# Conrad Buff artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/conrad-buff/
Profile generated: 2026-08-19T21:28:41.604Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Swiss
- Common media: Painting, Oil on Masonite, Children's-book text and illustration

## About Conrad Buff

Conrad Buff (1886–1975), identified in authority records as Conrad Buff II, was a Swiss painter whose public identity is also tied to a long collaboration with Mary Buff in illustrated children's books. Between 1937 and 1968, the couple produced 14 books combining text and illustration; their work received three Newbery Honors, and they were runners-up for the 1943 Caldecott Medal. Museum and authority records from the National Gallery of Art, British Museum, Getty ULAN, and Wikidata help establish his identity. Documented visual works include the oil-on-Masonite Canyon de Chelly, dated circa 1940, and the 1940 Rural Life image associated with the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture. The collected sources do not establish a named movement, so Buff is best described through his documented practices and subjects. Collectors may encounter his work in both fine-art and illustrated-book contexts, making careful identification of the object, medium, date, and attribution especially important.

## Common works and media

Documented examples include paintings, particularly the circa-1940 oil-on-Masonite Canyon de Chelly, and imagery such as the 1940 Rural Life composition. Buff also worked with Mary Buff on illustrated children's books, so drawings, printed illustrations, editions, or book-related material may appear in collecting contexts. Appraisily's auction index primarily groups his records under fine art and paintings and works on paper and prints, with additional records catalogued as sculpture, mixed media, decorative art, or editions. Those broader categories should be verified lot by lot because name matching alone does not establish authorship, medium, or attribution.

## Market and appraisal context

Conrad Buff auction results should be compared with works sharing the same medium, dimensions, date, subject, condition, and level of attribution. Signature and inscription details, restoration history, provenance, exhibition history, edition information, and catalogue references may also affect how a lot is assessed. Appraisily's matched records place paintings and fine art at the center of the market while also identifying works on paper, prints, editions, and less frequent mixed-media or decorative categories. Public results remain incomplete: private sales may be absent, attribution can change, and reported prices may treat buyer's premiums differently. A defensible appraisal therefore uses several closely comparable lots rather than a single overall median or an isolated sale.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist-identity research with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Private sales, incomplete feeds, and attribution changes may not be represented.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20829615
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500033113
- British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG21285
- National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.33253.html
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00007463
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_and_Conrad_Buff
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conrad_Buff_-_Canyon_de_Chelly.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rural_Life,_by_Conrad_Buff,_1940.jpg
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/conrad-buff/