# Jankel Adler artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jankel-adler/
Profile generated: 2026-05-06T20:00:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1895-07-26
- Death date: 1949-04-25
- Nationality: Polish
- Movements: European Avant-garde, Yung-yidish group (Łódź), Cologne Progressives
- Common media: Painting, Printmaking, Drawing, Graphic art, Engraving

## About Jankel Adler

Jankel Adler (1895–1949) was a Polish-Jewish painter, printmaker, and graphic artist whose career spanned Poland, Germany, France, and England. Born in Tuszyn near Łódź, he trained as an engraver before turning to painting and co-founding the Yung-yidish avant-garde group in Łódź in the early 1920s. He became closely involved with the Cologne Progressives and taught at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where the work of Paul Klee significantly shaped his approach to abstraction. After the rise of the Nazi regime forced him to leave Germany in 1933, Adler lived in Paris and later settled in England, where he spent his final years in Aldbourne, Wiltshire. His paintings and prints are held in major public collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most commonly encounter Adler's work as oil on canvas paintings, lithographs, etchings, and ink or pencil drawings. His subjects range from abstract and semi-abstract compositions to figurative works with Jewish cultural references. Editioned prints from his graphic output appear regularly at auction, while original paintings are less frequent. Works on paper, including gouaches and watercolors, represent a meaningful segment of his surviving output.

## Market and appraisal context

Jankel Adler's secondary market is well-established, with 428 recorded auction lots from April 1993 to May 2026 and 283 lots carrying realized prices. Liquidity is consistent: 24 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months and 22 in the prior period. Prices are widely dispersed — the interquartile range runs from $625 to $8,400 USD with a median of $2,400 — reflecting a tiered market where prints and small works on paper trade at the lower end while significant oil paintings command substantially higher sums. The top recorded price is $190,000. Recent standout results include a £50,000 oil at Lyon & Turnbull (May 2026), a €34,000 oil on canvas at Setdart (February 2026), and a £25,400 oil and gouache on paper at Christie's (October 2025). Adler's work passes through major international houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams) and specialist regional firms (Lyon & Turnbull, Roseberys, Tiroche, Setdart, Hargesheimer, Desa Unicum), reflecting a geographically dispersed market spanning the UK, continental Europe, and Israel. Works on paper, ink drawings, and prints typically realize below $500, while oil paintings from the 1920s–1940s form the premium tier.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Jankel Adler's secondary market is well-established, with 428 recorded auction lots from April 1993 to May 2026 and 283 lots carrying realized prices. Liquidity is consistent: 24 lots appeared in the most recent 12 months and 22 in the prior period. Prices are widely dispersed — the interquartile range runs from $625 to $8,400 USD with a median of $2,400 — reflecting a tiered market where prints and small works on paper trade at the lower end while significant oil paintings command substantially higher sums. The top recorded price is $190,000. Recent standout results include a £50,000 oil at Lyon & Turnbull (May 2026), a €34,000 oil on canvas at Setdart (February 2026), and a £25,400 oil and gouache on paper at Christie's (October 2025). Adler's work passes through major international houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams) and specialist regional firms (Lyon & Turnbull, Roseberys, Tiroche, Setdart, Hargesheimer, Desa Unicum), reflecting a geographically dispersed market spanning the UK, continental Europe, and Israel. Works on paper, ink drawings, and prints typically realize below $500, while oil paintings from the 1920s–1940s form the premium tier.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these 283 priced auction records as a comparable-sale baseline, then adjust for the specific work's attributes. Key appraisal inputs include: photographs of front, back, signature, and labels; dimensions and support type (oil on canvas, oil on paper, gouache, ink, or print); medium confirmation, as values differ dramatically between oils and works on paper; signature verification, given Adler's graphic style overlaps with other Central European modernists; condition report, especially for exile-period works on paper; provenance documentation, critical for 1933–1945 works due to looted-art considerations; and comparable lot selection filtered by medium, period, scale, and subject. Given the wide price spread ($1–$190,000), comparable selection is the most consequential appraisal step, and specialist review is recommended for works estimated above the $8,400 P75 threshold.

### Valuation factors

- Medium: oil paintings on canvas command the highest values; prints, ink drawings, and works on paper trade at substantially lower price points.
- Period: works from the German period (1920s–1933) and British exile period (1940–1949) may carry added historical and collector significance.
- Provenance: documented history for exile-era works (1933–1949) is critical given looted-art considerations affecting Jewish artists active in Germany.
- Scale and composition: larger figural compositions and interior scenes outperform small studies; the €34,000 Setdart result was a multi-figure oil.
- Condition: works on paper from the 1930s–1940s are susceptible to deterioration; condition materially affects value for this age of work.
- Auction house placement: Christie's and Sotheby's reach international buyers, while regional UK and European houses serve collector niches.

### Collector notes

- Buyers: oil paintings from the 1920s–1940s offer the strongest value retention; expect to pay above $8,000 for significant oils at major houses.
- Buyers: prints and ink drawings provide accessible entry points under $500 but appreciate more slowly than unique works.
- Sellers: consign oil paintings through houses with 20th-century European art departments for best results.
- Sellers: document provenance thoroughly for exile-era works; provenance gaps reduce buyer confidence and realized prices.
- Buyers: some recent lots at smaller houses lack condition reports — request detailed photographs before bidding.

### Market caveats

- Of 428 recorded lots, 283 carry realized prices; 145 lots lack price data, meaning the lower end of the market may be underrepresented and the distribution may skew upward.
- Several recent lots at Yair Art Gallery and Roseberys show null price realizations, suggesting they were bought-in or withdrawn and should not be treated as comparable sales.
- Adler's graphic style overlaps with other Central European modernists; attribution should be confirmed through provenance records, signature comparison, or expert review.
- The highest recorded price ($190,000) is a significant outlier relative to the $8,400 P75 and $2,400 median; using it as a benchmark would overstate typical value.
- Individual lot prices are recorded in GBP, USD, and EUR; aggregate price statistics are denominated in USD and may not precisely reflect currency-adjusted values for every lot.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/jankel-adler/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable / Lyon & Turnbull: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-52-c-c06b95d2f3
- Invaluable / Yair Art Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-14-c-a6664060b9
- Invaluable / Roseberys: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-portrait-of-a-child-1942-197-c-b0d456c364
- Invaluable / Roseberys: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-seated-figure-1944-196-c-373181fbee
- Invaluable / Roseberys: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-still-life-195-c-bd33c233d7
- Invaluable / Setdart Auction House: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-tuszyn-poland-1895-aldbourne-uk-1949-interior-with-figures-oil-on-canvas-burlap-signed-on-the-lower-right-7-c-b85dc48ee6
- Invaluable / Lyon & Turnbull: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-187-c-81ff0f2d8a
- Invaluable / Yair Art Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-166-c-c959cc81fc
- Invaluable / Yair Art Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-587-c-e1f92f3ae5
- Invaluable / Yair Art Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-yankel-adler-polish-1895-1949-131-c-94a4ffcb1a

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from museum records, library authority files, and biographical sources with available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots. For Jankel Adler, this page draws on authority data from the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, Wikidata, and museum records from MoMA and Tate.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87902089
- RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/475
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/70
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jankel-adler-630
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q213726
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/2480239/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jankel_Adler