# Marguerite Zorach artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/marguerite-zorach/
Profile generated: 2026-05-25T03:55:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1887-09-25
- Death date: 1968-06-27
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Fauvism, American Modernism
- Common media: oil painting, textile art (embroidery and tapestry), graphic design

## About Marguerite Zorach

Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson, 1887–1968) was an American painter, textile artist, and graphic designer recognized as an early proponent of modernism in the United States. Born in Santa Rosa, California, she studied art in Paris where she encountered Fauvism and its bold, non-naturalistic color — a sensibility she carried into her mature work after settling in New York. Zorach became known for vibrant figurative oil paintings and, especially, for intricately embroidered pictorial textiles that fused modernist composition with narrative and allegorical subjects. She received the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1920. Her work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art. She was married to the sculptor William Zorach, and together the couple occupied a central place in the early twentieth-century American modernist community. Collectors today encounter her work across paintings, works on paper, prints, and textile pieces at auction.

## Common works and media

Oil paintings (landscapes, figurative compositions, still lifes), embroidered pictorial textiles and tapestries with narrative or allegorical subjects, works on paper including drawings and watercolors, prints and graphic design work. Textile pieces often depict lush, colorful scenes with flattened perspective reflecting Fauvist influence and are particularly associated with her output from the 1910s through the 1930s.

## Market and appraisal context

Zorach's auction market spans multiple categories: oil paintings, works on paper, prints, and her distinctive embroidered textiles. Medium is typically the strongest value factor, with oils generally achieving higher results than works on paper or fiber pieces. Provenance connecting a work to early American modernist circles, the Zorach family, or known exhibitions can add significance. Condition is especially important for textile works, where fading, staining, or structural damage may affect value. Attribution should be confirmed, as Marguerite and William Zorach both produced modernist works in overlapping periods. Collectors should consult recent comparable auction results for category-specific guidance.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines structured identity research from museum records, library authority files, and biographical sources with available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots. When auction data is limited, market observations draw on institutional holdings and published scholarship rather than speculative pricing.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/86554
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/69852805/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6760826
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500021908
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Zorach
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6581
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87900223