# Jean Tinguely artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jean-tinguely/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T03:00:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1925-05-22
- Death date: 1991-08-30
- Nationality: Swiss
- Movements: Kinetic art, Dada (tradition and extension)
- Common media: Sculpture (motorized, kinetic), Painting, Assemblage, Performance art, Installation art, Collage, Drawing

## About Jean Tinguely

Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) was a Swiss sculptor and kinetic artist whose motorized constructions rank among the most recognizable works of post-war European art. Born in Fribourg and active in Paris from the early 1950s, Tinguely built mechanical sculptures that moved, rattled, and sometimes self-destructed, extending the absurdist spirit of Dada into the age of mass production. His work satirized automation and the relentless output of industrial culture, using found metal parts, gears, belts, and painted elements to create machines that performed their own obsolescence. Tinguely was also active as a painter, collagist, and performance artist, and collaborated extensively with his second wife, Niki de Saint Phalle. Major museums including MoMA, Tate, and the Centre Pompidou hold his work in their collections. Collectors encounter Tinguely's pieces across a wide range of auction categories, from monumental outdoor sculpture to small-scale reliefs and works on paper.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Tinguely's motorized kinetic sculptures and assemblages constructed from scrap metal, wire, wheels, and found industrial components. Other commonly seen work types include painted reliefs, collages, ink and mixed-media drawings, lithographic and screen prints, and small tabletop kinetic constructions. Monumental public sculptures, such as those installed in Basel and Paris, represent a distinct category. Editioned multiples and collaborative works with Niki de Saint Phalle also appear in the secondary market.

## Market and appraisal context

Jean Tinguely maintains a deep and liquid secondary market spanning more than 27 years of continuous auction activity. The Appraisily auction record index catalogues 1,408 lots, of which 782 carry a realised price, with auction dates ranging from June 1999 through April 2026. Price dispersion is wide: recorded results range from €10 at the low end to €1,400,000 at the high, with a 25th percentile of €600, a median of €1,800, and a 75th percentile of €6,000. This spread reflects the broad range of media Tinguely produced — from editioned prints and small works on paper trading in the hundreds, to significant motorized kinetic sculptures that command six and seven figures at major houses. Liquidity remains active, with 86 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 106 in the prior 12 months. The top auction houses by volume are TGP Auction, Christie's, Artcurial, Sotheby's, Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Koller Auctions, and Galerie Fischer Auktionen AG, reflecting strong Swiss and French market centres alongside the international houses. Recent standout results at Christie's London in March 2026 include a gouache titled Vive la 6,9! at £30,480 and an oil on cardboard Untitled at £16,510, while editioned multiples, silkscreens, and works on paper at regional houses typically realise between €220 and €7,500.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Jean Tinguely maintains a deep and liquid secondary market spanning more than 27 years of continuous auction activity. The Appraisily auction record index catalogues 1,408 lots, of which 782 carry a realised price, with auction dates ranging from June 1999 through April 2026. Price dispersion is wide: recorded results range from €10 at the low end to €1,400,000 at the high, with a 25th percentile of €600, a median of €1,800, and a 75th percentile of €6,000. This spread reflects the broad range of media Tinguely produced — from editioned prints and small works on paper trading in the hundreds, to significant motorized kinetic sculptures that command six and seven figures at major houses. Liquidity remains active, with 86 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 106 in the prior 12 months. The top auction houses by volume are TGP Auction, Christie's, Artcurial, Sotheby's, Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Koller Auctions, and Galerie Fischer Auktionen AG, reflecting strong Swiss and French market centres alongside the international houses. Recent standout results at Christie's London in March 2026 include a gouache titled Vive la 6,9! at £30,480 and an oil on cardboard Untitled at £16,510, while editioned multiples, silkscreens, and works on paper at regional houses typically realise between €220 and €7,500.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Tinguely work would begin by confirming attribution through RKD records and museum cataloguing, then match the piece against comparable lots from the 1,408-record dataset. Key inputs the appraiser would request include: clear photographs showing the work, mechanical components, and signature; dimensions and medium; the work's edition number if it is a multiple or print; condition report addressing both surface state and mechanical operability for kinetic works; provenance documentation including exhibition history and prior ownership; and any catalogue raisonné or archive references. These inputs allow the appraiser to position the work within the observed price distribution — for example, a motorized Meta-matic sculpture in working condition with documented provenance would be compared against kinetic-sculpture comparables that cluster above the median, while a signed silkscreen from an edition of 200 would be benchmarked against the lower end of the priced-lot range where multiples typically trade. The appraiser would also factor in currency (CHF, EUR, GBP, and USD results are all present), sale-date proximity, and the specific auction house tier when selecting comparables.

