# Kiki Smith artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/kiki-smith/ Profile generated: 2026-05-04T22:21:17.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1954-01-18 - Nationality: German, American - Movements: Contemporary Art, Feminist Art - Common media: Sculpture, Printmaking, Lithography, Photography, Etching, Painting ## About Kiki Smith Kiki Smith is a German-born American artist recognized internationally for her sculpture, printmaking, and multimedia practice. Born in 1954 in Nuremberg, Germany, she is the daughter of the sculptor Tony Smith and grew up in an artistic household in the United States. Smith emerged in the downtown New York art scene of the 1980s and became known for figurative sculptures that explored the human body, vulnerability, and mortality—subjects shaped in part by the AIDS crisis and feminist discourse. Her later work expanded to address regeneration, the natural world, and the relationship between humans and animals. Smith works across bronze, wax, porcelain, glass, paper, and textile, and is also a prolific printmaker. Her work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London, and she continues to live and work in New York City and the Hudson Valley. ## Common works and media Collectors most frequently encounter Kiki Smith's bronze and wax figurative sculptures, porcelain and glass objects, lithographs, etchings, and screen prints. Common subjects include the human figure—particularly female bodies and anatomical forms—animals, birds, and nature motifs. Editioned prints and multiples are widely represented in the auction market. Sculptures range from small tabletop works to large-scale installations. Works on paper, including drawings and photographs, also appear regularly. Many pieces are held in museum collections, which can serve as comparables for identification purposes. ## Market and appraisal context Kiki Smith maintains an active and well-documented secondary market spanning 25 years of auction records (2001–2026). The Appraisily auction-record index tracks 468 lots, of which 354 carry realized prices, indicating robust liquidity for a living contemporary artist. Her market is anchored by consistent presence at top-tier houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams—alongside strong mid-tier representation at Rago Arts and Auction Center, Freeman's | Hindman, Wright, and STAIR. Price dispersion is wide ($40–$284,800), reflecting the breadth of her output across media: prints and multiples cluster in the hundreds-to-low-thousands, while unique sculptures, glass works, and important prints like My Blue Lake reach the mid-thousands at major houses. The interquartile range ($900–$8,125) captures most editioned prints and small sculptures. Volume is rising—45 lots in the trailing 12 months versus 31 in the prior 12 months—signaling sustained or growing collector interest. Major auction houses have recently offered her cast-glass, white-bronze, and lead-paint-on-glass multiples at Christie's (Feb–Apr 2026), confirming continuing demand for distinctive three-dimensional works. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Kiki Smith maintains an active and well-documented secondary market spanning 25 years of auction records (2001–2026). The Appraisily auction-record index tracks 468 lots, of which 354 carry realized prices, indicating robust liquidity for a living contemporary artist. Her market is anchored by consistent presence at top-tier houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams—alongside strong mid-tier representation at Rago Arts and Auction Center, Freeman's | Hindman, Wright, and STAIR. Price dispersion is wide ($40–$284,800), reflecting the breadth of her output across media: prints and multiples cluster in the hundreds-to-low-thousands, while unique sculptures, glass works, and important prints like My Blue Lake reach the mid-thousands at major houses. The interquartile range ($900–$8,125) captures most editioned prints and small sculptures. Volume is rising—45 lots in the trailing 12 months versus 31 in the prior 12 months—signaling sustained or growing collector interest. Major auction houses have recently offered her cast-glass, white-bronze, and lead-paint-on-glass multiples at Christie's (Feb–Apr 2026), confirming continuing demand for distinctive three-dimensional works. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these 354 priced auction records as a comparable-sale baseline, then refine valuation against the specific work's medium, dimensions, date, edition size and numbering (for multiples), signature, condition, and provenance. Prints and multiples should be cross-referenced for edition completeness and cataloguing consistency with raisonné records. Unique sculptures—especially bronze, wax, porcelain, and cast-glass works—require comparison against the upper quartile of realized prices and consideration of exhibition history and museum holdings (MoMA, Tate, Walker Art Center, and others). Works on paper, photographs, and collages (e.g., the ink-and-paper collage at Christie's, Mar 2026, £1,778) sit in the lower-to-mid range and should be assessed for condition and archival quality. The $284,800 high-sale outlier likely represents a major unique sculpture or installation and should not anchor routine valuations; the median ($2,200) and P75 ($8,125) are more representative for typical consignments. Attribution should be verified against documented signatures, stamps, and gallery labels, particularly for unsigned editioned prints. ### Valuation factors - Medium: unique sculptures in bronze, wax, porcelain, cast glass, and lead-paint-on-glass command significantly higher prices than editioned prints, photographs, and works on paper - Scale and complexity: multi-part sculptural works (e.g., Nests in ten parts, World in six white-bronze parts) and large-format prints (e.g., My Blue Lake at 33½ × 45¾ in.) carry premium over small-scale or single-element works - Edition status: prints and multiples must be assessed for edition size, numbering, and whether the edition is complete; smaller editions and unique proofs generally command higher prices - Date and period: figurative body-related works from the late 1980s–1990s are among her most recognized and market-coveted; later nature and animal motifs also sell well but at different price points - Provenance and exhibition history: gallery provenance (e.g., Pace Editions, PaceWildenstein) and exhibition at major institutions strengthen value - Condition: works on paper, photographs, and prints are sensitive to foxing, fading, and handling damage; sculptures in wax and glass are fragile and condition-sensitive - Auction-house tier: top-tier house results (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams) establish stronger comparable value than regional house results, all else equal - Currency and geography: recent results span USD, GBP, and EUR; currency conversion and regional demand differences should be factored into comparable analysis ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - The $284,800 maximum recorded price is an outlier that likely represents a major unique sculpture or installation; it should not be used to anchor expectations for typical prints or small sculptures - Some recent lots at Christie's (Feb–Apr 2026) show null priceRealised values, indicating either unsold lots or results not yet published; these should not be interpreted as failed sales without confirmation - Currency-mix lots (USD, GBP, EUR) require conversion for direct comparison; exchange-rate fluctuations between sale date and appraisal date may affect comparable analysis - Auction records reflect public secondary-market activity only and do not capture private sales, primary-market gallery prices, or dealer-to-collector transactions - Lot titles in the source pack are abbreviated and may not fully describe the work; attribution, medium, date, and edition details should be verified against full catalogue entries - Kiki Smith works in a wide range of media and scales; appraisal requires identifying the specific medium, date, and edition status of the individual work—no single price range applies to her entire oeuvre - The Appraisily auction-record index reflects lots indexed from public auction feeds and may not capture every sale or every house; coverage is strong for major and mid-tier Western houses but may be thinner for European regional houses ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/kiki-smith/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-b-1954-my-blue-lake-image-33-1-2-x-45-3-4-in-851-x-1163-mm-s-164-c-45d97bbdf5 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-american-b-1954-untitled-1998-111-c-739cb88962 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-familiars-228-c-d0510259ca - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-born-1954-worm-251-c-2e140cc8d3 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-xmas-254-c-f11544660f - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kiki-smith-american-born-1954-untitled-egg-and-yolk-51-c-2554e6792e ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine independently researched artist identity data with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. This page draws on sources including the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Wikidata, VIAF, the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), the Museum of Modern Art, and Tate. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87103853 - RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/108800 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5486 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/kiki-smith-2280 - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q447300 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki_Smith - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/78063391/