# Peter Halley artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/peter-halley/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T14:46:48.144Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: Neo-Conceptualism
- Common media: Acrylic and Day-Glo paint on canvas, Screenprints and published prints, Digital installations

## About Peter Halley

Peter Halley (born 1953) is an American painter and writer recognized as a central figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement that emerged in New York during the 1980s. His work is defined by Day-Glo acrylic paintings of geometric forms — principally cells, conduits, and prison-like enclosures — that use the language of abstraction to comment on social isolation, technological networks, and the built environment. Halley's practice spans painting, prints, installations, and digital media, with a body of work extending from the early 1980s through the present. He has exhibited widely at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London. Beyond the studio, Halley founded and published index Magazine and served as director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Yale University School of Art from 2002 to 2011. He lives and works in New York City.

## Common works and media

Halley's most commonly encountered works in appraisal and auction contexts include Day-Glo acrylic paintings on canvas featuring geometric cell-and-conduit compositions, screenprints and editioned prints, and mixed-media installations. His paintings range from intimate scales to large wall-sized canvases. Subject matter is consistently abstract and geometric, drawing on themes of confinement, connection, and technological infrastructure. Works span from the early 1980s to the 2020s, with prints and multiples offering a more accessible entry point for collectors.

## Market and appraisal context

Peter Halley's work appears regularly at auction, with nearly five hundred recorded lots spanning paintings, prints, and multiples. Unique Day-Glo acrylic canvases from his 1980s Neo-Conceptualist period tend to attract the strongest market interest, while his published screenprints and editioned works trade more accessibly. Factors that can affect appraisal include the work's date and period, medium, scale, provenance, exhibition history, and condition — particularly any fading of the fluorescent pigments Halley favors. Collectors should verify attribution against the artist's official publications and confirm edition details for prints.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from museum, library authority, and official sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. Peter Halley's identity profile is grounded in records from MoMA, Tate, the Getty ULAN, VIAF, the RKD, and the artist's official website.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1642699
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Halley
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500115428
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/218159138/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85319607
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2467
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/peter-halley-2777
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/35519
- Peter Halley: https://www.peterhalley.com/