### Valuation factors

- Mechanical complexity and functionality: motorized kinetic sculptures with original working parts command significantly stronger results than static works or non-functional examples
- Medium and scale: monumental sculptures and complex assemblages sit at the top of the price range; works on paper, prints, and posters trade at the lower end
- Provenance and exhibition history: works descending from the artist's estate or with documented museum exhibition records carry additional weight
- Edition and multiple status: editioned prints and Meta-matic drawing-machine outputs appear frequently and trade at accessible levels; edition size and numbering affect value
- Condition of moving parts: for kinetic works, the operational state of motors, gears, and belts is a material valuation factor — non-functional mechanisms can substantially reduce value
- Collaboration with Niki de Saint Phalle: jointly produced works form a distinct sub-category and may attract separate collector interest
- Period: works from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly motorized sculptures, tend to attract stronger market attention than later pieces
- Attribution verification: the RKD and Library of Congress authority files, alongside museum cataloguing at MoMA and Tate, support identity confirmation

### Collector notes

- Tinguely is one of the most frequently traded post-war European sculptors at auction, with over 80 lots appearing in a typical 12-month period — this means a buyer can usually find comparable results for most work types without a long wait. Smaller works on paper, collages, and editioned prints (including Meta-matic outputs and silkscreens) are readily available in the €200–€2,000 range at regional Swiss and French houses such as TGP Auction, Artcurial, Koller, and Galerie Fischer. Buyers considering motorized kinetic sculptures should budget for a mechanical condition assessment, as repair or restoration of original motors can be costly and may affect value. The Christie's and Sotheby's results in the dataset confirm that major gouaches, oils, and significant sculptures continue to attract five-figure and higher prices in the international market. Collaborative works with Niki de Saint Phalle appear regularly and may appeal to collectors of either artist. The wide price range (€10 to €1,400,000) underscores the importance of getting a specific appraisal rather than relying on the artist's name alone to estimate value.

### Market caveats

- Price data covers 782 priced lots out of 1,408 total records; unsold lots and lots without a recorded price are excluded from the distribution, so the observed median and percentiles reflect successful sales only.
- The maximum recorded price of €1,400,000 represents an extreme outlier; the 75th percentile is €6,000, meaning the vast majority of results fall well below six figures.
- Auction results span multiple currencies (EUR, CHF, GBP, USD) and over 27 years; direct price comparisons should account for currency conversion and market conditions at the time of sale.
- The recent 12-month lot count (86) is modestly below the prior 12-month count (106), which could reflect normal market variation rather than a directional trend.
- Works on paper in the recent lot sample show repeated appearances of similar untitled mixed-media pieces at Setdart, suggesting a specific consignment or collection dispersal that may not represent broader market pricing.
- Several recent lots lack a recorded price, limiting their use as comparables; the absence of a result may indicate an unsold lot or incomplete reporting.
- The Appraisily auction signals aggregate data from public auction feeds and do not reflect private sales, dealer asking prices, or insurance replacement values.

### Market evidence sources

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- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-requiem-pour-une-feuille-morte-1968-276-c-d9a981a4e7
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1059-c-a25374e901
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-meta-matic-217-c-0b34b4c4e8
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-fontaine-jo-syffert-from-eight-by-eight-to-celebrate-the-temporary-contemporary-1984-17-c-ded7925cac
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1059-c-8893a51381
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-vive-la-6-9-long-live-the-6-9-gouache-wate-1206-c-da6af6d3a1
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-untitled-oil-on-cardboard14-x-31-3-4in-35-5-x-8-1042-c-ee0a9b8be1
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-freiburg-1925-bern-1991-meta-358-c-888634479a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jean-tinguely-1925-1991-silkscreen-untitled-numbered-130-200-and-signed-1076-c-e14122b954

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured identity research from museum, library-authority, and archival sources with public auction records, auction-house cataloguing, sale dates, and comparable lot results when those records are available. For Jean Tinguely, identity data draws on the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and museum collection records at MoMA and Tate.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q163938
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Tinguely
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/12338336/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50011850
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5882
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jean-tinguely-2046
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/77598