Henri Matisse Auction Prices and Value Guide
Henri Matisse auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 29,689 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.
Henri Matisse auction prices: quick answer
Henri Matisse auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.
- Artist
- Henri Matisse
- Source records
- 29,689
- Market update
- 2026-02-06
Artist context
About Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (1869–1954) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, and draftsman whose career spanned more than five decades and fundamentally reshaped modern art. Born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in northern France to a family of textile weavers, Matisse abandoned law studies to pursue painting under Gustave Moreau in Paris. His embrace of bold, non-naturalistic color during the summers of 1904 and 1905—alongside André Derain—launched Fauvism, a movement that positioned him as one of the defining figures of twentieth-century modernism. Throughout his career, Matisse pursued what he described as an art of balance and serenity, uniting color and line through oil painting, sculpture, printmaking, and, in his final decade, the celebrated paper cut-outs. His work is held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou. Collectors encounter Matisse's work across paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, and stained glass.
FauvismModernismOil paintingSculptureLithographyPrintmakingFemale nudes and odalisquesDancers and movementInterior scenes and still lifeTextiles and decorative pattern
Common works and media
Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Matisse in the form of original oil paintings, gouache cut-outs (gouaches découpées), lithographs, aquatint etchings, linocuts, drawings in ink and charcoal, bronze sculptures, ceramics, and illustrated books such as Jazz and the portfolio-edition prints after his cut-outs. Common subjects include female figures and odalisques, dancers, still-life arrangements with decorative textiles, interior scenes, and views of the Mediterranean coast. Posters and reproduction prints based on his imagery also circulate widely and should be distinguished from original works.
Market and appraisal context
Henri Matisse maintains one of the deepest and most liquid secondary-market profiles of any twentieth-century artist. Appraisily auction records index 2,869 lots dating from May 1990 through April 2026, of which 1,402 carry a realized price. Auction activity remains robust: 664 lots appeared in the most recent twelve-month window (down moderately from 775 in the prior twelve months), indicating sustained but slightly contracting supply. The price distribution is exceptionally wide—from $6 for posters and reproduction prints to $48.8 million for top-tier paintings—reflecting the vast range of media, periods, and editions in circulation. The interquartile range spans $225 (p25) to $12,600 (p75) with a median of $1,500, meaning most lots that cross the block are prints, posters, and works on paper rather than unique paintings. Major houses including Christie's and Bonhams handle the premium tier, while a long tail of regional and online houses (Freeman's, Aguttes, Louiza Auktion & Associés, RoGallery, Hammersite) actively trade prints, illustrated books, original printing plates, and attributed works. The Jazz series (1947) plates appear regularly at auction, typically realising €300–$600 per plate, while original copper printing plates from the 1920s–1940s have recently achieved $14,000–$22,500 at Freeman's. An odalisque drawing (Odalisque au coffret rouge, 1926) realised €10,000 at Aguttes in November 2025, illustrating the mid-market for signed works on paper from the Nice period.
Auction categories and appraisal factors
Common auction categories
- Oil painting
- Sculpture
- Lithography
- Printmaking
- Drawing
Value drivers
- Medium: unique oil paintings command the highest prices; original copper printing plates and signed drawings sit in the upper-mid range; unsigned lithographs, posters, and reproductions trade at the low end
- Period: Fauve-period canvases (c. 1904–1908) and late cut-outs (1943–1954) are most significant; Nice-period odalisques and drawings carry strong mid-market demand
- Print specifics: edition size, paper type, catalogue reference (Duthuit number), plate/signing status, and whether the print is from a named portfolio (e.g., Jazz, Poésies) materially affect value
- Provenance: exhibition history, prior ownership by named collections, and catalogue raisonné entry are critical for unique works
- Condition: paper-based works, cut-outs, and prints are condition-sensitive; foxing, fading, or trimming reduces value substantially
- Attribution confidence: works listed as 'attributed' or 'after' trade at a steep discount to fully authenticated pieces
Appraisal caveats
- The 29,689 works attributed to this artist in the Appraisily catalog suggest a large body of prints, multiples, and attributed works alongside unique originals; appraisal requires distinguishing between these categories.
- The Appraisily auction-record dataset includes 3,004 lots but only 1,479 carry a realized price; unsold and pre-sale lots are present and should not be treated as comparable evidence without confirming the sale outcome.
- The $48.8 million maximum price reflects a single top-tier painting and is not representative of the broader market; the median price of $1,600 is a more useful central tendency for prints and works on paper.
- Recent 12-month lot volume (610) is down from the prior 12 months (778); this could reflect market softening, cataloging lag, or supply contraction—insufficient data to determine direction.
Evidence
Sources for artist context
This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.
- Library of Congress library authority
- The Museum of Modern Art museum or university
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History library authority
- VIAF (OCLC) library authority
- Tate museum or university
- Wikidata library authority
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 Henri Matisse 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 Henri Matisse artwork?
Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.