# Hector Guimard artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/hector-guimard/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T05:58:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1867-03-10
- Death date: 1942-05-20
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Art Nouveau
- Common media: architectural ironwork and glass, furniture design, sculpture, decorative arts and applied design, architectural drawings

## About Hector Guimard

Hector Guimard (1867–1942) was a French architect and designer who became the foremost exponent of Art Nouveau in France. Born in Lyon and trained at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he gained public attention with Castel Béranger (1894–1898), an apartment building recognized in a city-wide competition as one of the finest new façades in Paris. His most widely known work is the series of cast-iron and glass entrance edicules he designed for the Paris Métro around 1900, whose sinuous, plant-like forms became an enduring symbol of the Art Nouveau movement. Guimard also designed complete residential interiors, furniture, lighting fixtures, and decorative hardware, treating every element of a building as part of a unified aesthetic. Later in life he moved to New York, where he died in 1942. His work is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and other major institutions.

## Common works and media

Guimard's auction record includes architectural and interior drawings, cast-iron entrance elements and hardware, wooden furniture (chairs, tables, cabinets), lighting fixtures, stained-glass panels, sculptural ornament, and ceramic tiles. Prints and posters reproducing his Métro entrance designs also circulate. Collectors may encounter both large-scale architectural components salvaged from demolished buildings and smaller domestic objects such as door handles, hinges, and fireplace surrounds originally produced for his residential commissions.

## Market and appraisal context

Hector Guimard's work appears regularly at auction in the Art Nouveau and 19th- and 20th-century design categories. Collectors most often encounter architectural drawings, furniture, cast-iron elements, lighting, and decorative objects. Provenance tying a piece to a known Guimard commission—such as a named Parisian building interior—can materially affect value. Condition, material, and whether a work is an autograph design or from his workshop are important appraisal factors. With roughly 300 auction records tracked, Guimard maintains a sustained presence in the international design market, though prices range widely depending on the type and significance of the individual work.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine published 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 Hector Guimard, identity data is grounded in the Getty ULAN authority file, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, Wikidata, and the Museum of Modern Art collection record.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/113702
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500009835
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/71400445/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316422
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2407
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Guimard
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50018581