# Robert Sterl artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/robert-sterl/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T13:52:50.793Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1867-06-23
- Death date: 1932-01-10
- Nationality: German
- Common media: oil painting, lithography, etching, drawing

## About Robert Sterl

Robert Hermann Sterl (1867–1932) was a German painter, graphic artist, and printmaker active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Grossdobritz, Saxony, Sterl trained and practiced across a range of media including oil painting, etching, lithography, and illustration. He is documented in major art-historical reference works such as Thieme/Becker, Vollmer, and Bénézit, and his career is recorded by the RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie) and the Getty Union List of Artist Names. VIAF and Wikidata authority files confirm his identity as a German painter, engraver, and lithographer. Sterl also held a teaching position, as referenced in the RKD biographical record. Collectors most often encounter his work through graphic prints and paintings that appear in European auction markets.

## Common works and media

Sterl is known to have produced oil paintings, etchings, lithographs, illustrations, and drawings. Subjects may include industrial labor scenes and genre compositions, consistent with German realist and late-impressionist traditions of his era. Works on paper and prints are likely to appear more frequently at auction than major oil paintings. Collectors should distinguish between original graphic works (etchings, lithographs) and reproductive prints.

## Market and appraisal context

Robert Sterl's works appear in auction contexts primarily as oil paintings, etchings, lithographs, and drawings. His output across multiple graphic media means that collectors should confirm medium, edition status (for prints), date, and attribution when evaluating a work. The VIAF record references a painting titled "Arbeiter im Eisenwerk" (Workers in the Iron Works), suggesting he produced industrial and labor-themed subjects. Provenance linking to German institutional or private collections can affect appraisal. Because no specific auction results are available in the current source pack, appraisal should draw on comparable sale records from European auction houses.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from library authority files and institutional databases with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Robert Sterl, identity data is grounded in Wikidata, VIAF, Getty ULAN, RKD, and the Library of Congress authority file.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q319032
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sterl
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500010194
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/59879561/
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/75102
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84192037