# Paul-Elie Gernez artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/paul-elie-gernez/
Profile generated: 2026-05-25T13:33:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1888-01-27
- Death date: 1948-09-06
- Nationality: French
- Common media: oil painting, pastel, watercolor, gouache, printmaking, illustration

## About Paul-Elie Gernez

Paul-Élie Gernez (1888–1948) was a French painter, printmaker, pastelist, watercolorist, and illustrator born in Valenciennes and active for much of his career in and around Honfleur, where he died. Active during the first half of the twentieth century, Gernez worked across oil, pastel, gouache, and watercolor, and also produced prints and book illustrations. He is recorded in the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History as a pastelist, illustrator, watercolorist, art teacher, and painter, and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. His work is documented in the Getty Union List of Artist Names and the Virtual International Authority File. Gernez typically signed his work 'Gernez,' sometimes with a date, and used an interlocked 'PEG' monogram.

## Common works and media

Gernez is most frequently encountered in appraisal and auction contexts as oil-on-canvas or oil-on-panel paintings, watercolors, pastels, gouaches, and prints. He also produced book illustrations. Subjects and specific series are not well documented in the available authority sources. Collectors may find still lifes, landscapes, harbor scenes (consistent with his Honfleur base), and figurative works attributed to him at auction. Works are typically signed 'Gernez' in the lower corner, occasionally accompanied by a date.

## Market and appraisal context

With over 240 lots documented in auction databases, Paul-Élie Gernez's work appears regularly in the secondary market, most often as paintings, watercolors, pastels, prints, and works on paper. Collectors evaluating a Gernez work should consider the specific medium — oil paintings tend to be more significant than works on paper — as well as signature and monogram presence, provenance history, condition, and any exhibition or publication record. No single published catalogue raisonné was identified, so attribution questions may require comparison with RKD photographic documentation and expert review. Auction results vary by size, medium, and subject, and comparable sales should be consulted for current estimates.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity research from library authority files and museum records with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Paul-Élie Gernez, identity data is drawn from the Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/31101
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/29805565/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500124875
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3370380
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2130