# Félix Vallotton artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/felix-vallotton/
Profile generated: 2026-05-01T01:24:20.714Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1865-12-28
- Death date: 1925-12-29
- Nationality: Swiss, French
- Movements: Les Nabis, Post-Impressionism
- Common media: Oil painting, Woodcut / wood-engraving, Etching, Drawing, Gouache, Sculpture

## About Félix Vallotton

Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) was a Swiss-born painter and printmaker who became a naturalized French citizen in 1900. Born in Lausanne, he moved to Paris in the 1880s and joined the avant-garde group Les Nabis, alongside Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard. Vallotton played a pivotal role in reviving the woodcut as a modern art form, producing stark, graphic prints that influenced later printmakers and graphic designers. His paintings span portraits, landscapes, nudes, and still lifes, often rendered in a cool, detached realist style that set him apart from his Nabis contemporaries. Today his work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Rijksmuseum, and he remains a significant figure in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European art.

## Common works and media

Vallotton's output includes oil paintings on canvas and panel, color woodcuts, black-and-white woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, drawings in pencil and ink, gouaches, and occasional sculptures. Recurring subjects are domestic interiors, female nudes, bourgeois portraiture, landscapes of France and Switzerland, still lifes with flowers or fruit, and allegorical or narrative scenes. His woodcut prints, produced mainly in the 1890s, are a distinct and widely collected category, often appearing as individual impressions or small series.

## Market and appraisal context

Félix Vallotton commands a deep and internationally dispersed auction market spanning more than two decades of recorded sales. Appraisily auction records index 655 lots with 459 carrying realized prices, ranging from €40 for minor prints and works on paper to CHF 3,670,000 for major oil paintings. The median price sits at approximately $5,000, indicating that mid-tier works—typically woodcuts, drawings, and smaller paintings—are accessible to a broad collector base, while the 75th percentile at $67,000 and a ceiling near $3.7 million reflect strong demand for important oils, especially nudes, landscapes, and portraits from Vallotton's mature period. Liquidity is robust: 32 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months and 69 in the prior 12-month window, with consistent representation at top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, and Artcurial alongside specialist Swiss firms such as Koller Auctions, Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG, and Piguet Hôtel des Ventes. The price distribution is wide and skewed by medium—oil paintings dominate the upper tier, while woodcuts from the celebrated 1890s series (notably Intimités) and unsigned or later impressions trade in the low hundreds to mid-thousands. This dispersion makes medium, date, and edition identification critical for any appraisal.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Félix Vallotton commands a deep and internationally dispersed auction market spanning more than two decades of recorded sales. Appraisily auction records index 655 lots with 459 carrying realized prices, ranging from €40 for minor prints and works on paper to CHF 3,670,000 for major oil paintings. The median price sits at approximately $5,000, indicating that mid-tier works—typically woodcuts, drawings, and smaller paintings—are accessible to a broad collector base, while the 75th percentile at $67,000 and a ceiling near $3.7 million reflect strong demand for important oils, especially nudes, landscapes, and portraits from Vallotton's mature period. Liquidity is robust: 32 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months and 69 in the prior 12-month window, with consistent representation at top-tier houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, and Artcurial alongside specialist Swiss firms such as Koller Auctions, Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG, and Piguet Hôtel des Ventes. The price distribution is wide and skewed by medium—oil paintings dominate the upper tier, while woodcuts from the celebrated 1890s series (notably Intimités) and unsigned or later impressions trade in the low hundreds to mid-thousands. This dispersion makes medium, date, and edition identification critical for any appraisal.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Vallotton work would cross-reference the submitted item against this 655-lot auction record, filtering by medium (oil on canvas, woodcut, etching, drawing, gouache), dimensions, signature presence, date of execution, and subject category. For prints, edition number, impression quality, and paper condition are key differentiators—Vallotton's woodcuts from the 1890s carry art-historical significance that can elevate value beyond purely decorative appeal. For oil paintings, provenance, exhibition history, and inclusion in catalogues raisonnés materially affect value. The appraiser would identify comparable lots from the priced subset of 459 records, focusing on recent sales at houses like Koller, Christie's, Sotheby's, and Artcurial to anchor a market-value estimate. Condition reports, conservation history, and any restoration would be factored in. The wide price range ($40–$3,670,000) means even superficially similar works can differ dramatically in value, making specialist review essential.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- Vallotton's market is liquid and international, with consistent representation at major houses (Christie's, Sotheby's) and Swiss specialists (Koller, Galerie Kornfeld, Piguet). Buyers should monitor both channels.
- The median price around $5,000 means entry-level collecting is feasible, especially for woodcuts and drawings, while serious paintings require budgets in the tens of thousands to millions.
- The 75th-percentile price of $67,000 and maximum near $3.7 million indicate that valuation surprises are possible—always obtain a professional appraisal before selling or insuring a Vallotton work.
- Woodcuts from the 1890s, particularly the Intimités series, are widely collected independently of the painting market and offer art-historical significance at accessible price points.
- Recent auction volume dropped from 69 lots to 32 lots year-over-year, which may reflect market cyclicality rather than declining demand. Monitor upcoming seasons at Koller and Artcurial for trend confirmation.
- Provenance documentation is especially important for Vallotton due to his Swiss-French dual market—works crossing between these jurisdictions benefit from clear ownership records.
- Works appearing at smaller regional houses (Templum, Geneve Encheres, Dogny Auction) may present value opportunities but warrant extra diligence on attribution and condition.

### Market caveats

- The price distribution spans $40 to $3,670,000; no single 'typical' value exists for Vallotton. Any estimate must be medium- and lot-specific.
- Recent lot titles in the source pack are often generic (e.g., 'FÉLIX VALLOTTON' without medium or dimensions), limiting direct comparability without further lot-level research.
- Several recent lots lack realized prices, indicating unsold, withdrawn, or post-sale negotiated results that are not reflected in the price distribution.
- Currency mix (EUR, CHF, USD-equivalent) across lots means direct price comparison requires conversion at the relevant sale date.
- Auction results represent the secondary market and may not reflect private-sale or gallery prices, which can differ materially.
- Attribution of unsigned prints or drawings to Vallotton's circle should be confirmed through catalogue raisonné entries or expert opinion before relying on auction comparables.
- The source pack did not include individual auction-house lot pages beyond two Invaluable links; specific lot details, condition reports, and full provenance should be verified through those channels.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/felix-vallotton/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-felix-vallotton-3055-c-eed9edd760
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-felix-vallotton-1865-1925-40-c-40b40ff82b

## Appraisily data basis

This artist page combines identity research grounded in Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Wikidata, and museum collection records with auction results, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data from the Appraisily and Invaluable databases when those records are available.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50014281
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/79111
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/64012694/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123740
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Vallotton
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6064