Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña Auction Prices and Value Guide

Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 1,307 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña auction prices: quick answer

Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña
Source records
1,307
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña

Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña (1807–1876) was a French painter and lithographer who became one of the central figures of the Barbizon school. Born in Bordeaux, he spent his formative career in the Forest of Fontainebleau alongside contemporaries such as Théodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet, contributing to the movement's emphasis on painting directly from nature. Diaz de la Peña is best known for richly colored woodland interiors, forest glades, and mythological figure scenes bathed in warm, luminous light. His technique combined bold, textured brushwork with a distinctive color sense that influenced later Impressionist painters. Works are held in major institutional collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and documented extensively in the RKD and Library of Congress authority files. Collectors most frequently encounter his oil paintings at auction, where his Fontainebleau forest scenes remain his most sought-after category.

Barbizon schooloil paintinglithographyforest interiors and woodland sceneslandscapesfigures and nymphs in mythological settings

Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most commonly encounter oil-on-canvas and oil-on-panel landscapes depicting the Forest of Fontainebleau, including sunlit glades, forest paths, and woodland ponds. Diaz de la Peña also produced figure compositions featuring nymphs, fairies, and allegorical subjects in landscape settings, as well as still lifes and flower paintings. Lithographs and graphic works on paper appear less frequently but are documented in institutional holdings. Works are typically signed 'N. Diaz' and range from small cabinet-size panels to large exhibition-scale canvases.

Market and appraisal context

Diaz de la Peña maintains a steady but moderate-liquidity presence in the 19th-century European painting market, with 39 auction lots recorded in Appraisily's auction index spanning March 2007 through March 2026. Of those, 26 carry realized prices. The market is anchored by recurring appearances at Koller Auctions (Zurich), with additional lots at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Vanderkindere, Van Ham Kunstauktionen, Sworders, Auktionshaus Stahl, and Bodo Gallery and Auction House. The median realized price sits near 4,880 but this figure mixes CHF, USD, GBP, EUR, and HUF — direct cross-currency comparison requires caution. The bulk of priced lots cluster between roughly 3,000 and 8,000 in their local currencies, placing Diaz de la Peña firmly in the accessible-to-mid-range segment for Barbizon school painters. The standout price of 1,300,000 HUF (Bodo Gallery, 2020, 'Forest stream') converts to approximately 3,500–4,000 USD and is not an outlier in absolute terms. The highest prices in major-currency terms are Christie's £11,250 for 'Dogs in a Barbizon woodland' (2014) and Koller's 8,000 CHF for two separate lots (2023 and 2025). Liquidity has softened recently: 4 lots appeared in the trailing 12 months versus 10 in the prior period, though this may reflect normal auction cycle variation more than demand decline.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • oil painting
  • lithography
  • Old Master / 19th Century European Paintings
  • works on paper

Value drivers

  1. [object Object]

Appraisal caveats

  • With over 1,300 works documented in auction contexts, attribution and condition vary widely across the market
  • Birth year is disputed (1807 or 1808); this does not affect attribution but may appear inconsistently in cataloguing
  • [object Object]

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 Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña 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 Narcisse Virgilio Diaz de la Peña artwork?

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