# Maurizio Cattelan artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/maurizio-cattelan/
Profile generated: 2026-05-04T03:42:38.759Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Italian
- Movements: Contemporary Art, Conceptual Art
- Common media: Sculpture, Installation, Photography, Performance, Painting, Drawing

## About Maurizio Cattelan

Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian contemporary artist born in 1960 in Padua, Italy. Self-taught, he has become one of the most widely recognized and debated figures in international contemporary art. He is known primarily for his hyperrealistic sculptures and large-scale installations that use satire, dark humor, and provocation to challenge conventions of authority, religion, and the art market itself. Cattelan's practice spans sculpture, installation, photography, and performance, and he has also been active as a curator and art publisher. He developed much of his significant early work while living in Milan and has since divided his time between Milan and New York. His pieces have been exhibited in major museums and international biennials, and he is represented in the collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. With over 800 recorded auction appearances, Cattelan's work circulates actively in the secondary market.

## Common works and media

Cattelan is primarily encountered in auction and appraisal contexts through hyperrealistic figurative sculptures, taxidermy-based installations, mixed-media assemblages, photographic editions, and sculptural objects. Common materials include resin, wax, marble, taxidermy, and found objects. Editioned photographs and smaller sculptural multiples also appear regularly at auction. His work frequently engages themes of power, religion, mortality, and the art establishment, often rendered with a deadpan or satirical edge.

## Market and appraisal context

Maurizio Cattelan maintains a deep and actively traded secondary market, with 572 auction lots recorded in the Appraisily index dating from June 2000 through May 2026, of which 394 carry a realized price. The price distribution is exceptionally wide: the low end begins at $50 (editions, multiples, posters) while the top recorded price reaches $7.92 million for a major sculpture. The interquartile range spans $500 (25th percentile) to $54,000 (75th percentile), with a median of $2,600—reflecting that a large volume of editioned works, posters, and smaller multiples trade at accessible thresholds, while unique sculptures and installations from signature series command six- and seven-figure results. Major houses dominate the high end: Christie's has recently sold a large-scale resin figure for $1,587,500 (November 2025) and a dog-skeleton assemblage for $444,500 (November 2025), while an 18-karat gold sculpture titled Brother realized $76,200 (February 2026). Mid-tier and regional houses (Setdart, Forum Auctions, Rago, Kruso Art, HVMC, Tate Ward) account for the editioned and photographic material. Market liquidity has increased modestly: the most recent 12-month window shows 31 lots versus 24 in the prior 12 months, indicating sustained and growing auction activity.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Maurizio Cattelan maintains a deep and actively traded secondary market, with 572 auction lots recorded in the Appraisily index dating from June 2000 through May 2026, of which 394 carry a realized price. The price distribution is exceptionally wide: the low end begins at $50 (editions, multiples, posters) while the top recorded price reaches $7.92 million for a major sculpture. The interquartile range spans $500 (25th percentile) to $54,000 (75th percentile), with a median of $2,600—reflecting that a large volume of editioned works, posters, and smaller multiples trade at accessible thresholds, while unique sculptures and installations from signature series command six- and seven-figure results. Major houses dominate the high end: Christie's has recently sold a large-scale resin figure for $1,587,500 (November 2025) and a dog-skeleton assemblage for $444,500 (November 2025), while an 18-karat gold sculpture titled Brother realized $76,200 (February 2026). Mid-tier and regional houses (Setdart, Forum Auctions, Rago, Kruso Art, HVMC, Tate Ward) account for the editioned and photographic material. Market liquidity has increased modestly: the most recent 12-month window shows 31 lots versus 24 in the prior 12 months, indicating sustained and growing auction activity.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Cattelan work would begin by identifying the specific medium, dimensions, edition number, and total edition size from the work itself and any accompanying documentation. The auction record provides strong comparable grounding: unique sculptures in resin, wax, or mixed media align with the upper quartile of recorded prices, while editioned photographs, posters, and multiples fall in the lower range. Provenance documentation—gallery invoices, exhibition history, or publisher certificates (e.g., UCCA Shanghai editions)—is essential for attribution, particularly for editioned works that lack unique signatures. Condition reports should address material-specific risks: resin and wax components can degrade, taxidermy elements require climate control, and found-object assemblages may have variable structural integrity. The appraiser would select comparable lots by matching medium, scale, date, edition status, and auction house tier, weighting recent Christie's and Sotheby's results for unique works and regional house results for editions and multiples. All price comparisons should be currency-normalized and time-adjusted where significant market shifts are observed.

