# Melvin Sokolsky artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/melvin-sokolsky/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T14:27:50.016Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1933-10-09
- Death date: 2022-08-29
- Nationality: American
- Common media: Photography, Photographic prints and works on paper

## About Melvin Sokolsky

Melvin Sokolsky was an American photographer and film director associated in public authority records with titles including Bird Cage intrigue or Simone d'Aillencourt, Face Masks, Lip Streaks, Paris 1965, and Seeing fashion. Born in New York City in 1933, he worked across still photography and motion-picture direction before his death in 2022. Collectors are most likely to encounter his name on photographs and photographic prints, while library records also provide useful title-level clues for matching works and publications. His identity is represented by Wikidata, VIAF, the Library of Congress, and RKD authority records, helping distinguish him from similarly named people. The source pack does not provide institution-grade detail about a formal artistic movement, complete chronology, or definitive catalogue of series, so individual works should be described from their own inscriptions, print information, provenance, and supporting documentation.

## Common works and media

The available identity sources establish photography as Sokolsky's principal medium. Auction and appraisal contexts are therefore most likely to involve fine-art photographs, photographic prints, works on paper, and editions. VIAF associates his authority record with titles such as Bird Cage intrigue or Simone d'Aillencourt, Face Masks, Lip Streaks, Paris 1965, and Seeing fashion, although the collected record does not establish whether every title denotes a discrete series, publication, or individual work. Each object should be checked for process, dimensions, print date, edition notation, signature, inscriptions, condition, and provenance.

## Market and appraisal context

Appraisily's collected market page reports matched public auction records dated from 1999 through 2025, but its summary and detailed coverage counts are not fully consistent. For appraisal purposes, the strongest comparisons are photographs with similar subject matter, dimensions, image and print dates, printing process, edition information, condition, signature or inscriptions, and provenance. Exhibition history and catalogue references may add context, while authentication and attribution confidence remain important. Reported auction results can also differ in their treatment of buyer's premiums and fees. Public sales therefore provide comparison evidence, not a stand-alone prediction of value, and private transactions or unreported sales may be absent.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine public artist-identity research with matched auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Coverage may exclude private sales, incomplete feeds, and later attribution changes.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6814078
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/278025418/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00015420
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/384221
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Sokolsky
- Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%BD%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/melvin-sokolsky/