# Ufan Lee artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/ufan-lee/
Profile generated: 2026-05-07T04:50:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1936-06-24
- Nationality: South Korean
- Movements: Mono-ha (School of Things), Minimalism
- Common media: painting, sculpture

## About Ufan Lee

Lee Ufan, born June 24, 1936, in Kyŏngsang-namdo, South Korea, is a painter, sculptor, and philosopher of art who has lived and worked primarily in Japan since 1956. He is the leading theorist and central figure associated with Mono-ha, a Japanese art movement of the late 1960s and 1970s that emphasized raw materials—stone, steel, glass, rope—and their encounter with surrounding space rather than formal composition. His best-known bodies of work include the From Point and From Line painting series, built from repeated single brushstrokes of mineral pigment, and the Relatum sculptures, which place boulders and industrial plates in dialog. Lee Ufan also taught art theory at the University of Tokyo and has written extensively on phenomenology, critiquing Western rationalist traditions from an East Asian philosophical standpoint. His work is held by major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Lee Ufan's mineral-pigment-on-canvas paintings from the From Point, From Line, and From Wind series, characterized by repeated gestural brushstrokes that trail off across blank grounds. His three-dimensional Relatum works—pairs or groups of natural stone and manufactured steel plates arranged on gallery floors—are also widely exhibited and sold. Smaller-scale sculptures, works on paper, early drawings, and editions or prints based on his painting motifs appear at auction as well. Site-specific installations, while not typically portable for resale, contribute to his institutional profile and influence the market standing of his movable works.

## Market and appraisal context

Lee Ufan maintains a deep and internationally distributed auction market spanning more than two decades, with 366 recorded lots and 303 priced results dating from September 2002 through December 2025. The price distribution is wide: the minimum recorded price is $260, the 25th percentile is $45,000, the median is $253,000, the 75th percentile is $900,000, and the maximum is $11,265,000. Liquidity is stable, with 25 lots offered in the trailing twelve months and 27 in the prior twelve-month period. Major international houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, Artcurial, and Koller Auctions—regularly feature Lee Ufan works alongside specialist Asian auctioneers including Mallet Auction, SBI Art Auction Co., Ltd., and New Art Est-Ouest Auctions. Recent 2025 results illustrate the stratification: a large From Winds oil and mineral pigment on canvas (86 × 114 in.) achieved $1,524,000 at Christie's New York, a From Line painting brought €2,012,000 at Christie's Paris, a From Point painting realized HK$2,032,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, and a Correspondence canvas made $457,200 at Christie's New York, while smaller or later works traded as low as $750–$5,000 at regional houses such as Berkeley Auction Gallery and Germann Auction House. Works are sold in USD, EUR, CHF, HKD, and JPY, reflecting a genuinely global collector base across North America, Europe, and Asia.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Lee Ufan maintains a deep and internationally distributed auction market spanning more than two decades, with 366 recorded lots and 303 priced results dating from September 2002 through December 2025. The price distribution is wide: the minimum recorded price is $260, the 25th percentile is $45,000, the median is $253,000, the 75th percentile is $900,000, and the maximum is $11,265,000. Liquidity is stable, with 25 lots offered in the trailing twelve months and 27 in the prior twelve-month period. Major international houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, Bonhams, Artcurial, and Koller Auctions—regularly feature Lee Ufan works alongside specialist Asian auctioneers including Mallet Auction, SBI Art Auction Co., Ltd., and New Art Est-Ouest Auctions. Recent 2025 results illustrate the stratification: a large From Winds oil and mineral pigment on canvas (86 × 114 in.) achieved $1,524,000 at Christie's New York, a From Line painting brought €2,012,000 at Christie's Paris, a From Point painting realized HK$2,032,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, and a Correspondence canvas made $457,200 at Christie's New York, while smaller or later works traded as low as $750–$5,000 at regional houses such as Berkeley Auction Gallery and Germann Auction House. Works are sold in USD, EUR, CHF, HKD, and JPY, reflecting a genuinely global collector base across North America, Europe, and Asia.

