# Jean Honoré Fragonard artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jean-honore-fragonard/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T01:55:00.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1732-04-05 - Death date: 1806-08-22 - Nationality: French - Movements: Rococo - Common media: oil painting, etching, drawing, printmaking, decorative interior painting ## About Jean Honoré Fragonard Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was a French painter, printmaker, and decorator who became one of the defining figures of the late Rococo era. Born in Grasse and active primarily in Paris, he studied with François Boucher and won the Prix de Rome in 1752, spending several formative years at the French Academy in Rome. Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings across his career, along with numerous drawings, etchings, and decorative interior commissions. His work is celebrated for its technical facility, luminous colour, and scenes of aristocratic leisure imbued with intimacy and playful sensuality. Active during the final decades of the Ancien Régime, Fragonard's art captured the hedonistic spirit of his age while anticipating the shifts toward Neoclassicism that followed the French Revolution. Today his paintings hang in major museums worldwide, and his name remains central to the study and collecting of 18th-century French art. ## Common works and media Collectors and appraisers most commonly encounter Fragonard's oil paintings on canvas or panel depicting genre scenes, pastoral allegories, and aristocratic leisure. His drawings — including red-chalk studies and wash landscapes — appear frequently at auction and in museum collections. Fragonard also produced etchings after his own compositions and those of other artists. Decorative commissions, such as wall panels, overdoors, and interior schemes for private residences, represent another recognised category. Print reproductions and later plates after his designs circulate widely and should be distinguished from lifetime impressions. ## Market and appraisal context Jean Honoré Fragonard's auction market is anchored by 34 recorded lots spanning two decades (2005–2025), with 22 carrying realised prices. The price distribution is extremely wide — from $186 for a print after Tiepolo at Dreweatts to $1,385,000 at the top end — reflecting the broad spectrum from workshop attributions and reproductive prints to fully authenticated oil paintings. The median sits at $7,800, with the interquartile range spanning $1,100 to $85,500, indicating that the middle market is dominated by drawings, prints, and attributed works while fully accepted paintings command six- and seven-figure sums. Christie's and Sotheby's account for the highest-value results, including a Christie's lot at €85,500 and a Sotheby's pair at €72,300 and €133,500 respectively. Mid-tier houses such as Bonhams, Millon & Associés, Koller Auctions, and Tajan handle a mix of drawings and attributed works typically in the €1,500–€20,000 range. Regional houses (Deutsch Auktionen, Vanderkindere, 4-auction, Brunk Auctions, DOYLE) mostly handle circle-of, follower-of, and reproductive prints under €2,000. Liquidity is thin in recent years: only one lot appeared in the trailing twelve months (a Sotheby's drawing at $4,826 in July 2025) and zero in the prior twelve months, suggesting that fully attributed Fragonard works come to market infrequently and are closely contested when they do. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Jean Honoré Fragonard's auction market is anchored by 34 recorded lots spanning two decades (2005–2025), with 22 carrying realised prices. The price distribution is extremely wide — from $186 for a print after Tiepolo at Dreweatts to $1,385,000 at the top end — reflecting the broad spectrum from workshop attributions and reproductive prints to fully authenticated oil paintings. The median sits at $7,800, with the interquartile range spanning $1,100 to $85,500, indicating that the middle market is dominated by drawings, prints, and attributed works while fully accepted paintings command six- and seven-figure sums. Christie's and Sotheby's account for the highest-value results, including a Christie's lot at €85,500 and a Sotheby's pair at €72,300 and €133,500 respectively. Mid-tier houses such as Bonhams, Millon & Associés, Koller Auctions, and Tajan handle a mix of drawings and attributed works typically in the €1,500–€20,000 range. Regional houses (Deutsch Auktionen, Vanderkindere, 4-auction, Brunk Auctions, DOYLE) mostly handle circle-of, follower-of, and reproductive prints under €2,000. Liquidity is thin in recent years: only one lot appeared in the trailing twelve months (a Sotheby's drawing at $4,826 in July 2025) and zero in the prior twelve months, suggesting that fully attributed Fragonard works come to market infrequently and are closely contested when they do. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these auction records as comparable-lot evidence alongside the client's photographs, measured dimensions, identified medium, signature or inscription details, condition report, conservation history, and documented provenance. Because the price range spans nearly four orders of magnitude, the single most important appraisal step is establishing the quality of attribution: whether the work is by Fragonard himself, from his workshop or circle, or a later copy or reproductive print. Auction records for 'attributed to,' 'circle of,' 'follower of,' and 'manner of' lots cluster below €2,000 and should not be used as comparables for a fully accepted painting, and vice versa. Drawings and prints form distinct submarkets with their own comparable sets. For oil paintings, provenance linking to a named historical collection or to the Wildenstein catalogue raisonné significantly strengthens value. Condition is critical for 18th-century works: panel or canvas relining, inpainting, or surface abrasion can materially affect price. All currency conversions should reference the auction-date exchange rate rather than current rates. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/jean-honore-fragonard/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Jean Honoré Fragonard, identity and biographical data are grounded in the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Wikidata, and The Museum of Modern Art artist records. Market observations draw on these sources and on general Old Master market knowledge; specific price benchmarks require consultation of individual auction results. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50025368 - RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/28857 - VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/36918358/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q127171 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Honor%C3%A9_Fragonard - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/63213