# Hugo Wilhelm Kauffmann artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/hugo-wilhelm-kauffmann/
Profile generated: 2026-05-27T14:12:33.927Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1844-08-07
- Death date: 1915-12-30
- Nationality: German
- Movements: Münchener Malerschule (Munich School)
- Common media: oil painting, drawing

## About Hugo Wilhelm Kauffmann

Hugo Wilhelm Kauffmann (1844–1915) was a German painter and draftsperson associated with the Munich School (Münchener Malerschule). Born in Hamburg on August 7, 1844, he was the son of the respected landscape painter Hermann Kauffmann, whose artistic reputation helped shape his early development. Kauffmann studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main from 1861 to 1863 before joining the active Munich art scene, where he came under the influence of Franz von Defregger. He became known for genre pictures — warmly observed scenes of everyday rural and domestic life rendered with the narrative detail characteristic of the Munich School tradition. Kauffmann settled at Prien am Chiemsee in Upper Bavaria, where he continued to paint until his death on December 30, 1915. His work appears regularly in Central European auction markets, with over 200 documented lots.

## Common works and media

Kauffmann worked primarily in oil on canvas and oil on panel, producing genre scenes that depict everyday rural and domestic life — peasant interiors, tavern gatherings, figures at leisure, and anecdotal narrative compositions. These works are typically intimate in scale and executed with the warm tonality and anecdotal detail that defined Munich School painting. Drawings and sketches in pencil or ink appear occasionally in auction records. Prints or reproductive engravings after his compositions are uncommon but may surface.

## Market and appraisal context

Hugo Wilhelm Kauffmann's paintings appear with consistent frequency in German and Central European auction sales. His genre scenes — typically small-to-medium format oils depicting peasant interiors, tavern gatherings, and domestic episodes — are the most commonly encountered work type. Value is influenced by compositional complexity, condition, provenance clarity, and whether the work can be firmly placed within his mature Munich period. Works with documented provenance or museum exhibition history tend to achieve stronger results. With over 200 auction lots recorded, there is a reasonable comparative base for appraisal. Collectors should note that no published catalogue raisonné was identified, so attribution should be supported by signature verification and stylistic comparison to documented works.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files, museum records, and biographical databases with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Hugo Wilhelm Kauffmann, identity data is supported by the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Getty ULAN, VIAF, and Wikidata, while market context draws from the Appraisily auction database of over 200 documented lots.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/43633
- VIAF (Virtual International Authority File): https://viaf.org/viaf/52484418/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500015281
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q317338
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Kauffmann
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85083847