# Roger Somville artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/roger-somville/ Profile generated: 2026-05-06T23:03:06.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1923-11-13 - Death date: 2014-03-31 - Nationality: Belgian - Movements: Realism - Common media: painting, graphic art, design ## About Roger Somville Roger Somville (1923–2014) was a Belgian painter, graphic artist, and designer born in Schaarbeek, Brussels. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, he became one of Belgium's most distinctive voices in figurative realism. Somville positioned himself against the dominant currents of abstract and conceptual art, arguing that realism preserved a human dimension that modernism had abandoned. His work includes paintings, graphic compositions, and design projects, and he is recognized by major authority files including the Library of Congress, Getty ULAN, and RKD. He died in Tervuren in 2014. Collectors encounter Somville's work primarily through Belgian and European auction houses, and his paintings and works on paper appear regularly on the secondary market. ## Common works and media Somville's output includes oil paintings on canvas, works on paper in ink and gouache, graphic prints, and design-related compositions. His subjects are predominantly figurative, often featuring human figures in everyday or monumental settings. He also produced posters and graphic design work. With over 600 catalogued auction appearances, his work circulates regularly on the secondary market, with paintings and prints being the most commonly encountered formats. ## Market and appraisal context Roger Somville has a well-established secondary-market presence with 284 catalogued auction lots spanning from October 1999 through April 2026, of which 200 carry realized prices. The market is almost exclusively Belgian: the ten most active salerooms include Maison Jules Veilinghuis, Bernaerts Auctioneers, MJV Soudant, Horta, Galerie Moderne, Vanderkindere, Cornette de Saint-Cyr-Bruxelles, Brussels Art Auctions, Louiza Auktion & Associés, and Salle de Ventes Saint-Job. Liquidity is steady, with 22 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 21 in the prior twelve months. The price distribution is wide — from a floor of €60 for small prints to €310,000 at the top — with a median of €400, a 25th percentile at €200, and a 75th percentile at €900. This dispersion reflects a clear medium hierarchy: numbered lithographs and small works on paper cluster in the €80–€300 band, pastels and ink drawings in the €200–€600 band, and oil paintings on canvas regularly achieve €1,000–€2,000 for mid-size figurative compositions, with the strongest prices reserved for large or historically significant canvases. The €310,000 maximum is an extreme outlier and should not be treated as representative. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Roger Somville has a well-established secondary-market presence with 284 catalogued auction lots spanning from October 1999 through April 2026, of which 200 carry realized prices. The market is almost exclusively Belgian: the ten most active salerooms include Maison Jules Veilinghuis, Bernaerts Auctioneers, MJV Soudant, Horta, Galerie Moderne, Vanderkindere, Cornette de Saint-Cyr-Bruxelles, Brussels Art Auctions, Louiza Auktion & Associés, and Salle de Ventes Saint-Job. Liquidity is steady, with 22 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 21 in the prior twelve months. The price distribution is wide — from a floor of €60 for small prints to €310,000 at the top — with a median of €400, a 25th percentile at €200, and a 75th percentile at €900. This dispersion reflects a clear medium hierarchy: numbered lithographs and small works on paper cluster in the €80–€300 band, pastels and ink drawings in the €200–€600 band, and oil paintings on canvas regularly achieve €1,000–€2,000 for mid-size figurative compositions, with the strongest prices reserved for large or historically significant canvases. The €310,000 maximum is an extreme outlier and should not be treated as representative. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these 284 auction records to build a comparable-sales set tailored to the specific work being appraised. The process starts with the object's medium, support, dimensions, signature, date, condition, and provenance. An oil on canvas such as 'L'Arlequin ou la parade' (109 × 87 cm, sold €1,500 at MJV Soudant in 2022) or 'Jeune femme au chignon' (85 × 52 cm, sold €1,000 at MJV Soudant in 2025) provides a direct comparable for signed figurative oil paintings of similar scale. Works on paper — pastels like 'Le chapeau orange' (74 × 54 cm, €600) or ink nudes dated 1966–1969 (€200–€300) — form a lower tier. Editioned prints numbered to 100–180 impressions trade at €80–€220. Provenance adds value: one recent lot at MJV Soudant was authenticated by the artist's son Marc Somville, and another carried provenance noting it was acquired directly from the artist. Appraisals should match