# Larry Rivers artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/larry-rivers/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T03:10:20.429Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1923-08-17
- Death date: 2002-08-14
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Pop art, Abstract Expressionism (early career context)
- Common media: Oil painting, Sculpture, Photography, Printmaking, Drawing

## About Larry Rivers

Larry Rivers (1923–2002), born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg in the Bronx, New York, was an American painter, sculptor, photographer, and jazz musician widely recognized as a founding figure of Pop art. Before turning to visual art, he performed as a saxophonist, and that musical sensibility informed the improvisational energy of his painting throughout his career. Rivers studied at New York University with Hans Hofmann and became one of the first artists of his generation to bridge abstract expressionism's gestural freedom with recognizable figurative imagery, a move that opened the door to the Pop art sensibility that followed. His reworking of historical subjects — most famously Washington Crossing the Delaware — combined irreverence with deep engagement with art-historical tradition. Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London hold his work. Over a career spanning five decades, Rivers also produced sculpture, prints, films, and poetry, cementing a multidisciplinary legacy that continues to attract scholarly and collector attention.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Larry Rivers' oil paintings on canvas, many of which revisit historical or literary themes with a modernist sensibility. He also produced a substantial body of prints — including lithographs and screen prints — often issued in signed and numbered editions. Sculptural works, mixed-media constructions, and collages appear less commonly at auction. Works on paper, including charcoal and ink drawings, surface regularly in the secondary market. Rivers' photographic work is less frequently seen in auction contexts but is represented in institutional collections.

## Market and appraisal context

Larry Rivers commands an active, well-documented secondary market with 1,408 auction lots recorded in the Appraisily auction index and 719 carrying realized prices. Sale activity spans from November 1991 through April 2026, with 147 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window versus 158 in the prior 12 months — indicating sustained but slightly softening liquidity. Price dispersion is wide: the median stands at $1,250, the 75th percentile at $6,463, and the ceiling reaches $1,215,000, reflecting a market where rare large-scale oils from the 1950s and 1960s command six- and seven-figure prices while editioned prints routinely trade between $100 and $700. Major houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Swann Auction Galleries handle the most significant material, while regional and online firms such as RoGallery, DUMBO Auctions, Bruce Teleky Inc., STAIR, Rago Arts and Auction Center, and Heritage Auctions dominate the print and works-on-paper tier. The broad house roster confirms deep market penetration across collector segments.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Larry Rivers commands an active, well-documented secondary market with 1,408 auction lots recorded in the Appraisily auction index and 719 carrying realized prices. Sale activity spans from November 1991 through April 2026, with 147 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window versus 158 in the prior 12 months — indicating sustained but slightly softening liquidity. Price dispersion is wide: the median stands at $1,250, the 75th percentile at $6,463, and the ceiling reaches $1,215,000, reflecting a market where rare large-scale oils from the 1950s and 1960s command six- and seven-figure prices while editioned prints routinely trade between $100 and $700. Major houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Swann Auction Galleries handle the most significant material, while regional and online firms such as RoGallery, DUMBO Auctions, Bruce Teleky Inc., STAIR, Rago Arts and Auction Center, and Heritage Auctions dominate the print and works-on-paper tier. The broad house roster confirms deep market penetration across collector segments.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these auction records as comparable-lot evidence alongside photographs, measured dimensions, medium identification, signature verification, condition reports, provenance documentation, edition details (number and total size for prints), and exhibition or publication history. The wide interquartile range ($475–$6,463) underscores that medium, date, scale, and quality drive most of the value spread. For oil paintings, provenance leading to major gallery or estate sources materially strengthens appraisal confidence. For prints, edition number, signature state, and condition of margins and paper are critical comparability factors. The existence of institutional holdings at MoMA and Tate supports authenticity research but does not substitute for direct attribution review.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- The market is liquid: with roughly 140–150 lots offered per year, buyers can find material regularly, and sellers face a receptive audience for well-attributed works.
- Prints and multiples dominate volume. A signed screenprint or lithograph can be acquired for $100–$700 in most sale cycles, making Rivers accessible at entry-level price points.
- Major paintings are rare at auction. The $1,215,000 ceiling and the 2021 Bonhams sale of Last Veteran of the Civil War (1970) at £70,000 indicate that significant oils appear infrequently and command competitive bidding.
- Works on paper — such as the graphite drawing 'Ahmet in a Beach Chair' that realized $6,000 at Christie's in December 2024 — can outperform expectations when provenance and subject matter align.
- Unsigned or uninscribed prints, exhibition posters, and offset lithographs (e.g., the Lincoln Center 20th Anniversary poster) trade at the low end and should not be confused with signed limited editions.
- Slight volume softening (147 vs 158 lots year-over-year) may reflect market-wide trends more than artist-specific factors; Rivers' historical importance and institutional representation remain strong.

### Market caveats

- The Appraisily auction index reflects 1,408 lots of which 719 carry realized prices; unsold or unpriced lots are excluded from the price distribution, so actual sell-through rates may differ from the volume figures suggest.
- Rivers produced prints and multiples in quantity; not all works bearing his name carry equal scarcity or value. Buyers should verify edition status and signature before relying on headline price comparables.
- Price dispersion is extreme ($1–$1,215,000), meaning a single median figure is not a reliable guide for any specific work. Appraisal requires medium, date, size, and condition analysis.
- Attribution should be confirmed through expert review or catalogue raisonné entry, particularly for higher-value paintings and works without documented provenance.
- Currency mixing in the source data (USD, GBP, CAD) means direct price comparisons require conversion. The £70,000 Bonhams result, for example, equates to a materially different USD figure.
- Some recent lots lack realized-price data, which may indicate unsold results or data-entry lag; absence of a price should not be treated as evidence of low value.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/larry-rivers/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
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- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-american-1923-2002-bank-notes-screenprint-78-c-707455e8d4
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-american-1923-2002-bank-notes-screenprint-77-c-20d4578b16
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-modern-abstract-engraving-424-c-c0743c490d
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-homage-to-picasso-146-c-2844d969a5
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-last-veteran-of-the-civil-war-1970-6-c-f3b4a968bc
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-american-1923-2002-lithograph-on-wove-paper-19878-madame-butterfly-sn-127-250-h-23-w-31-frame-size-h-26-w-38-1126-c-74184568c9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-gershwin-brothers-118-c-b656ca24d9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-fred-and-ginger-lithograph-568-c-50f4aeef79
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-american-1923-2002-2110-c-f766ac68fc
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-gershwin-1123m-c-9c71de944c
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-dutch-masters-president-1005a-c-ac3ff106b7
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-exhibition-print-700e-c-62106f58e2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-american-75-c-aa07b7d1be
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-american-74-c-a959f1ff2f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-underground-with-two-frasers-201-c-ddd6807e98
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-larry-rivers-1923-2002-a-hut-can-be-a-hairdo-1968-157-c-309c36972e

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity and biographical research drawn from museum records, library authority files, and published references with publicly available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data. Artist entity facts are sourced from institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, the Library of Congress, VIAF, and the RKD. When available, catalogue raisonné entries and major auction-house provenance notes further support the information presented here.

## Sources

- RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/67211
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79043656
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q664291
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/66501198/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/4945
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/larry-rivers-1852
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Rivers
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500003280