# Guillaume Apollinaire artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/guillaume-apollinaire/
Profile generated: 2026-05-29T19:54:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1880-08-26
- Death date: 1918-11-09
- Nationality: French, Polish, Italian
- Movements: Modernism, Cubism, Surrealism
- Common media: manuscripts and literary works, drawings and works on paper, illustrated books and prints

## About Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), born Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky in Rome to a family of Polish and Italian descent, was a French poet, playwright, novelist, and art critic who became one of the most influential literary voices of early twentieth-century modernism. Settled in Paris from the turn of the century, Apollinaire championed the avant-garde movements reshaping European culture—he was an early and vocal defender of Cubism, a close associate of Picasso, Braque, and Duchamp, and is credited with coining the term "surrealism," which would define a subsequent generation of artists. His own creative output spanned poetry collections such as Alcools and Calligrammes, experimental plays, short fiction, and art criticism that helped legitimize abstract and non-representational art. MoMA included him in its Inventing Abstraction exhibition, underscoring his bridging role between literary and visual innovation. Apollinaire died in Paris in 1918 during the Spanish influenza pandemic, at the age of thirty-eight.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers may encounter Apollinaire in several forms: first-edition and illustrated books (notably Calligrammes and Alcools), manuscripts and handwritten poetry pages, drawings and works on paper, prints produced in collaboration with artists, and letters or ephemera documenting his relationships with major modernist painters. He also created visual poetry—calligrammes—arranging text into pictorial shapes, which exist both as manuscripts and as printed book plates. These varied formats each have distinct collecting and appraisal profiles.

## Market and appraisal context

Guillaume Apollinaire's presence at auction is rooted in his stature as a central modernist figure rather than as a prolific visual artist. Collectors most often encounter his manuscripts, handwritten poems and letters, illustrated books, prints, and ephemera. Works on paper bearing his hand—including drawings and calligramme manuscripts—carry particular interest due to their rarity and direct connection to his creative process. Provenance linking items to his circle of Cubist and Surrealist associates can amplify desirability. Condition, completeness, and publication status (for printed works) are material factors. Because Apollinaire's visual output is limited, lot-level comparison against comparable literary manuscripts and modernist ephemera is essential for appraisal, and broad price generalizations should be avoided.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from museum records, library authority files, and biographical sources with available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data. When auction evidence is limited, the page reflects that gap and avoids unsupported market claims.

## Sources

- RKD, Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/2191
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/14265
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133855
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500010539
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/66462795/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n78080654
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Apollinaire