Jean-Baptiste Greuze Auction Prices and Value Guide

Jean-Baptiste Greuze auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 777 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze auction prices: quick answer

Jean-Baptiste Greuze auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Source records
777
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was a French painter, pastelist, and draftsman celebrated for sentimental genre scenes, moralizing domestic narratives, and expressive portraits. Active in Paris during the late Rococo period, Greuze built his reputation on paintings of family life and youthful virtue that appealed to Enlightenment sensibilities. His work attracted the admiration of critic Denis Diderot and found a wide public audience through reproductive engravings. Admitted to the Académie Royale as a genre painter, Greuze later sought recognition as a history painter but was rejected in that category, a setback that affected his later career. Today his paintings, drawings, and pastels are held by major museums including the Musée du Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Collectors encounter Greuze across Old Master sale categories worldwide.

French RococoSentimental genre paintingOil paintingPastelDrawingEngraving and printsDomestic and family genre scenesPortraitsMoralizing and narrative scenesHead studies of young women and children

Common works and media

Oil-on-canvas genre scenes depicting domestic virtue or family drama are Greuze's signature works. Expressive portraits and idealized head studies of young women and children also appear frequently. Red-chalk and graphite drawings — including preparatory studies for known compositions — surface regularly at auction. Reproductive engravings after his paintings were produced in large numbers and remain collectible in their own right. Pastel portraits represent a smaller but notable category.

Market and appraisal context

Jean-Baptiste Greuze maintains a deep and active auction footprint spanning more than two decades, with 244 catalogued lots of which 167 carry realized prices. Sale dates range from January 2001 through March 2026, and liquidity is stable at 19 lots per year in both the trailing and prior 12-month windows. The artist trades across a wide price spectrum: from €120 for reproductive engravings and attributions-after to $2,470,000 for fully attributed oil paintings at top-tier houses. The interquartile range ($1,300–$64,625) reflects meaningful dispersion driven primarily by medium, attribution confidence, and subject. Christie's and Sotheby's anchor the high end, while Artcurial, Osenat, Vanderkindere, Hampel, and other European houses provide consistent mid-market turnover. Finished oil-on-canvas genre scenes and portraits command the strongest prices; preparatory drawings in red chalk, ink wash, or graphite trade in an active middle tier; reproductive prints and follower copies populate the accessible tier. Recent notable results include €113,400 at Christie's Paris (June 2025, oil on canvas), €110,000 at De Baecque & Associés (June 2025), CHF 57,164 at Piguet Genève (June 2025, signed drawing), and $1,082,500 at Sotheby's (January 2013). The breadth of houses, lot volume, and long date range give collectors reliable market comparables across media.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Old Master Paintings
  • Old Master Drawings
  • Old Master Prints
  • Pastel
  • Oil painting

Value drivers

  1. [object Object]

Appraisal caveats

  • Greuze's output was widely copied and reproduced in engravings during and after his lifetime; attribution requires careful expert review.
  • The RKD records over 2,600 images associated with Greuze, indicating a large and complex body of work, copies, andattributed pieces that collectors should distinguish.
  • Greuze's output was widely copied and reproduced in engravings during and after his lifetime; attribution requires careful expert review. Many lots in the record are explicitly described as 'attributed,' 'copy,' 'd'après,' or 'Nachfolge' and may not be by the artist's own hand.
  • The RKD records over 2,600 images associated with Greuze, indicating a large and complex body of work, copies, and attributed pieces that collectors must distinguish carefully.

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 Jean-Baptiste Greuze

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Jean-Baptiste Greuze 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 Jean-Baptiste Greuze artwork?

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