# Aristide Maillol artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/aristide-maillol/
Profile generated: 2026-04-29T21:41:24.761Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1861-12-08
- Death date: 1944-09-27
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Modern classical sculpture revival
- Common media: Bronze sculpture, Lithography, Woodcut, Etching, Oil painting, Drawing, Stone sculpture, Lead sculpture

## About Aristide Maillol

Aristide Maillol (1861–1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker born in Banyuls-sur-Mer in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Originally trained as a painter under Jean-Léon Gérôme and Alexandre Cabanel at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he turned to sculpture in the 1890s and became one of the most influential European sculptors of the early twentieth century. Maillol is best known for his monumental bronze and stone female nudes, which combine Mediterranean classical restraint with simplified, volumetric forms. His work marked a decisive departure from the expressive drama of Auguste Rodin, championing instead harmony, balance, and stillness. Major museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate in London, and the Musée Maillol in Paris hold significant collections of his sculpture, prints, and drawings. Collectors encounter Maillol's work across a range of media at auction, from large-scale bronze casts to woodcuts, lithographs, and terracotta maquettes.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Maillol bronzes of seated and standing female nudes, often titled after mythological or elemental themes. Terracotta and plaster maquettes for larger commissions also circulate. On paper, Maillol produced woodcut-illustrated books (notably editions of Virgil and Ovid), lithographs, and etchings of female figures and landscapes. Oil paintings from his early career occasionally appear, though his reputation rests primarily on sculpture and printmaking. Works range from tabletop maquettes to monumental garden bronzes.

## Market and appraisal context

Aristide Maillol maintains a deep and active secondary market spanning over 25 years of recorded auction activity, with 1,347 cataloged lots and 839 priced results dating from February 2001 through April 2026. The market is anchored by Christie's and Sotheby's at the top tier, with consistent representation at Bonhams, Artcurial, Lempertz, Tajan, and Swann Auction Galleries. Price dispersion is exceptionally wide—from $10 for minor prints to $2,994,500 at the top end—reflecting the broad range of media in which Maillol worked. The median realized price of $2,600 and the 75th percentile at $37,500 indicate that the bulk of lots are works on paper and small-scale bronzes, while large-scale lifetime bronze casts of iconic compositions drive the upper market. Recent 12-month activity (83 lots) is slightly below the prior year (99 lots), suggesting stable but not rising liquidity. Major bronze sculptures such as the Pendule, dite Les deux soeurs (Lempertz, December 2025, €120,000) and Baigneuse debout se coiffant (Bonhams, November 2024, $48,000) confirm continuing strong demand for sculptural work. Prints and illustrated books—particularly woodcut editions of Virgil's Georgics and Ovid's L'Art d'Aimer—trade regularly in the €180–£380 range, representing the most accessible entry point for collectors.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Aristide Maillol maintains a deep and active secondary market spanning over 25 years of recorded auction activity, with 1,347 cataloged lots and 839 priced results dating from February 2001 through April 2026. The market is anchored by Christie's and Sotheby's at the top tier, with consistent representation at Bonhams, Artcurial, Lempertz, Tajan, and Swann Auction Galleries. Price dispersion is exceptionally wide—from $10 for minor prints to $2,994,500 at the top end—reflecting the broad range of media in which Maillol worked. The median realized price of $2,600 and the 75th percentile at $37,500 indicate that the bulk of lots are works on paper and small-scale bronzes, while large-scale lifetime bronze casts of iconic compositions drive the upper market. Recent 12-month activity (83 lots) is slightly below the prior year (99 lots), suggesting stable but not rising liquidity. Major bronze sculptures such as the Pendule, dite Les deux soeurs (Lempertz, December 2025, €120,000) and Baigneuse debout se coiffant (Bonhams, November 2024, $48,000) confirm continuing strong demand for sculptural work. Prints and illustrated books—particularly woodcut editions of Virgil's Georgics and Ovid's L'Art d'Aimer—trade regularly in the €180–£380 range, representing the most accessible entry point for collectors.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily uses observed auction records as a comparable-sales baseline alongside physical examination details including photographs, dimensions, medium identification, foundry marks and stamps (Alexis Rudier, Valsuani, and others), signature verification, condition reports, provenance documentation, and edition numbering. For Maillol bronzes, confirming whether a cast is lifetime or posthumous and identifying the foundry and edition number are critical valuation steps. The price distribution in this dataset—$10 minimum, $2,600 median, $37,500 at the 75th percentile, and $2,994,500 maximum—provides a wide frame of reference; an accurate appraisal requires narrowing comparables by medium, scale, subject, and edition. Works on paper (etchings, woodcuts, lithographs, drawings) should be compared against the substantial volume of print lots in the record, while bronzes should be benchmarked against same-subject, similar-scale lifetime casts. Provenance linking to Dina Vierny, the Musée Maillol, or well-known collections can materially affect value.

