# Federico Castellón artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/federico-castellon/
Profile generated: 2026-05-16T20:41:25.348Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1914-09-14
- Death date: 1971-07-29
- Nationality: Spanish, American
- Movements: Surrealism
- Common media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, illustration, drawing

## About Federico Castellón

Federico Castellón (1914–1971) was a Spanish-American painter, sculptor, printmaker, and illustrator whose early graphic work helped introduce Surrealism to American art. Born in Almería, Spain, Castellón immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen in 1943. His prints and drawings from the early 1930s are recognized as among the first Surrealist works produced by an American artist, predating his own European travels and the landmark 1936 Museum of Modern Art exhibition "Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism." Over his career he received two Guggenheim fellowships and taught at several leading institutions. Castellón's output spans oil painting, lithography, etching, sculpture, and book illustration, making his work familiar to collectors across multiple auction categories.

## Common works and media

Castellón is most frequently encountered in auction and appraisal contexts as a printmaker. Lithographs, etchings, and drypoints from the 1930s through the 1960s appear regularly, alongside surrealist and figurative drawings in ink and graphite. Oil paintings on canvas and panel span his career, and smaller sculptures in bronze and mixed media are known. Book illustrations and commissioned graphic work also form part of his output. Collectors may find both unique works and editioned prints, so confirming edition details and medium is essential.

## Market and appraisal context

Castellón's work appears across prints, drawings, paintings, and sculpture at auction. His early 1930s Surrealist prints and drawings are historically significant and tend to attract the strongest institutional and collector interest. Edition size, medium, date, provenance, and condition all affect value. Later paintings and illustrations are also encountered. His dual Spanish-American identity and recognition by major museums, including MoMA, provide established provenance anchors. Collectors should verify attribution and consult comparable public auction records when assessing individual works.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from authority files and museum sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Federico Castellón, identity data is sourced from the Getty ULAN, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/15863
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Castell%C3%B3n
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500009576
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/91644272/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5440979
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/1027