# Ben Schonzeit artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/ben-schonzeit/
Profile generated: 2026-05-29T03:56:34.205Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: Photorealism
- Common media: painting

## About Ben Schonzeit

Ben Schonzeit is an American painter born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. He is recognized as a leading figure in the Photorealist movement, a direction in American painting that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in which artists reproduced photographic imagery with meticulous precision on canvas. Schonzeit's work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, placing him among the Photorealist painters who achieved significant institutional recognition. His career is documented in major reference works including the Bénézit Dictionnaire des peintres and the Witt Checklist of painters. Collectors most often encounter Schonzeit's work through the secondary auction market, where his paintings and works on paper appear with regularity.

## Common works and media

Schonzeit is principally known as a painter working in oil on canvas, typically producing detailed Photorealist compositions. Collectors may also encounter his works on paper, prints, and editioned multiples. Subject matter in his known output includes still lifes, floral arrangements, and close-up studies rendered with high-resolution photographic clarity. As with many Photorealist painters, the distinction between unique paintings and reproductive prints is an important factor in valuation.

## Market and appraisal context

Ben Schonzeit's auction profile is anchored by his position within Photorealism and the institutional validation of MoMA's collection. When assessing works by Schonzeit, appraisers consider medium (oil on canvas versus works on paper), scale, date of execution, subject matter, provenance history, and condition. His paintings have appeared at auction across a range of price levels, and comparable results should be drawn from works of similar medium, size, and period. The existence of a strong institutional holding supports long-term collector confidence but does not by itself determine individual work values.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and museum records with auction results, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Ben Schonzeit, identity data is supported by Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata, RKD, and MoMA collection records.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816588
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032146
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/10710468/
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/70978
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5262
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no96014079