Kumi Sugai Auction Prices and Value Guide

Kumi Sugai auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 780 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Kumi Sugai auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Kumi Sugai
Source records
780
Market update
2026-02-16

Artist context

About Kumi Sugai

Kumi Sugai (1919–1996) was a Japanese painter, sculptor, and printmaker who spent most of his career in France. Born in Kobe, he moved to Paris in 1952, drawn to the European avant-garde. His early work in Paris aligned with Art Informel and lyrical abstraction, and he became associated with the Nouvelle École de Paris. In the early 1960s his style shifted to bold hard-edge geometric abstraction, reflecting his fascination with automobiles, speed, and contemporary urban life. Sugai maintained connections to Japanese calligraphic tradition while working in a decisively international modernist idiom. He exhibited widely across Europe and Japan over four decades. Collectors encounter Sugai's work most often as color lithographs and screen prints, though he also produced paintings, sculptures, and graphic designs. His work is held in major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Nouvelle École de ParisLyrical Abstraction / Art InformelHard-edge abstractionpaintingprintmakinglithographysculptureabstractioncalligraphic formsurban and automobile motifs

Common works and media

Color lithographs and screen prints are the most widely available Sugai works on the secondary market, often featuring bold geometric forms, calligraphic motifs, and vibrant palettes. Collectors may also encounter oil or acrylic paintings on canvas from his hard-edge period, as well as smaller works on paper, posters, and occasional sculptures. Editioned prints are typically signed and numbered in pencil. Exhibition posters designed by Sugai for galleries and cultural institutions also circulate in the print market.

Market and appraisal context

Kumi Sugai maintains an active and well-documented secondary market with 345 recorded auction lots, of which 236 carry realized prices. His work has appeared at auction consistently from February 2001 through May 2026, with 28 lots offered in the most recent 12-month period—a 40% increase over the prior 12 months (20 lots), indicating growing or steady market liquidity. The price distribution is wide: from €25 at the low end for minor prints to €3,100,000 at the top, with a median of €850 and a 75th percentile of €15,045. This dispersion reflects the sharp distinction between editioned prints (which dominate volume and cluster below €1,000) and unique paintings or major works on paper (which reach into the thousands and beyond). Major international houses—including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Artcurial—appear alongside specialist German and Belgian firms (Kastern, Bernaerts, HanseArt), confirming broad European and North American market presence. The majority of lots are prints (lithographs and screen prints) from the 1960s and 1970s, while paintings, works on paper, and collage works surface less frequently and command meaningfully higher prices.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Prints & Multiples
  • Post-War & Contemporary Art
  • Works on Paper
  • Modern & Contemporary Prints
  • Painting

Value drivers

  1. Medium: lithographs and screen prints are the most frequently encountered works at auction; unique paintings and sculptures are rarer and typically command higher prices.
  2. Period: early 1960s hard-edge abstractions and mature geometric compositions are generally more sought after than later reproductive prints.
  3. Edition and provenance: signed and numbered prints with documented exhibition history or collection provenance carry stronger market interest.
  4. Authenticity and condition: as with all post-war prints, condition, plate marks, and paper quality materially affect value.
  5. Medium and uniqueness: original paintings and sculptures are significantly rarer at auction and command prices well above editioned prints, which dominate the 345-lot record.
  6. Period: early 1960s hard-edge geometric compositions are the most sought-after period; later reproductive prints and posters trade at the lower end of the range.

Appraisal caveats

  • The source pack did not include specific auction-house catalogue notes or realized-price records. Market observations above are inferred from the artist's documented media, exhibition activity, and the 780-work count in the Appraisily/Invaluable dataset. Individual work values vary significantly based on medium, period, edition size, and condition.
  • Auction-record data is sourced from the Appraisily/Invaluable dataset of 345 lots and reflects publicly reported realized prices; private sales and gallery prices are not captured.
  • The €3,100,000 maximum price represents a single outlier and is not representative of typical Sugai auction results, which cluster below €15,045 at the 75th percentile.
  • Several recent lots lack realized-price data (Butterscotch Auction Gallery, April 2026; Kastern, November 2025; Venduehuis, September 2025), which may indicate bought-in or post-sale results not yet reported.

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 Kumi Sugai

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Kumi Sugai 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 Kumi Sugai artwork?

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