# Nicolas Poussin artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/nicolas-poussin/
Profile generated: 2026-05-11T20:19:28.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1594-06-15
- Death date: 1665-11-19
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Classical French Baroque, Classicism
- Common media: oil on canvas, drawing, watercolor

## About Nicolas Poussin

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) was a French painter who became the defining figure of the classical French Baroque tradition, though he spent most of his career working in Rome. Born in Normandy, he settled in Italy in the 1620s and developed a distinctive style marked by compositional clarity, intellectual rigor, and a preference for line over color. His paintings drew primarily on religious and mythological subjects, produced for an elite circle of Italian and French patrons. In 1640 he accepted the post of First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but returned to Rome after two years. His later work increasingly emphasized landscape as a vehicle for narrative. Poussin's disciplined approach profoundly influenced later artists, from Jacques-Louis David and Ingres to Paul Cézanne, and his reputation as a cornerstone of European classicism endures in museum and scholarly contexts worldwide.

## Common works and media

Poussin's surviving output includes oil paintings on canvas and panel, preparatory drawings in pen, ink, and wash, and occasional watercolor studies. His most recognized compositions depict episodes from classical mythology, biblical narratives, and idealized landscape scenes. He also produced decorative ceiling paintings earlier in his career. Works encountered in appraisal or auction contexts are typically medium-to-large-scale canvases with complex multi-figure compositions. Drawings range from rapid compositional sketches to highly finished studies. Engraved reproductions after his designs circulated widely in the 17th and 18th centuries and may appear as separate collectible works.

## Market and appraisal context

Nicolas Poussin's works are among the most significant in the Old Master category. Authentic oil paintings rarely appear at public auction, and when they do, confirmed attribution, documented provenance, and conservation condition are the primary factors determining value. His preparatory drawings and compositional sketches also command strong collector interest. Because Poussin worked for a small group of patrons, his surviving oeuvre is relatively compact compared to many of his contemporaries, and a large share is held in permanent museum collections. Collectors and appraisers should be aware that attribution questions have surrounded various works, making specialist scholarly opinion and catalogue raisonné references essential for reliable assessment.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Nicolas Poussin, this page draws on records from the Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, the Library of Congress, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), the Museum of Modern Art, and Wikidata, alongside Appraisily's internal auction and listing data.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41554
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Poussin
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500005036
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/24606800/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80028152
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/65384
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/64559