# Eugène Samuel Grasset artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/eugene-samuel-grasset/
Profile generated: 2026-05-04T03:10:03.856Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1841-05-25
- Death date: 1917-10-23
- Nationality: Swiss, French
- Movements: Art Nouveau
- Common media: Decorative painting, Illustration and graphic design, Printmaking, Poster design

## About Eugène Samuel Grasset

Eugène Samuel Grasset (1845–1917) was a Swiss-born decorative artist, illustrator, and designer who became one of the leading creative figures of the Belle Époque in Paris. Born in Lausanne and naturalized as a French citizen in 1891, Grasset is widely regarded as a founding pioneer of Art Nouveau graphic design. His practice spanned poster art, book illustration, furniture and interior decoration, stained glass, and textile design, making him one of the most versatile applied artists of his generation. Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York hold his work in their collections. Grasset's influence extended through his teaching and his widely circulated design manuals, which shaped a generation of Art Nouveau practitioners across Europe and North America.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most commonly encounter Grasset through his color lithographic posters, book and periodical illustrations, decorative graphic commissions, and design-manual plates. He also produced furniture designs, stained-glass cartoons, textile patterns, and interior decoration schemes. His illustrated books and poster designs from the 1890s are the work types most frequently seen at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Eugène Grasset's auction market is well-established and grounded in his Art Nouveau poster and print output. Appraisily tracks 183 lots dating from 2006 to early 2026, with 102 carrying published prices. The interquartile range spans roughly €550–€2,040, with a median near €1,062. Standout prices cluster around iconic 1890s poster designs: a Sarah Bernhardt as Jeanne d'Arc lithograph realized £3,000 at Dreweatts (2024), L'Estampe et L'Affiche reached $3,400 at Poster Auctions International (2024), and L'Eventail realized $2,400 at the same house. The market is concentrated among specialist poster dealers—notably Poster Auctions International and Swann Auction Galleries—alongside French regional houses (Limoges Encheres, Piasa, Ader) and blue-chip names including Christie's and Bonhams. Liquidity has thinned recently, with only 2 lots in the trailing twelve months versus 18 in the prior period, which may reflect cyclical consignment patterns or shifts in Art Nouveau poster demand. The price floor is modest (€9), reflecting small-format prints and book illustrations, while the ceiling of €23,000 is reached by large-format, condition-strong originals of iconic compositions.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Eugène Grasset's auction market is well-established and grounded in his Art Nouveau poster and print output. Appraisily tracks 183 lots dating from 2006 to early 2026, with 102 carrying published prices. The interquartile range spans roughly €550–€2,040, with a median near €1,062. Standout prices cluster around iconic 1890s poster designs: a Sarah Bernhardt as Jeanne d'Arc lithograph realized £3,000 at Dreweatts (2024), L'Estampe et L'Affiche reached $3,400 at Poster Auctions International (2024), and L'Eventail realized $2,400 at the same house. The market is concentrated among specialist poster dealers—notably Poster Auctions International and Swann Auction Galleries—alongside French regional houses (Limoges Encheres, Piasa, Ader) and blue-chip names including Christie's and Bonhams. Liquidity has thinned recently, with only 2 lots in the trailing twelve months versus 18 in the prior period, which may reflect cyclical consignment patterns or shifts in Art Nouveau poster demand. The price floor is modest (€9), reflecting small-format prints and book illustrations, while the ceiling of €23,000 is reached by large-format, condition-strong originals of iconic compositions.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Grasset work would combine these 183 auction records with close examination of the piece's medium, dimensions, signature or monogram, condition (folds, tears, foxing, restoration, color freshness), edition details (original stone lithograph vs later photomechanical reprint), and provenance. Comparable lots should be filtered by format (poster, book illustration, tapestry, stained-glass cartoon), date of execution, size, and condition grade. The 102 priced lots provide a usable comparable pool; however, appraisers should account for the multi-currency mix (USD, EUR, GBP) and the fact that 81 lots lack published results, which can indicate unsold reserves or unreported outcomes. Works tied to Grasset's most recognized 1890s poster campaigns—such as the Sarah Bernhardt series, Histoire de France, and editorial posters for L'Estampe et L'Affiche—anchor the upper end of the range. Attribution care is essential: the birth-year discrepancy across catalogs (1841 vs. 1845) can cause misidentification in house records.

### Valuation factors

- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]

### Collector notes

- Grasset's auction market is accessible: the median lot price is near €1,062, and the lower quartile offers entry points around €550 for smaller prints and illustrations. Collectors seeking investment-grade material should focus on large-format original lithographic posters from the 1890s with strong condition, particularly the Sarah Bernhardt series and major advertising commissions—these are the works that achieve prices at or above the $2,000–$3,000 threshold at specialist houses like Poster Auctions International, Swann, and Dreweatts. Be cautious of later reproductions that circulate under Grasset's name; request confirmation of production method (stone lithograph vs. offset) before purchasing. The recent drop in auction volume (2 lots vs. 18 the prior year) may present buying opportunities if consignments return, but could also signal softening demand in the Art Nouveau poster segment. French regional houses (Limoges Encheres, Piasa) frequently offer Grasset material at lower price points than US specialist dealers and may be worth monitoring.

### Market caveats

- Grasset's birth year is inconsistently recorded across sources (1841, 1844, 1845, 1846), which leads to cataloguing discrepancies in auction house records; collectors should verify identity beyond the date range alone.
- Of 183 tracked lots, 81 lack published price results, meaning the price distribution is based on 102 lots and may not fully represent unsold or passed outcomes.
- The sharp decline in recent auction volume (2 lots in the trailing 12 months vs. 18 in the prior period) makes current price benchmarks less reliable; a single strong or weak result can skew the picture.
- Multi-currency results (USD, EUR, GBP) require careful conversion when selecting comparables; exchange-rate timing can affect apparent value differences.
- Some lots catalogued under Grasset may be reproductive prints, later editions, or works attributed to the artist without full authentication; medium verification is essential.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/eugene-samuel-grasset/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-eugene-samuel-grasset-1845-1917-swiss-print-935-c-705488593f

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum records, library authority files, and scholarly references with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Eugène Grasset, identity data is grounded in the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, and the Museum of Modern Art collection records.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/33380
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79007017
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/95179440/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2301
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Grasset
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524154
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500029865