### Appraisal notes

An appraisal of a Lee Ufan work would begin by identifying the specific series (From Point, From Line, From Winds, Correspondence, Dialogue, Relatum, or others), date, medium, and dimensions, then select comparable lots from the 366 recorded results, filtering for same series, similar scale, and same medium. Photographs should document brushstroke density, pigment condition (flaking or fading is a known concern with mineral pigment on canvas), and any signature or inscription. Provenance research should trace gallery or museum exhibition history, as works with documented inclusion in Mono-ha surveys or shows at recognized institutions carry stronger attribution and value support. Edition details matter for prints or multiples. The wide price range means that even among works from the same series, size and date can shift the expected value by an order of magnitude, so narrow comparable selection is essential. Currency conversion should be applied at the sale date for any cross-region comparables denominated in EUR, CHF, HKD, or JPY.

### Valuation factors

- Series identification is the primary value driver: From Point, From Line, and From Winds paintings in oil and mineral pigment on canvas, and Correspondence and Dialogue series works, each carry distinct market expectations; Relatum sculptural installations occupy a separate segment
- Scale strongly affects value: large-format canvases (e.g., 86 × 114 in.) have achieved seven-figure results at Christie's, while smaller works on paper or prints from the same period trade in the low thousands
- Medium: oil and mineral pigment on canvas is the most recognized and highest-selling medium; works in other media or on paper trade at lower price points
- Date and period: earlier works from the 1970s Mono-ha period and the foundational From Line/From Point series tend to command premiums over later series repetitions
- Condition of mineral pigment: fading, flaking, or surface degradation can materially affect value given the delicate nature of the medium
- Provenance and exhibition history: works with documented exhibition records from major museums or inclusion in Mono-ha survey shows carry stronger attribution and price support
- Auction house tier: results from Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips establish the strongest comparable benchmarks; regional house results may reflect different buyer pools and should be weighted accordingly
- Geographic market: works sold in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, and New York may realize different prices due to regional demand, and currency conversion timing affects comparable analysis

### Collector notes

- Lee Ufan's auction market is one of the most liquid among living Post-War and Contemporary Asian artists, with dozens of lots offered annually across at least ten auction houses worldwide. The very wide price range—from a few hundred dollars for small works on paper to over $11 million for major paintings—means that buyers should be specific about series, date, dimensions, and condition when assessing fair value. Smaller works such as prints or drawings from the From Line and From Point motifs are accessible entry points, but their resale trajectory differs from that of large mineral-pigment canvases. Collectors selling through a major international house (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips) should expect stronger results for significant paintings, while smaller works may perform comparably at specialist Asian auctioneers such as Mallet Auction or SBI Art Auction. Provenance documentation and condition reports are particularly important given the fragility of mineral pigment surfaces. The stable lot volume year over year (25 vs. 27 in consecutive twelve-month periods) suggests consistent demand without oversupply.

### Market caveats

- Prices are reported in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, CHF, HKD, JPY) and are not normalized; currency conversion at the sale date should be applied before direct price comparison
- Lot titles in the auction record are often abbreviated or generic (e.g., 'LEE UFAN' without series or dimension detail); appraisal comparables should be verified against full catalogue entries
- Some recent lots at Sothe's Hong Kong show null price-realized values, indicating either bought-in lots or results not yet reported; absence of a price does not indicate market weakness
- The minimum recorded price of $260 and low-end results at regional houses may reflect prints, works on paper, or small editions rather than prime paintings; category and medium should be confirmed
- The 366-lot dataset aggregates results across more than two decades; older results may not reflect current market conditions for the same series and scale
- Auction results represent hammer or premium prices as reported by the source feed and may include buyer's premium where applicable; confirm the price basis before using a result as a comparable

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/ufan-lee/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable / Koller Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lee-ufan-3404-c-f6aa684872
- Invaluable / Santa Fe Art Auction: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lee-ufan-from-line-3-1977-132-c-2194a388ce
- Invaluable / Koller Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-lee-ufan-3482-c-ff444a4a12

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine independent artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Lee Ufan, this page draws on sources including the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, and the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n88091654
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/20244189/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q399775
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Ufan
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6835
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/lee-ufan-2640
- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/222727