# Maurice Utrillo artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/maurice-utrillo/
Profile generated: 2026-04-29T20:55:40.078Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1883-12-26
- Death date: 1955-11-05
- Nationality: French
- Movements: School of Paris
- Common media: oil painting, gouache, lithography, pastel, watercolor, drawing

## About Maurice Utrillo

Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955) was a French painter best known for his evocative cityscapes of Montmartre and the streets of Paris. Born Maurice Valadon in Montmartre, he was the son of the painter Suzanne Valadon; his legal father, Miguel Utrillo i Morlius, formally claimed paternity in 1891, after which Maurice took the surname Utrillo. Associated with the School of Paris, Utrillo worked across oil, gouache, pastel, watercolor, and lithography, but it is his densely rendered views of white-washed Parisian walls and winding hillside streets that defined his reputation. His so-called White Period (c. 1909–1914), in which he mixed plaster and sand into his paint to capture the texture of Montmartre buildings, remains the most celebrated phase of his career. Works by Utrillo are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and major museums worldwide.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Utrillo's oil paintings and gouaches depicting Montmartre street scenes, village squares, churches, and Parisian alleys. He also produced watercolors, pastels, drawings, and lithographs, many repeating similar architectural subjects. Lithographic prints and posters after his compositions circulate widely and are generally priced below unique works. Editioned prints and reproduced postcards are common in the secondary market and should be distinguished from original works.

## Market and appraisal context

Maurice Utrillo has a deep and well-documented secondary market with 2,063 recorded auction lots, of which 1,231 carry realized prices spanning from 1998 to April 2026. The price distribution is extremely broad—realized prices range from $5 for reproduction prints and postcards to $17 million for top-tier White Period oil paintings—reflecting the wide spectrum of media and quality in his output. The interquartile range sits between $2,200 (P25) and $79,524 (P75) with a median of $37,500, indicating that mid-market unique works (gouaches, smaller oils) trade in the mid-five-figure USD zone. Liquidity remains strong: 143 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window (down from 187 the prior year), and sales are anchored by blue-chip houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Artcurial, Koller Auctions, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, and Tajan. Recent comparable lots illustrate the tiering clearly: a Christie's Paris sale realized €95,250 for an oil of Église de Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or, another Christie's oil of Commune de Maixe fetched $127,000, while prints and lithographs at regional houses traded between $20 and $800. The decline from 187 to 143 lots year-over-year may reflect ordinary market cycling rather than structural weakness, but it is worth monitoring.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Maurice Utrillo has a deep and well-documented secondary market with 2,063 recorded auction lots, of which 1,231 carry realized prices spanning from 1998 to April 2026. The price distribution is extremely broad—realized prices range from $5 for reproduction prints and postcards to $17 million for top-tier White Period oil paintings—reflecting the wide spectrum of media and quality in his output. The interquartile range sits between $2,200 (P25) and $79,524 (P75) with a median of $37,500, indicating that mid-market unique works (gouaches, smaller oils) trade in the mid-five-figure USD zone. Liquidity remains strong: 143 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month window (down from 187 the prior year), and sales are anchored by blue-chip houses including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Artcurial, Koller Auctions, Hampel Fine Art Auctions, and Tajan. Recent comparable lots illustrate the tiering clearly: a Christie's Paris sale realized €95,250 for an oil of Église de Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or, another Christie's oil of Commune de Maixe fetched $127,000, while prints and lithographs at regional houses traded between $20 and $800. The decline from 187 to 143 lots year-over-year may reflect ordinary market cycling rather than structural weakness, but it is worth monitoring.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would combine these auction records with detailed photographs, measured dimensions, medium identification, signature analysis, condition reports, documented provenance, and edition details (for prints) to establish fair market or replacement value. The key appraisal tasks for a Utrillo work are: (1) confirm attribution against the established catalogue raisonné (Fabris, J. Utrillo, sa vie, son œuvre, 1982), (2) determine whether the work is from the high-value White Period (c. 1909–1914) or a later phase, (3) distinguish lifetime-signed works from estate-stamped or posthumous reproductions, (4) assess condition—especially for gouaches and works on paper, which are vulnerable to foxing, fading, and moisture damage, and (5) select comparable lots from the same medium, period, and size range. The wide price dispersion means that even small differences in period, medium, authenticity, and condition can produce outsized valuation differences.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- If you own a Utrillo oil painting, especially one depicting Montmartre streets or churches, it may fall into the upper tier of his market—recent Christie's results for period oils have reached $89,000–$127,000 and Hampel has achieved €65,000. Gouaches and watercolors typically trade in the €11,000–€50,000 range at major houses. Lithographs and pochoir prints are far more accessible, with recent results between $20 and $800, but care should be taken to distinguish original signed lithographs from reproduction postcards and commercial prints. The year-over-year lot count declined from 187 to 143, which is not unusual for a mature market but may signal slightly softer demand in the near term. Before buying or selling, request a condition report and verify the work against the Fabris catalogue raisonné. Works with strong provenance—gallery labels, exhibition history, or prior sale records at named houses—will be easier to appraise and resell.

### Market caveats

- Utrillo's catalogue is large and attribution questions arise frequently; any appraisal should include verification against the Fabris catalogue raisonné
- The $17 million maximum in the record set likely represents a single exceptional White Period masterpiece and should not be used as a benchmark for typical works
- Reproduction prints, postcards, and posters after Utrillo's compositions circulate widely at very low prices ($5–$50) and should not be confused with original works
- The observed lot count declined from 187 to 143 year-over-year; this may reflect market cycling but could also indicate softening demand in certain price tiers
- No major auction-house biography or specialist notes were available in this source pack; auction category assignments are inferred from lot titles, observed houses, and the artist's documented market presence
- Prices are denominated in USD, EUR, and CHF across different houses; currency conversion at sale date should be considered when comparing results
- Several recent lots at major houses (Christie's, Hampel) show null realized prices, indicating either buy-ins or results not yet published

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/maurice-utrillo/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurice-utrillo-1883-1955-village-street-painting-266-c-c9fa848c02
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurice-utrillo-print-on-paper-2377-c-f8a04452cb
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurice-utrillo-french-1883-1955-lithograph-paris-les-gobelins-signed-230-c-01f3069840

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, medium and dimension data, provenance notes, and comparable lots when those records are available.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50046516
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/78861
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108301
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Utrillo
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6046
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/maurice-utrillo-2090
- VIAF / OCLC: https://viaf.org/viaf/39385919/