### Valuation factors

- Medium and scale: monumental bronze casts command the highest prices; original terracotta and stone works are rare and prized; prints and drawings trade at significantly lower levels
- Foundry attribution: lifetime casts by Alexis Rudier or Valsuani with documented foundry stamps carry a premium over unmarked or posthumous editions
- Edition number and lifetime vs. posthumous status: collectors and appraisers must verify whether a bronze was cast during Maillol's lifetime and confirm its place in the edition
- Subject and model: iconic compositions such as La Méditerranée, La Rivière, L'Air, and monumental female nudes are the most sought-after; functional objects like the Pendule, dite Les deux soeurs also achieve strong results
- Provenance: documented history through Dina Vierny, the Musée Maillol, the Comité Maillol, or named private collections adds measurable value
- Condition and authenticity: condition of patina on bronzes, paper quality and foxing on prints, and authentication by the Comité Maillol or estate records are standard adjustments
- Market liquidity: with 83–99 lots appearing annually and representation at top-tier houses, Maillol's market is liquid and well-established, supporting reliable comparable-sales analysis

### Collector notes

- Maillol's market offers entry points at multiple levels. Illustrated woodcut books (Georgics, L'Art d'Aimer, Lucien) and individual etchings regularly trade between €180 and €500, making them the most accessible segment. Drawings in graphite or ink have realized $1,200–€5,000 at recent sales. Small-to-medium bronzes of seated or standing female figures typically range from $700 to $48,000 depending on scale, foundry, and edition. Top-tier lifetime bronzes of major models can reach €120,000 or higher at houses like Lempertz and Bonhams, with monumental or historically significant casts approaching seven figures. The slight year-over-year decline in lot volume (99 to 83) is not unusual and does not indicate weakening demand. When acquiring Maillol bronzes, always request foundry mark documentation and confirmation of lifetime casting status. For prints, check plate tone, margin width, and binding evidence for illustrated books. The presence of Christie's and Sotheby's among the top auction houses confirms ongoing institutional-level demand.

### Market caveats

- Prices in this dataset span multiple currencies (USD, EUR, GBP) and are not currency-normalized; direct comparison requires conversion to a common currency.
- Some recent lots lack a realized price (priceRealised: null), meaning they may have been bought-in, withdrawn, or the result has not yet been reported.
- Edition sizes and posthumous casting practices for Maillol bronzes vary; the price dataset does not distinguish lifetime from posthumous casts, which materially affects value.
- The maximum recorded price of $2,994,500 likely represents a monumental or historically significant bronze and should not be used as a benchmark for typical Maillol lots.
- Observed auction categories are derived from the existing artist profile's medium list rather than explicit category tags in the auction data; individual lot categorization may differ.
- The Appraisily auction-record dataset represents lots indexed from public auction feeds and may not capture every sale, particularly private transactions or results from smaller regional houses not included in the feed.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/aristide-maillol/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-pendule-dite-les-deux-soeurs-circa-1902-6-c-8daddd1e3b
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-french-nude-bronze-sculpture-by-aristide-maillol-262-c-fcd4916900
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-2430-c-5dd1eab6d8
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-france-1861-1944-collection-jacques-thalheimer-nu-de-dos-graphite-sur-pap-56-c-3cda895f5d
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-french-1861-1944-41-c-cf05bb46d2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-1861-1944-daphnis-and-chloe-three-images-38-c-5006ae6e5c
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-aristide-maillol-french-1861-1944-drawing-105-c-53686948f7

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified biographical data from museum collections and international authority files with public auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Identity claims are cross-referenced against the Library of Congress, VIAF, Wikidata, and major museum holdings.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80015568
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/52024
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/3697
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/aristide-maillol-1555
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153920
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/14228/