# Pierre Tal-Coat artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/pierre-tal-coat/
Profile generated: 2026-05-04T18:00:06.204Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1905-12-12
- Death date: 1985-06-11
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Tachisme, Art informel
- Common media: painting, sculpture, pastel, watercolor, printmaking / graphic arts, drawing, illustration

## About Pierre Tal-Coat

Pierre Tal-Coat (born Pierre Louis Jacob, 1905–1985) was a French painter, sculptor, and graphic artist recognized as a leading figure of Art informel and Tachisme, the post-war European movements that emphasized gestural abstraction and spontaneous mark-making. Born in Clohars-Carnoët in Brittany, he adopted the pseudonym Tal-Coat—Breton for 'front of wood'—around 1927. Over a career spanning five decades, he worked across oil painting, watercolor, pastel, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. His work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Tal-Coat died in Saint-Pierre-de-Bailleul, Eure, in 1985.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Tal-Coat's oil-on-canvas abstract compositions, often characterized by bold gestural brushwork and earthy or muted palettes. Watercolors, pastels, and ink drawings also appear regularly at auction. He produced graphic works and illustrated books, and a smaller number of sculptures are known. Prints—both lithographs and etchings—circulate in the secondary market. Subjects range from fully non-objective abstractions to landscape-derived compositions reflecting his Breton roots.

## Market and appraisal context

Tal-Coat's work appears at auction primarily as oil paintings, works on paper (watercolors, pastels, drawings), and prints. His mature gestural abstractions from the 1950s and 1960s—associated with the Tachiste circle—are the most widely traded. Appraisal should account for medium and support, dimensions, date of execution, provenance history, condition, and whether the work is signed with one of his known name forms. Catalogue and authority records list multiple signing conventions, so attribution verification is an important step. No published catalogue raisonné was identified in available sources.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from library authority records (Library of Congress, RKD, VIAF, Wikidata) and museum holdings (MoMA) with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Biographical data is cross-referenced across multiple independent sources.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n86002683
- RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/76407
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/5790
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Tal-Coat
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q320605
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/73860554/