Honoré Daumier Auction Prices and Value Guide

Honoré Daumier auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 4,073 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Honoré Daumier auction prices: quick answer

Honoré Daumier auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Honoré Daumier
Source records
4,073
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Honoré Daumier

Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808–1879) was a French painter, sculptor, lithographer, and printmaker whose prolific body of work provides a vivid visual record of social and political life in nineteenth-century France. Born in Marseille and active from the Revolution of 1830 through the fall of the Second French Empire, Daumier built his reputation as a sharp satirical caricaturist, contributing thousands of lithographs to publications such as La Caricature and Le Charivari. His cartoons targeted the monarchy, judiciary, bourgeoisie, clergy, and political establishments of his era. Beyond graphic satire, Daumier produced expressive paintings and small-scale sculptural busts of contemporary types, earning recognition from later generations as a pioneering figure bridging Romanticism and Realism. Today his work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he remains one of the most frequently encountered printmakers in the auction market.

Realismlithographyoil paintingsculpture (clay busts)drawing (ink and wash)political caricature and satirecourtroom and legal scenessocial commentary on bourgeoisieDon Quixote

Common works and media

Daumier is most widely known for his lithographic prints — including social satires, political caricatures, and series such as Les Bas-Bleu and Robert Macaire — which number in the thousands and appear frequently at auction. He also produced oil paintings of theater audiences, laundresses, and street life; small unpainted clay sculptural busts caricaturing political figures; and finished drawings in ink and wash. Bronze editions of his sculptural models were cast posthumously and are also encountered at auction. Print subjects range from courtroom scenes and lawyers to Don Quixote, street musicians, and domestic interiors.

Market and appraisal context

Honoré Daumier maintains a deep and liquid secondary market spanning more than two decades of documented auction activity, with 701 total lots recorded (350 with realized prices) and a date range from November 2001 through March 2026. Price dispersion is exceptionally wide — from €10 at the low end to a maximum of $665,000 — reflecting the broad spectrum of media and quality tiers in circulation. The median realized price of approximately $1,363 indicates that the typical transaction involves mid-range prints or works on paper, while the 75th percentile at $8,400 and a ceiling of $665,000 capture rarer paintings, important drawings, and significant sculptural works. Major houses including Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, and Heritage Auctions appear among the top-ten most frequent sellers, alongside European specialists such as Tajan, Piasa, Ader, Galerie Kornfeld, and Auktionshaus Schwab. Recent twelve-month volume (35 priced lots) is moderately lower than the prior period (52 lots), suggesting a slight cooling in turnover but continued steady liquidity. Recent comparable sales include an oil or gouache composition (Trois Personnages) at Karl & Faber realizing €18,000, a lithograph of Un wagon de troisième classe at Galerie Kornfeld reaching CHF 80,000, and a circa-1856 drawing Le Buveur Chantang at Freeman's | Hindman realizing $25,000, illustrating the premium tier for original paintings and important drawings versus more routine lithographic impressions that commonly trade below €5,000.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Prints (lithographs)
  • Paintings (oil on canvas/panel)
  • Sculpture (clay busts, posthumous bronze casts)
  • Works on paper (drawings, watercolors)

Value drivers

  1. Medium: original lithographs trade at lower ranges than paintings or sculptures
  2. Edition and impression quality: early lifetime pulls versus later restrikes affect value significantly
  3. Condition: margins, foxing, and paper quality are key for prints
  4. Provenance and exhibition history
  5. Catalogue raisonné inclusion and reference numbers
  6. Medium: original oil paintings and important drawings command the highest prices; original stone lithographs from lifetime editions trade in the mid-range; later restrikes and reproductive prints trade significantly lower

Appraisal caveats

  • Daumier's lithographs were widely reproduced and reissued; not all impressions on the market are lifetime originals
  • Bronze casts of Daumier's sculptural models were produced posthumously; edition numbers and foundry marks determine relative value
  • Attribution verification is recommended due to the large volume of reproductive prints and copies in circulation
  • Daumier's lithographs were widely reproduced and reissued both during and after his lifetime; not all impressions on the market are lifetime originals, and attribution verification is essential

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 Honoré Daumier

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Honoré Daumier 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 Honoré Daumier artwork?

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