# Boris Michajlovic Kustodiev artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/boris-michajlovic-kustodiev/
Profile generated: 2026-05-24T19:13:23.359Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1878-03-07
- Death date: 1927-05-26
- Nationality: Russian
- Movements: Modernism
- Common media: Oil painting, Watercolor, Gouache, Printmaking and graphic arts, Stage design

## About Boris Michajlovic Kustodiev

Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (1878–1927) was a Russian painter, draughtsman, stage designer, and graphic artist active during the Modernist period. Born in Astrakhan and based in Saint Petersburg, Kustodiev worked across a broad range of media — oil painting, watercolor, gouache, printmaking, and theatrical design — and also held a position as an academy lecturer. His versatility as an illustrator, sculptor, and designer made him a significant figure in early twentieth-century Russian visual culture. Collectors encounter his work most often through paintings and works on paper that circulate at auction under various transliterated forms of his name, including Koustodiev, Kustodijev, and Koustodieff.

## Common works and media

Kustodiev produced oil paintings, watercolors, gouaches, graphic prints, book illustrations, and stage designs. Collectors most frequently encounter his paintings and works on paper at auction. His graphic output — including illustrations and prints — is also well represented in institutional collections such as the Tate.

## Market and appraisal context

Kustodiev's works appear regularly in Russian Art and Works on Paper auction sales, with over 260 catalogue entries recorded on the Invaluable platform alone. When assessing a Kustodiev work for appraisal, key factors include the specific medium (oil, watercolor, gouache, or print), date of execution within his roughly three-decade active period, documented provenance, condition, and whether the work has been catalogued under one of several transliterated name variants. Attribution should be verified against authority records such as Getty ULAN or RKD. No single auction trend should be treated as predictive without reviewing comparable realized prices for the specific medium and period.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from authority files, museum records, and library catalogs with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Boris Kustodiev, sources include Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Tate, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313275
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Kustodiev
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500005338
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/9839341/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81125914
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/boris-kustodiev-6626
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/211940