# Molly Lamb Bobak artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/molly-lamb-bobak/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T12:08:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 2014-03-01
- Nationality: Canadian
- Movements: Canadian War Art
- Common media: oil painting, watercolour, printmaking

## About Molly Lamb Bobak

Molly Lamb Bobak (1920–2014) was a Canadian painter, printmaker, teacher, and writer recognised as the first Canadian woman artist dispatched overseas as an official war artist during the Second World War. Commissioned to document Canada’s war effort, she produced a significant body of work depicting members of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in training and on duty. Working primarily in oils and watercolours, Bobak built a broader practice that included landscapes, still lifes, and figurative scenes. She spent much of her later career in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where she was a longstanding presence in the Canadian art community. Her work is held in major Canadian public collections, and she is recorded in the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Virtual International Authority File, and Library and Archives Canada.

## Common works and media

Collectors are most likely to encounter Bobak’s oil paintings on canvas or board, watercolour landscapes and floral studies, and prints. Her subjects range from military scenes and figure compositions to rural landscapes, botanical studies, and still lifes. Smaller-scale watercolours and editioned prints are more frequently seen at auction than large canvases. Works on paper should be assessed for condition issues including foxing, fading, and mat staining.

## Market and appraisal context

Molly Lamb Bobak’s works appear regularly at Canadian art auctions, with over 200 catalogued lots in Appraisily records. Her official war art is largely held by Canadian national institutions and rarely comes to market, making her non-commission oil paintings, watercolours, and prints the works most commonly encountered by collectors. Key factors affecting appraisal include medium and size, subject matter (military themes tend to generate stronger demand), date of execution, provenance linking to known exhibitions or estate records, and overall condition. Works with gallery labels, documented exhibition history, or publication in catalogues may carry a premium. Attribution should be verified against signature style and, when possible, compared with documented examples in public collections.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity and biographical research from library authority files and public sources with documented auction records, including sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot information when available. Source authority data from Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, and Library and Archives Canada underpins the artist identity profile.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3319624
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Lamb_Bobak
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500012181
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/95755406/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n78058135
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/9421