# John Kacere artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/john-kacere/
Profile generated: 2026-05-18T19:01:07.314Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1920-06-23
- Death date: 1999-08-05
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Abstract Expressionism, Photorealism
- Common media: Oil on canvas

## About John Kacere

John C. Kacere (1920–1999) was an American painter born in Walker, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History. He began his career in the 1950s working in an Abstract Expressionist vein before shifting in 1963 to the meticulous, photographically grounded style for which he became widely known. Although he rejected the term, Kacere is regarded as one of the original Photorealist painters. His mature work is almost exclusively devoted to large-scale depictions of the midsection of the female body, typically rendered in oil on canvas with exacting detail. This concentrated visual vocabulary gave his output an unmistakable identity and placed him alongside artists such as Richard Estes and Chuck Close in discussions of the 1960s and 1970s Photorealist movement. Kacere died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1999.

## Common works and media

Oil on canvas paintings form the bulk of Kacere's known auction market, dominated by large-format photorealist depictions of the female midsection, often showing lingerie or draped fabric. Earlier abstract expressionist canvases from the 1950s and early 1960s are less common but do appear. Prints and works on paper may also surface, though they represent a smaller share of the documented market. Collectors encountering Kacere works should expect predominantly figural subjects with a photographic precision that makes his style immediately identifiable.

## Market and appraisal context

Kacere's signature photorealist midsection paintings appear regularly at post-war and contemporary art auctions. Because his mature work is so visually uniform—cropped female torsos rendered in sharp, photographic detail—attribution is generally straightforward. Collectors should note that his earlier Abstract Expressionist paintings, produced before 1963, represent a distinct and less frequently traded segment of his output. Provenance documentation, canvas dimensions, condition reports, and the date of execution are standard factors in appraising Kacere works. No published catalogue raisonné was identified, which means authentication may rely on expert connoisseurship and gallery or estate records rather than a comprehensive published reference.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For John Kacere, identity data is sourced from the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and Wikidata, with biographical detail corroborated by multiple authority files.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/43207
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500031427
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/813427/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6242425
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kacere
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/64651
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr2006031165