# Donald Brun artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/donald-brun/
Profile generated: 2026-05-08T13:25:13.379Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1909-10-30
- Death date: 1999-08-15
- Nationality: Swiss
- Common media: graphic design, photography, commercial illustration

## About Donald Brun

Donald Brun (1909–1999) was a Swiss commercial graphic artist and photographer based in Basel. Active throughout the mid-20th century, Brun built a career in applied graphic arts (Gebrauchsgrafik), producing commercial illustrations, poster designs, and photographic work for clients across Switzerland. He is recognized in major institutional records including the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, and the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD). The Museum of Modern Art in New York holds examples of his work in its permanent collection, underscoring his significance within the history of Swiss graphic design. Brun lived and worked in Switzerland throughout his life, passing away in Clarens near Montreux in 1999.

## Common works and media

Brun's auction and appraisal records most commonly include printed commercial posters, graphic design layouts, photographic prints, and illustration artwork created for advertising and promotional purposes. Works are typically executed on paper in ink, gouache, or photographic media. Mid-20th-century Swiss commercial design subjects dominate his output. Collectors encountering Brun's work should expect printed and photographic editions rather than unique oil paintings or sculptures.

## Market and appraisal context

Donald Brun's work appears regularly at auction, with over 500 cataloged lots, primarily in the vintage poster and graphic design categories. Because Brun produced applied commercial graphics rather than unique fine-art paintings, appraisal depends heavily on medium (original artwork, printed poster, or photograph), date of execution, edition or print-run specifics, condition, and subject matter. Collectors should confirm attribution through institutional records such as the MoMA collection, Getty ULAN, or RKD, and compare against documented Swiss graphic design auction results. No single realized-price benchmark defines his market; comparable sales of similar mid-century Swiss graphic works provide the most reliable valuation context.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity data from museum collections, library authority files, and Getty ULAN records with public auction listings, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Donald Brun, identity and biographical data are grounded in the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, Wikidata, MoMA's collection record, and the RKD artists database.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1239735
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500108434
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/22149066352065600621/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2002062939
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/828
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/13492