### Valuation factors

- Medium and scale: unique large-scale sculptures and installations command the highest prices (hundreds of thousands to millions); editioned photographs, posters, and multiples trade between $50 and $5,000
- Edition status: Cattelan regularly produces limited editions (e.g., UCCA Shanghai Comedian editions of 20, published multiples); edition number relative to total run materially affects value
- Material composition: works incorporating taxidermy, resin, wax, human hair, 18-karat gold, or found objects have distinct conservation profiles and valuation tiers
- Series recognition: works from named series such as Comedian, L.O.V.E., Brother, Oscar, and Il Bel Paese carry stronger market recognition and demand
- Provenance and exhibition history: institutional exhibition records (e.g., UCCA Shanghai 'Wish You Were Here', 2022) and gallery provenance strengthen value
- Auction house tier: results from Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips anchor the upper market; regional houses handle editioned and lower-value material
- Condition: mixed-media works with organic or fragile components (taxidermy, wax, resin) require careful condition assessment as deterioration can significantly reduce value

### Collector notes



### Market caveats

- The price distribution is extremely wide ($50 to $7.92 million); an appraisal must be specific to the work's medium, scale, edition status, and provenance rather than relying on artist-level averages.
- Cattelan has produced editions, multiples, and merchandise items (posters, inflatable toys, plates, lamps) that trade at prices orders of magnitude below unique sculptures; these should not be used as comparables for original works.
- Many recent lots in the data carry no realized price (noted as null), which may indicate unsold lots, estimates-only cataloguing, or post-sale data not yet reported; the priced-lot subset (394 of 572) is the more reliable basis for valuation.
- Works incorporating taxidermy, resin, wax, human hair, or organic materials may have condition and conservation requirements that materially affect long-term value; a specialist condition report is recommended.
- Attribution for editioned works should be verified through publisher documentation, stamps, or certificates; Cattelan's broad output of multiples increases the importance of provenance verification.
- Currency variation across the dataset (USD, EUR, GBP) requires normalization for price comparisons; exchange-rate fluctuations may affect apparent value trends.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/maurizio-cattelan/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-untitled-resin-paint-human-hair-clothing-37b-c-2707a55314
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-untitled-dog-skeleton-and-le-monde-newspaper1-730-c-995ee16a05
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-brother-18-karat-gold-350-c-24db89a3b4
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-oscar-epoxy-resin-and-24-karat-gold-plated-al-135-c-38248f17e7
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-l-o-v-e-overall-21-7-8-x-9-x-9-in-556-x-2-168-c-a89b4403c9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-padua-italy-1960-comedian-2022-microfiber-tapestry-limited-edition-produced-by-ucca-shanghai-on-the-occasion-of-the-exhibition-wish-you-were-here-164-c-d61744a83a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-padua-italy-1960-table-lamp-comedian-2022-with-led-system-with-publisher-s-stamp-limited-edition-on-stand-made-by-ucca-shanghai-on-the-occasion-of-the-artist-s-exhibition-wish-you-were-here-2022-205-c-1e352ddffe
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-b-1960-il-bel-paese-the-beautiful-country-17-c-611c11d122
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-die-die-more-die-better-die-again-273-c-1e101136bb
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-maurizio-cattelan-tuffatore-183-c-0c5f7cea82

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. This profile draws on museum, library authority, and biographical sources cited below.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q655398
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cattelan
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/117976965/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n98006862
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/8330
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/202342
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500116125