# Wilhelm von Kobell artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/wilhelm-von-kobell/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T20:33:11.609Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1766-04-06
- Death date: 1853-07-15
- Nationality: German
- Movements: Late 18th- to mid-19th-century German painting; associated with the Kobell family workshop tradition in Munich and the Bavarian court
- Common media: oil painting, watercolor, engraving, printmaking, drawing, reproductive printmaking

## About Wilhelm von Kobell

Wilhelm von Kobell (1766–1853) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who served as a court painter in Bavaria. Born in Mannheim on April 6, 1766, he came from a prominent artistic family: his father Ferdinand Kobell and his cousin Franz Innocenz Kobell were both established painters. Wilhelm trained within this family workshop tradition and became known for his oil paintings, watercolors, engravings, and reproductive prints. His work spans landscapes, animal subjects, and battle scenes, reflecting the late 18th- and early 19th-century German court milieu. Over 600 works are documented in the RKD images database, and he is recorded as both a teacher and a prolific printmaker. His monogram, WK, appears on many works that surface at auction.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter von Kobell's landscape paintings in oil, battle-scene compositions, animal studies, watercolor landscapes, pen-and-ink drawings, and reproductive engravings after other Old Masters. Prints are typically etchings or engravings, sometimes monogrammed WK. Works range from small cabinet paintings to larger canvases. Drawings and watercolors on paper are well-represented in institutional collections and at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Wilhelm von Kobell's works appear regularly in the Old Master Paintings and Old Master Prints and Drawings categories at auction. His oil paintings of landscapes and battle scenes tend to attract the strongest interest, while reproductive engravings after other artists are more commonly available and priced accordingly. Attribution can be complicated by the Kobell family workshop: father Ferdinand and cousin Franz Innocenz worked in similar genres and mediums, so careful connoisseurship is important. Condition, provenance (especially any link to Bavarian court collections), and whether a work is an original composition versus a reproductive print all affect appraisal outcomes. The artist's works on paper survive in varying condition, which can significantly influence value.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and institutional databases with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Wilhelm von Kobell, identity data is grounded in the Getty ULAN authority file, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/233617
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q878197
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032037
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/287497126/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Kobell