Raoul Dufy Auction Prices and Value Guide

Raoul Dufy auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 7,744 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Raoul Dufy auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Raoul Dufy
Source records
7,744
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Raoul Dufy

Raoul Dufy (1877–1953) was a French painter, printmaker, illustrator, and designer whose career bridged Fauvism and a distinctive decorative modernism. Born in Le Havre and trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Dufy first gained attention when he exhibited with the Fauves in the early 1900s, adopting their bold, non-naturalistic color. Over the following decades he developed an immediately recognizable style characterized by rapid, calligraphic line, luminous washes of color, and scenes of leisure—regattas, horse races, orchestral concerts, and seaside promenades. Beyond easel painting, Dufy designed textiles for the couturier Paul Poiret and the silk house Bianchini-Férier, produced ceramics, illustrated books, and created large-scale murals, most notably the vast La Fée Électricité for the 1937 Paris Exposition. His work is held by major institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Fauvismoil paintingwatercolorprintmakingtextile designoutdoor social gatheringsregattas and maritime sceneslandscapesmusical instruments

Common works and media

Oil on canvas paintings of regattas, horse racing, orchestras, and garden parties are among the most recognized Dufy works at auction. Watercolors and gouaches with his signature loose line and saturated palette appear frequently. Dufy also produced a substantial body of original prints—lithographs and etchings—often in signed and numbered editions, as well as illustrations for luxury livres d'artiste. His ceramic plates and vases, fabric designs for Bianchini-Férier, and large-scale mural commissions represent additional categories that surface in the appraisal and auction market.

Market and appraisal context

Raoul Dufy commands a deep and internationally distributed auction market, with 2,494 recorded lots spanning from October 1992 to April 2026 and 1,333 lots with documented prices. The price distribution is exceptionally wide—from $5 at the low end (unsigned prints and ephemera) to $2,160,000 for major oils—reflecting Dufy's prolific output across oils, works on paper, prints, textiles, and ceramics. The interquartile range ($300–$34,600) captures the bulk of traded material, which consists largely of prints, watercolors, and gouaches, while the median of $2,500 indicates that mid-market Dufy works trade at accessible levels. Major international houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Artcurial, and Tajan—handle the premium tier, while regional and online houses such as RoGallery, TGP Auction, Hammersite, and Setdart account for the print and work-on-paper segment. Recent 12-month activity shows 233 lots compared to 371 in the prior 12 months, suggesting a modest contraction in volume but continued liquidity across all price tiers.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • oil painting
  • watercolor
  • gouache
  • lithograph
  • etching

Value drivers

  1. Medium is the strongest price determinant: major oils from Fauvist and interwar periods can reach six or seven figures, while signed prints and lithographs typically trade in the hundreds to low thousands.
  2. Period matters: early Fauvist works (c. 1905–1910) and significant interwar paintings are more sought after than later decorative works from the 1940s.
  3. Scale and ambition: large-format canvases and monumental works are scarcer; the recorded maximum of $3.144M reflects premium-scale oils.
  4. Catalogue raisonné documentation: works referenced in the Guillon-Laffaille catalogue (watercolors/gouaches) or other established raisonné entries carry stronger provenance and command higher prices.
  5. Condition sensitivity: watercolors, gouaches, and textiles are fragile and condition issues disproportionately affect value compared to oil on canvas.
  6. Provenance and exhibition history: documented ownership through notable collections or exhibition records materially increases value.

Appraisal caveats

  • Of 2,518 recorded lots, 1,350 have documented prices (54%); the remainder lack realized-price data, which may reflect unsold lots, withdrawn works, or incomplete reporting.
  • Many recent lots list no realized price, making it difficult to assess sell-through rates for specific mediums or auction houses.
  • Dufy's prolific output and commercial collaborations mean the market includes unsigned, undocumented, or misattributed works. Any purchase should be verified against the catalogue raisonné.
  • Textile designs produced for Bianchini-Férier were often editioned commercially; these should not be valued the same as unique works on paper or canvas.

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 Raoul Dufy

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Raoul Dufy 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 Raoul Dufy artwork?

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