# Moses Soyer artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/moses-soyer/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T06:17:44.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1899-12-25 - Death date: 1974-09-02 - Nationality: American - Movements: Social Realism - Common media: Oil painting, Works on paper ## About Moses Soyer Moses Soyer (1899-1974) was a Russian-born American painter recognized as a leading figure in the Social Realist movement. Emigrating to the United States in his youth, Soyer studied at the National Academy of Design and the Ferrer Art School in New York. He became known for empathetic depictions of everyday urban life, figurative compositions, and portraits that captured the character of working people and artists around him. Soyer's twin brother, Raphael Soyer, was also a prominent painter, and the two brothers are often discussed together as central figures in twentieth-century American realist painting. Moses Soyer's work is held in major museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York. His papers from 1937 through 1965 are archived at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. ## Common works and media Moses Soyer worked primarily in oil on canvas and on paper. His subjects include figurative scenes of urban workers, dancers, artists in their studios, and portraits of family and friends. He also produced drawings and prints. Collectors most frequently encounter mid-sized oil paintings and works on paper from the 1930s through the 1960s at auction. ## Market and appraisal context Moses Soyer maintains an active and well-documented secondary market. Appraisily auction records index 724 total lots with 503 carrying realized prices, spanning from January 1999 through May 2026. The price distribution is wide but informative: the 25th percentile sits at $150, the median at $500, and the 75th percentile at $1,400, with a recorded maximum of $22,500. This dispersion reflects the broad range of media Soyer produced — prints and lithographs cluster at the low end ($20–$225), while signed oil paintings of signature subjects such as dancers and nudes regularly reach $1,200–$6,350 at houses like Christie's and Swann Auction Galleries. Forty lots appeared in the trailing twelve months, down from 57 in the prior period, suggesting a modest contraction in supply but continued steady liquidity. Major houses handling Soyer include Christie's, Heritage Auctions, Swann Auction Galleries, DuMouchelles, and Millea Bros Ltd, alongside numerous regional auctioneers. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Moses Soyer maintains an active and well-documented secondary market. Appraisily auction records index 724 total lots with 503 carrying realized prices, spanning from January 1999 through May 2026. The price distribution is wide but informative: the 25th percentile sits at $150, the median at $500, and the 75th percentile at $1,400, with a recorded maximum of $22,500. This dispersion reflects the broad range of media Soyer produced — prints and lithographs cluster at the low end ($20–$225), while signed oil paintings of signature subjects such as dancers and nudes regularly reach $1,200–$6,350 at houses like Christie's and Swann Auction Galleries. Forty lots appeared in the trailing twelve months, down from 57 in the prior period, suggesting a modest contraction in supply but continued steady liquidity. Major houses handling Soyer include Christie's, Heritage Auctions, Swann Auction Galleries, DuMouchelles, and Millea Bros Ltd, alongside numerous regional auctioneers. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would combine these auction records with a physical examination of the work being appraised. Key inputs include: photographs of the front, back, signature, and any labels or inscriptions; dimensions and medium confirmation (oil on canvas vs. oil on board vs. work on paper vs. print); edition details for lithographs and screenprints; condition report addressing craquelure, inpainting, foxing, or fading; provenance documentation such as gallery receipts, exhibition history, or estate records; and comparable lots selected from the same medium, subject, date range, and size tier. The 724-lot dataset provides a robust comparable pool, but appraisal value will depend on where the specific work falls within the wide price distribution. Works on paper and prints typically appraise well below original oils, and attribution must be verified to distinguish Moses Soyer from his twin brother Raphael Soyer. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/moses-soyer/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - Invaluable (Christie's sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-1899-1974-dancers-in-yellow-oil-on-canvas24-x-18-in-61-x-141-c-39bf6461ac - Invaluable (Swann sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-woman-in-a-white-blouse-142-c-2306e27d68 - Invaluable (Swann sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-dancer-in-a-red-skirt-166-c-64010fc50e - Invaluable (Swann sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-woman-in-mirror-176-c-a06224b9c9 - Invaluable (Helmuth Stone sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-new-york-1899-1974-38-c-6d0460f9ad - Invaluable (MBA Seattle sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-nude-with-bookcase-oil-114a-c-bf64d04994 - Invaluable (Nadeau's sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-american-1899-1974-reclining-semi-nude-woman-on-a-bed-oil-on-canvas-signed-lower-right-m-soyer-18-x-25-458-c-2bb4ca5938 - Invaluable (Westport sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-1899-1974-oil-pastel-nude-92-c-2a375bab57 - Invaluable (Showplace sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-couple-mixed-media-on-paper-442-c-7ce49f6966 - Invaluable (Ahlers & Ogletree sale): https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-moses-soyer-pastel-drawing-of-nude-woman-signed-295-c-68bbe7434e ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine independent artist-identity research from museum records, library authority files, and scholarly references with auction-house context, sale records, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. This page draws on sources including The Museum of Modern Art, the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), VIAF, the Library of Congress, and Wikidata. ## Sources - RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/74067 - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50021658 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5548 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/50467442/ - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Soyer - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6915945