against same-medium, similar-dimension comparables within the last five years and adjust for condition, signature presence, and any exhibition or publication history. ### Valuation factors - Medium and support — oil on canvas commands a substantial premium over works on paper and prints; pastels sit in a middle tier - Dimensions — larger figurative compositions (80 cm+ on the longest side) achieve multiples of the median price - Provenance and authentication — works authenticated by the artist's estate or bearing documented provenance (e.g., acquired directly from the artist) carry added value - Edition size for prints — lithographs numbered to 20 impressions (e.g., 'Portrait', 1/20) are scarcer than editions of 100–180 and may trade at a premium within the print tier - Period and date — works from the 1960s and 1970s appear frequently in recent sales; dating a work can help place it within the comparable set - Condition and signature — signed works are the norm in this market; condition reports from Belgian auction houses should be requested before valuation - Auction-house tier — top results cluster at established Belgian salerooms (MJV Soudant, Cornette de Saint-Cyr-Bruxelles, Bernaerts); results from smaller houses or non-European venues may reflect different buyer pools ### Collector notes - Somville's market is liquid and accessible. With 20–22 lots appearing at auction each year, buyers have regular opportunities to acquire works across price tiers. Prints and small works on paper offer entry points starting around €80–€200. Mid-range collectors will find signed pastels and ink drawings in the €300–€600 range, while oil paintings on canvas typically start around €1,000 for mid-size figurative compositions. The market is overwhelmingly Belgian, so collectors outside Europe may encounter fewer listings and should factor in shipping and import considerations. Sellers benefit from the steady turnover: consigning to one of the top-ten Belgian houses (especially Maison Jules Veilinghuis, MJV Soudant, or Bernaerts) maximizes exposure to the core buyer pool. Authentication by the artist's estate is available — at least one recent lot was confirmed by Marc Somville — and should be pursued for higher-value paintings to strengthen provenance. ### Market caveats - The €310,000 maximum price is an extreme outlier; the 75th percentile is €900 and the median is €400, which are far more representative of the typical market - Price data is primarily in EUR from Belgian salerooms; the single USD-denominated result ($1,400 at Broward Auction Gallery in 2020) reflects a different buyer pool and should not be directly compared without currency adjustment - Several recent lots (about 8 of 24 in the recent sample) have no price-realised value, which may indicate buy-ins, withdrawals, or post-sale private negotiations not captured in the data - No museum or institutional acquisition records were available in the source pack; this limits visibility into the upper end of the market where private or institutional sales may exceed auction results - Category labels were not consistently populated in the auction records (most recent lots show null category); the assigned categories are inferred from lot titles, medium descriptions, and the existing profile ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/roger-somville/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-portrait-lithographie-signee-au-crayon-et-numerotee-1-20-dimensions-53-x-37-cm-211-c-db9ce091a8 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-belgium-1923-2014-oil-painting-50-c-81b44e7ad0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-wash-ink-drawing-nude-signed-and-dated-1969-1040-c-a21c7f2dfd - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-1605-c-7acbbead75 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-276-c-8f8aaa68f8 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-lithographs-2-deux-personnages-et-une-coupe-8-125-femme-au-mirroir-16-100-signed-vic-gentils-1919-1997-silkscreen-7-125-signed-and-bernard-cathelin-1919-2004-silksscreen-8-1-1071-c-a634e37b8f - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-1247-c-c734a6a9da - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-roger-somville-1923-2014-portrait-of-a-lady-jef-van-tuerenhout-1926-2006-lady-with-bare-bosom-lithographs-in-colours-898-c-d4f4d37ae0 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from library authority files and museum databases with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Roger Somville, identity data is drawn from the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Getty ULAN, RKD, VIAF, and Wikidata. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87856903 - RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/73902 - Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500084648 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/46769158/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3439464 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Somville