Purvis Young Auction Prices and Value Guide

Purvis Young auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 2,825 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Purvis Young auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Purvis Young
Source records
2,825
Market update
2026-02-16

Artist context

About Purvis Young

Purvis Young (1943–2010) was a self-taught American artist of Bahamian descent who lived and worked in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Largely unschooled in formal technique, Young developed an expressive visual language combining painting, drawing, and collage on salvaged materials — scrap wood, discarded doors, cardboard, and other found surfaces. His imagery drew on everyday life around him: urban streets, angels, wild horses, processions, and scenes of social struggle. Young's monumental Good Bread Alley installation, in which he covered a stretch of Overtown buildings with his paintings, drew early attention from curators and collectors. His work is now held by major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centre Pompidou, LACMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2018.

Outsider artPainting on found materialsDrawingCollageMuralUrban life in Overtown, MiamiAngels and wild horsesSocial justice and incarceration

Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Young's paintings and mixed-media works on found materials, including scrap lumber, plywood, doors, metal siding, and cardboard. Common subjects include processions of figures, wild horses, angels, urban landscapes, boats, and eyes. He also produced drawings on paper and bound sketchbook-style journals. Large-scale mural installations are rare but documented, most notably the Good Bread Alley series. Posters and exhibition prints exist but are less common at auction.

Market and appraisal context

Purvis Young has a deep and actively traded auction market spanning over two decades, with 1,998 cataloged lots and 1,548 priced records dating from January 2003 through April 2026. The market is liquid — 183 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window — though volume has moderated from the prior year's 239 lots. The price distribution is wide: realized prices range from $20 at the low end (small ink-on-paper works) to $350,000 for top-tier pieces, with the interquartile range clustered between $200 (P25) and $750 (P75) and a median of $400. This dispersion reflects Young's prolific output across varied substrates and formats. The bulk of auction activity flows through specialist and regional houses — Material Culture, Akiba Galleries, Nye & Company, Hill Auction Gallery, New River Auctions, Ledbetter Auctions, Joshua Kodner, Neal Auction Company, and Palm Beach Modern Auctions — with occasional blue-chip presence at Christie's. Typical lots are mixed-media paintings on found wood or board, collage portfolios, assemblages, and works on paper including ink drawings and watercolors. Larger works on wood (e.g., 24"×46" paintings) tend to realize $550–$900, while smaller works on paper or cardboard more commonly bring $50–$350. Prints and etchings occupy the lower end. The consistent institutional presence (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney, Centre Pompidou, LACMA, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami) provides enduring market support and collector confidence.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Outsider Art / Self-Taught Art
  • Mixed Media on Found Materials
  • Painting on Wood / Found Board
  • Works on Paper (Ink, Watercolor)
  • Collage and Assemblage

Value drivers

  1. Works on found materials (scrap wood, cardboard, discarded doors, furniture) are characteristic; medium and substrate affect value
  2. Museum institutional presence strengthens long-term market confidence
  3. Large-scale mural installations and multi-panel works are scarcer and may command premium at auction
  4. Provenance documentation is important due to prolific output and informal distribution channels
  5. Substrate and size: works on large found wood panels or doors command significantly more than small works on paper or cardboard
  6. Medium: oil and mixed-media paintings on found materials are the most sought-after format; ink drawings and prints trade at lower price points

Appraisal caveats

  • Young was extremely prolific; individual work values vary widely by size, medium, condition, and provenance
  • Works on ephemeral found materials may present condition issues that affect appraisal
  • Authentication can be challenging without clear provenance; consultation with specialists in Outsider or self-taught art is recommended
  • Young was extremely prolific; the 1,998 cataloged lots likely represent only a portion of total output, and the wide price range ($20–$350,000) means that individual estimates require careful comparable selection

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 Purvis Young

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Purvis Young 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 Purvis Young artwork?

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