# Max Gubler artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/max-gubler/
Profile generated: 2026-05-10T12:45:16.078Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1898-05-26
- Death date: 1973-07-29
- Nationality: Swiss
- Common media: oil painting, woodcut and printmaking, drawing, woodcarving

## About Max Gubler

Max Gubler (1898–1973), full name Max Paul Gubler, was a Swiss painter, printmaker, draftsman, and woodcarver active from around 1918 until his death. Based in Unterengstringen near Zurich, he produced a body of work that spans painting, engraving, drawing, and carved wood. Gubler is documented in major international reference works including the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, the Biografisches Lexikon der Schweiz, and the Vollmer lexicon. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is catalogued by leading authority files including the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Library of Congress, VIAF, and the RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History. With over 400 recorded auction lots, Gubler's work is a regular presence in the European art market.

## Common works and media

Oil paintings on canvas and panel, woodcuts and other intaglio prints, ink and graphite drawings, and occasional carved wood pieces. Subject matter generally reflects 20th-century Swiss figurative and landscape traditions. Works range from small-format works on paper to larger canvases.

## Market and appraisal context

Max Gubler's work has a well-established auction footprint spanning 189 recorded lots and 21 years of public sale records (2004–2025), with 114 lots carrying realized prices. The market is overwhelmingly concentrated in Switzerland: Koller Auctions, Schuler Auktionen, Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, and Germann Auction House Ltd account for the bulk of recent turnover, while Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams have also handled his work, confirming institutional-tier recognition. Prices span CHF 35 to CHF 144,000, with a median of CHF 8,500 and an interquartile range of CHF 3,800–15,000. Oil paintings occupy the upper end of the distribution; prints, woodcuts, and works on paper trade in the low hundreds to low thousands of Swiss francs. Recent 12-month activity (9 lots) is well below the prior 12-month window (41 lots), which may reflect cyclical consignment patterns, market cooling, or incomplete recent reporting rather than a structural decline. Still-life, landscape, and night-scene subjects appear regularly in recent titles.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Max Gubler's work has a well-established auction footprint spanning 189 recorded lots and 21 years of public sale records (2004–2025), with 114 lots carrying realized prices. The market is overwhelmingly concentrated in Switzerland: Koller Auctions, Schuler Auktionen, Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, and Germann Auction House Ltd account for the bulk of recent turnover, while Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams have also handled his work, confirming institutional-tier recognition. Prices span CHF 35 to CHF 144,000, with a median of CHF 8,500 and an interquartile range of CHF 3,800–15,000. Oil paintings occupy the upper end of the distribution; prints, woodcuts, and works on paper trade in the low hundreds to low thousands of Swiss francs. Recent 12-month activity (9 lots) is well below the prior 12-month window (41 lots), which may reflect cyclical consignment patterns, market cooling, or incomplete recent reporting rather than a structural decline. Still-life, landscape, and night-scene subjects appear regularly in recent titles.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these auction records as comparable-sale evidence alongside the work's photographs, dimensions, medium, signature status, condition report, provenance documentation, and edition details (for prints). For oil paintings, the CHF 3,800–15,000 interquartile range provides a baseline, adjusted upward for larger canvases, strong provenance, or desirable subject matter, and downward for condition issues or uncertain attribution. For prints and works on paper, recent results cluster below CHF 1,000, with the Hemingway woodcut portfolio example at CHF 320 illustrating the lower tier. Comparable lots should be filtered by medium, size, and date of execution, with preference given to results from Koller, Christie's, Sotheby's, or Bonhams for stronger market signals. The absence of a published catalogue raisonné means attribution confidence should be corroborated against the Vollmer lexicon, the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, and the Biografisches Lexikon der Schweiz entries referenced in the artist profile.

### Valuation factors

- medium: oil paintings trade at a significant premium to prints, drawings, and woodcarvings
- size and format: larger canvases command higher prices than small-format works on paper
- subject matter: still lifes, landscapes, and night scenes (e.g., Nachtlandschaft, Venedig bei Nacht) are well-represented in recent lots
- condition and restoration history
- provenance chain and exhibition history
- signature status and documentary evidence of authenticity
- auction-house tier: results from Christie's, Sotheby's, Koller, or Bonhams carry stronger weight than regional house results
- currency: the market primarily prices in CHF; EUR lots are less common and require conversion for comparison
- date of execution relative to the artist's mature period

### Collector notes

- Gubler's market is almost exclusively Swiss, with the majority of lots offered by Zurich-area houses (Koller, Schuler, Germann, Galerie Kornfeld). Buyers outside Switzerland should factor in currency conversion from CHF and shipping logistics. Oil paintings represent the strongest value tier; prints and woodcuts (including the Hemingway portfolio series) are accessible entry points, typically under CHF 500. The high unsold rate in recent lots (many show no price realized) suggests selective demand—buyers should study individual lot quality and estimate ranges before bidding. Works with MoMA collection provenance or full documentation in RKD/Vollmer reference files may carry a premium. Because no catalogue raisonné exists, provenance documentation is especially important for resale. The significant drop from 41 to 9 lots between the last two 12-month windows warrants monitoring; a single collection dispersal or estate can cause spikes that are not indicative of sustained demand.

### Market caveats

- No published catalogue raisonné has been identified; attribution for unsigned or undocumented works should be verified against the Vollmer lexicon, the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, and the Biografisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- The recent 12-month lot count (9) is a sharp decline from the prior 12-month count (41); this could reflect incomplete recent data ingestion, reduced consignments, or softening demand rather than a permanent shift.
- Many recent lots show no price realized, indicating either unsold lots or unreported results; the price distribution should be interpreted as a subset of all offered lots.
- The price distribution (CHF 35–144,000) is broad; median and interquartile figures are more representative than the maximum, which likely reflects an exceptional single work.
- All primary trading currency is Swiss francs (CHF); the single EUR-denominated lot at Karl & Faber is an exception. Non-CHF comparables are sparse.
- Movement and stylistic affiliation data are absent from available sources; auction comparables should not assume a narrow stylistic category.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/max-gubler/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from museum records, library authority files, and art-historical reference works with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/34427
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83200500
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1912614
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/42629386/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500012013
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2388
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Gubler