# Samuel Hyde Harris artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/samuel-hyde-harris/
Profile generated: 2026-05-10T02:45:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1889-02-02
- Death date: 1977-05-30
- Nationality: American
- Movements: California Impressionism, Society for Sanity in Art
- Common media: oil painting, commercial illustration

## About Samuel Hyde Harris

Samuel Hyde Harris (1889–1977) was a British-born American painter and commercial artist best known for impressionist landscapes of Southern California. Born in Brentford, England, Harris emigrated to the United States in 1904 and trained at the Art Students League and Cannon Art School in Los Angeles. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he built a dual reputation as an accomplished plein-air landscape painter and a successful commercial illustrator. Harris was an active member of the California Art Club and the Society for Sanity in Art, organizations that championed representational painting during periods when modernist abstraction dominated critical attention. His canvases capture the light, coastlines, hillsides, and industrial harbors of twentieth-century California with a distinctive atmospheric warmth. Collectors encounter Harris's work primarily through Southern California gallery exhibitions and regional auction markets specializing in early California painting.

## Common works and media

Harris worked primarily in oil on canvas and board, producing plein-air landscapes, harbor and industrial scenes, coastal views, and pastoral California countryside subjects. He also created commercial illustrations, posters, and advertising art. Common subjects include Southern California harbors, rolling hills, eucalyptus groves, and atmospheric studies of the region's distinctive light. Works on paper and smaller oil sketches also appear on the market alongside his larger exhibition-scale canvases.

## Market and appraisal context

Samuel Hyde Harris has a steady regional auction presence with 70 recorded lots spanning 2008–2025, of which 26 carry realized prices. The price distribution is moderately wide: $125 at the low end to $3,000 at the high end, with a median of $1,100 and an interquartile range of $400–$1,600. This places Harris firmly in the active mid-range of early California Impressionist painters. His strongest prices come from characteristic Southern California subjects—coastal and harbor scenes realized $2,750 (Ensenada, Abell Auction, Mar 2025) and $750 (Dry Dock, Abell Auction, Dec 2024)—while generic mountain landscapes and smaller works on paper tend toward the lower end of the range. The market shows modestly increasing liquidity, with 5 lots in the most recent 12-month period versus 3 in the prior 12 months. The bulk of activity runs through regional houses: Abell Auction (Los Angeles), Broward Auction Gallery (Florida), and Grant Zahajko Auctions, with occasional appearances at nationally recognized houses including Heritage Auctions and Hindman. Woodcuts and works on paper trade at a significant discount to oil paintings ($150–$275 versus $900–$2,750 for oils), indicating clear medium-driven price stratification.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Samuel Hyde Harris has a steady regional auction presence with 70 recorded lots spanning 2008–2025, of which 26 carry realized prices. The price distribution is moderately wide: $125 at the low end to $3,000 at the high end, with a median of $1,100 and an interquartile range of $400–$1,600. This places Harris firmly in the active mid-range of early California Impressionist painters. His strongest prices come from characteristic Southern California subjects—coastal and harbor scenes realized $2,750 (Ensenada, Abell Auction, Mar 2025) and $750 (Dry Dock, Abell Auction, Dec 2024)—while generic mountain landscapes and smaller works on paper tend toward the lower end of the range. The market shows modestly increasing liquidity, with 5 lots in the most recent 12-month period versus 3 in the prior 12 months. The bulk of activity runs through regional houses: Abell Auction (Los Angeles), Broward Auction Gallery (Florida), and Grant Zahajko Auctions, with occasional appearances at nationally recognized houses including Heritage Auctions and Hindman. Woodcuts and works on paper trade at a significant discount to oil paintings ($150–$275 versus $900–$2,750 for oils), indicating clear medium-driven price stratification.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use the 70-lot auction record as a comparable-sales baseline, cross-referencing the subject's medium, dimensions, signature, condition, and provenance against the priced lot history. Oil paintings of harbor, coastal, and industrial scenes by Harris carry the strongest comparable support, with multiple realized prices between $900 and $2,750. Smaller oil-on-board works and works on paper (woodcuts) have a separate, lower value tier ($125–$300). An appraisal report would factor in: (1) whether the work is oil on canvas/board versus work on paper; (2) subject matter—harbor and coastal scenes command premiums over generic landscapes; (3) size and exhibition-scale quality; (4) condition and restoration history; (5) documented provenance linking to the artist's California period; and (6) signature verification, since unsigned or poorly documented attributions require specialist review. The regional auction concentration means comparable data from California and Western U.S. houses is most relevant, with Abell Auction and Broward Auction Gallery providing the deepest comparable pools.

### Valuation factors

- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]

### Collector notes

- Harris occupies an accessible entry point within California Impressionism, with a median auction price of $1,100. Collectors seeking his characteristic harbor and coastal oil paintings should expect to compete in the $900–$2,750 range at regional auction. Works on paper and woodcuts offer a lower-cost entry at $150–$275. The market is moderately liquid—typically 3–5 lots per year at auction—so patience may be needed to find specific subjects. Buying through California-specialist houses (Abell, California Auctioneers) typically yields better-condition works with stronger provenance documentation than general-estate sales. Sellers should note that harbor and coastal subjects attract the widest buyer interest, while generic mountain landscapes and smaller works on paper may require more competitive reserve pricing. The modest uptick in annual lot volume (from 3 to 5) suggests stable or gently growing collector demand.

### Market caveats

- Only 26 of 70 recorded lots carry realized prices; unsold and price-not-disclosed lots are excluded from the distribution, which may inflate the observed median.
- Harris's commercial illustration output is a separate collecting category from his fine-art oil landscapes and carries a different and generally lower market profile.
- The auction record is concentrated among regional general-estate houses rather than specialist California art dealers, which may underrepresent the top end of the market where gallery retail prices exceed auction results.
- Unsigned or poorly documented works attributed to Harris should be reviewed by a specialist in early California painting before valuation.
- Works appearing at nationally recognized houses (Heritage, Hindman) are infrequent and may not be representative of the broader regional market.
- Woodcuts and prints are documented in recent lots but represent a small sample; the price tier for this medium should be confirmed against additional records.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/samuel-hyde-harris/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-470-c-a6c480eb17
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-420-c-47347ae911
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-on-board-411-c-59a441db20
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-343-c-b0a45339bc
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-342-c-2ae427b953
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-on-board-371-c-27a47ecb85
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-340-c-1bf4a5bae6
- Invaluable: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-samuel-hyde-harris-ca-1889-1977-oil-painting-339-c-352413bbd8

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library, and authority sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Samuel Hyde Harris, identity data is drawn from the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, Wikidata, and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History. Market observations reference public auction records and regional California art market sources where available.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80163956
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/48074942/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q43131271
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/36140
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hyde_Harris
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500199468