# Fred Tomaselli artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/fred-tomaselli/
Profile generated: 2026-06-02T02:28:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: Contemporary art
- Common media: Mixed media, Epoxy resin, Painting on wood panel

## About Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli (born 1956) is an American contemporary artist recognized for his intricate mixed-media works on wood panels. His signature technique involves embedding unconventional materials — including botanical elements, pharmaceuticals, insects, and hand-painted details — within thick layers of clear epoxy resin, producing luminous, hyper-detailed surfaces that blur the line between painting and sculpture. Often drawing on landscape, natural history, and psychedelic visual culture, Tomaselli creates compositions that feel simultaneously scientific and fantastical. His work is held in major institutional collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London. He is recorded in the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, and the RKD Netherlands Institute, and has been the subject of scholarly attention in international art publications.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers are most likely to encounter Tomaselli's mixed-media resin paintings on wood panels, which range from intimate scales to large wall-mounted works. He also produces paintings and works on paper, limited-edition prints, and has been included in museum publications and exhibition catalogues. Subject matter frequently includes landscape, birds, flora, and surreal or psychedelically inflected compositions. Works may incorporate actual organic material, over-the-counter medication, and reproduced imagery embedded under resin.

## Market and appraisal context

Fred Tomaselli's works appear in the contemporary art market primarily through major auction houses and gallery sales. His resin-encased panel pieces are the most sought-after format, with value influenced by scale, complexity of embedded materials, exhibition provenance, and condition. Buyers should note that the resin medium requires careful handling and climate consideration, and condition reports are essential for any secondary-market acquisition. Tomaselli also produces works on paper and print editions, which represent a more accessible entry point. Collectors evaluating a Tomaselli work should consider documented exhibition history, institutional provenance, and comparable public auction results.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Fred Tomaselli, institutional records from MoMA, Tate, Getty ULAN, VIAF, and the RKD provide a strong identity foundation.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4460192
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Tomaselli
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500121270
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/79455818/
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/fred-tomaselli-6854
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/207489
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/7673
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr99025871