# Lucas Samaras artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/lucas-samaras/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T04:15:12.741Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1936-09-14
- Death date: 2024-03-07
- Nationality: American, Greek
- Movements: Installation Art, Postwar American Art
- Common media: photography, sculpture, painting, mixed media and assemblage

## About Lucas Samaras

Lucas Samaras (1936–2024) was a Greek-born American artist whose career spanned photography, sculpture, painting, and installation art. Born in Kastoria, Greece, he emigrated to the United States in 1948 and later studied at Columbia University. Over six decades, Samaras built a distinctive body of work characterized by an intense focus on the body, memory, and constructed environments. His practice moved fluidly between mediums, from painted constructions and mirrored objects to manipulated Polaroid self-portraits and immersive room-scale installations. Museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate have collected and exhibited his work, establishing him as a significant figure in postwar American art whose influence extends across photography, sculpture, and installation practices.

## Common works and media

Collectors may encounter Samaras works in several forms: manipulated Polaroid photographs (especially the Photo-Transformations series), acrylic and mixed-media box constructions, painted assemblages, mirrored sculptures, large-scale installation pieces, drawings, and prints. His photographs range from unique Polaroid editions to larger-format prints, while sculptural works often incorporate glass, mirrors, pins, and found materials. Paintings may include enamel on canvas or panel and often feature dense, jewel-like patterning.

## Market and appraisal context

Lucas Samaras's works appear regularly at major auction houses in Post-War and Contemporary Art, Photographs, and Prints sales. His output spans multiple mediums—photographs, paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media constructions—each with distinct collecting and valuation profiles. Factors that affect appraisal include the specific medium and series, date of execution, provenance linking to recognized galleries or museum exhibitions, edition information for photographic works, and condition. Because Samaras worked across such diverse formats, comparable auction results should be selected carefully to match the specific work type and period being assessed.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Lucas Samaras, identity data is sourced from Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, Wikidata, and museum collection records. Market-specific data draws from the Invaluable auction database and public auction-house results.

## Sources

- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/69484
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q663175
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/29571508/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500021682
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5134
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/lucas-samaras-2400
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Samaras
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50019364