# Emerson S. Woelffer artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/emerson-s-woelffer/ Profile generated: 2026-05-10T11:48:35.270Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1914-07-27 - Death date: 2003-02-02 - Nationality: American - Movements: Abstract Expressionism, Modernism - Common media: painting, drawing ## About Emerson S. Woelffer Emerson Seville Woelffer (1914–2003) was an American painter and educator recognized as a significant figure in Abstract Expressionism. Born in Chicago, he built a career spanning painting and arts education at leading institutions across the United States. Woelffer is particularly noted for his role in introducing modernist ideas to the Los Angeles art scene during his tenure at the Chouinard Art Institute, where he influenced a generation of West Coast artists. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, confirming his place within the broader narrative of post-war American abstraction. With 438 recorded auction appearances, collectors encounter Woelffer's paintings and works on paper with some regularity in the secondary market. ## Common works and media Woelffer is best known for abstract paintings in oil on canvas, often featuring bold color and gestural mark-making. Works on paper, including drawings and prints, also appear with regularity at auction. Collectors may encounter both larger canvases from his mature period and smaller-scale works or studies. Editioned prints and works on paper can offer accessible entry points into his market. ## Market and appraisal context Emerson S. Woelffer's secondary-market footprint is modest but active. The Appraisily auction record index shows 5 priced lots spanning 2008–2025, with realized prices ranging from $1,200 to $26,400 USD. The median is $3,250 and the interquartile spread is narrow ($1,700–$3,500), indicating that most works trade in a stable mid-hundreds to low-thousands band. A single outlier—$26,400 at Barridoff Auctions in August 2008—likely reflects a larger or historically significant canvas and sits well above the typical range. Recent activity is thin: only one lot sold in the trailing twelve months ($1,700 at Curated Gallery Auctions, October 2025), down from two the prior year. Auction appearances are concentrated at regional American houses (Abell Auction, Hill Auction Gallery, Barridoff Auctions, Curated Gallery Auctions) with occasional placement at Rago Arts and Auction Center. Woelffer's work is catalogued primarily as painting and drawing within Post-War and Contemporary Art or American Art categories. His institutional presence—work held by the Museum of Modern Art, New York—provides a credible floor of recognition, but the auction sample is small and dominated by regional rather than international houses, which limits the reliability of price-trend extrapolation. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Emerson S. Woelffer's secondary-market footprint is modest but active. The Appraisily auction record index shows 5 priced lots spanning 2008–2025, with realized prices ranging from $1,200 to $26,400 USD. The median is $3,250 and the interquartile spread is narrow ($1,700–$3,500), indicating that most works trade in a stable mid-hundreds to low-thousands band. A single outlier—$26,400 at Barridoff Auctions in August 2008—likely reflects a larger or historically significant canvas and sits well above the typical range. Recent activity is thin: only one lot sold in the trailing twelve months ($1,700 at Curated Gallery Auctions, October 2025), down from two the prior year. Auction appearances are concentrated at regional American houses (Abell Auction, Hill Auction Gallery, Barridoff Auctions, Curated Gallery Auctions) with occasional placement at Rago Arts and Auction Center. Woelffer's work is catalogued primarily as painting and drawing within Post-War and Contemporary Art or American Art categories. His institutional presence—work held by the Museum of Modern Art, New York—provides a credible floor of recognition, but the auction sample is small and dominated by regional rather than international houses, which limits the reliability of price-trend extrapolation. ### Appraisal notes When Appraisily appraises a Woelffer work, the auction records above serve as comparable-sale anchors but must be weighted alongside several qualitative factors. The appraiser will compare the submitted work's medium (oil on canvas versus work on paper), dimensions, date of execution, signature presence, and condition against the recent lots listed. Provenance details—especially gallery labels, exhibition history, or inclusion in a published catalogue—can materially affect value, as Woelffer's market rewards documented works. Because the sample is small and the price range wide, the appraiser will look for the closest comparable by medium, size, and period rather than relying on averages. The $26,400 Barridoff result from 2008 should not be treated as a baseline unless the subject work is comparable in scale and quality. Appraisily may also supplement with external auction databases to broaden the comparable set beyond the five lots in this source pack. Edition details, if the work is a print, and any restorations or condition issues will be factored into a final opinion of value. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/emerson-s-woelffer/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - Invaluable / Curated Gallery Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-emerson-s-woelffer-1914-2003-vintage-american-signed-abstract-expressionist-rare-oil-painting-256-c-49891917eb - Invaluable / Abell Auction: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-emerson-s-woelffer-1914-2003-untitled-abstract-in-red-black-and-white-457-c-caa4e03ba8 - Invaluable / Hill Auction Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-emerson-s-woelffer-1914-2003-abstract-painting-46-c-2954477a7f - Invaluable / Rago Arts and Auction Center: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-emerson-s-woelffer-american-1914-2003-516-c-fafff4c8d8 - Invaluable / Barridoff Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-emerson-s-woelffer-227-c-tbt1e2ydrr ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum records and authority files with auction results, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Emerson S. Woelffer, identity and biographical data are grounded in the Getty ULAN, VIAF, Library of Congress, RKD, and MoMA collection records. ## Sources - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5370951 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Woelffer - Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500021738 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/35798372/ - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82076073 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6422 - RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/103088