Robert Combas Auction Prices and Value Guide

Robert Combas auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 2,440 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Robert Combas auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
Robert Combas
Source records
2,440
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Robert Combas

Robert Combas is a French painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Lyon on 25 May 1957. He grew up in the Mediterranean port city of Sète and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in both Montpellier and Paris, graduating in 1978. Combas emerged publicly around 1980 in a French art scene then dominated by conceptual practice, introducing a vividly figurative, emotionally direct style that drew on rock music, comic books, graphic signage, and North-African street decoration he observed in Sète. After moving to Paris in 1981, critic Bernard Lamarche-Vadel presented his work alongside Hervé di Rosa, Rémy Blanchard, and François Boisrond in the exhibition "Finir en beauté." The artist Ben later coined the term Figuration Libre for this loosely affiliated group, whose energetic, color-saturated painting attracted wide media attention throughout the 1980s. Combas has since expanded far beyond that initial label, building a complex body of work across painting, sculpture, and ceramics that merges high and popular culture without hierarchy.

Figuration Librepaintingsculptureceramicspopular culture and rock imageryfigurative narrative scenes

Common works and media

Combas is most frequently encountered in appraisal and auction contexts as a painter working in acrylic or oil on both traditional canvas and unconventional supports including found cardboard and recycled materials. His sculptures range from small ceramic pieces to large-scale painted constructions. Prints and multiples — often screenprints or lithographs in bold color — circulate widely and account for a significant portion of secondary-market appearances. Common subjects include densely populated figurative narratives, mythological and religious tableaux, portraits, and scenes inspired by rock culture and comic-book visual language.

Market and appraisal context

Robert Combas's work appears regularly in Post-War and Contemporary Art sales at major auction houses. His output spans large-scale paintings on canvas and unconventional supports such as recuperated cardboard, as well as sculptures, ceramics, and editioned prints. Collectors evaluating Combas works should consider the period of execution — early Figuration Libre-era paintings from the 1980s carry particular historical weight — along with medium, dimensions, provenance, exhibition history, and condition, especially for works on fragile found materials. The breadth of his production across media means that auction results can vary widely depending on the category and scale of the individual lot.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Appraisal caveats

  • Market context is inferred from the artist's known output and auction-house categories; no specific realized prices were available in the source pack
  • Combas has used unconventional supports (recuperated materials, cardboard) which can complicate condition assessment and conservation

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 Robert Combas

Artist value FAQ

How much is Robert Combas 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 Robert Combas artwork?

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