
- Drawings, paintings, and collages
Value drivers
- Work type and medium, including whether an object is a photograph, drawing, painting, or collage
- Verified sale date, realized price, and comparison with relevant public auction lots when records are available
Appraisal caveats
- The collected source pack contains no accessible major-auction-house biography, catalogue note, realized-price table, or edition and photographic-process detail.
- No price trend, market direction, scarcity claim, or attribution conclusion can be supported from this source pack alone.
- Individual works require verification of medium, process, date, dimensions, condition, provenance, inscriptions, and any edition or printing information before comparison.
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.
- Wikidata library authority
- Library of Congress library authority
- The Museum of Modern Art museum or university
- National Gallery of Art museum or university
- Tate museum or university
- Wikipedia wikipedia
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.
Artist value FAQ
How much is Frederick Sommer 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 Frederick Sommer artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.