Pierre Soulages Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

Soulages' current auction record was set at Sotheby's New York in November 2021 by Peinture 185 x 130cm, 4 Août 1961 (1961), when it achieved over 150% of its high estimate. The sale marked the painting’s first appearance since its last purchase in 1989. Its monumental size is typical of Soulages' mature style, as are its bold black brushstrokes with red undertones creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. The work was created during a pivotal year in Soulages' career, following his first retrospective at Museum Folkwang in Essen, West Germany in 1960, which then travelled to the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague and the Kunsthaus in Zürich amidst growing international recognition. Its successful sale marked a significant milestone in Soulages' market, surpassing his previous record by more than £5M and cementing his position among the most commercially significant post-war European artists.

This oil painting achieved its impressive result at Christie's New York in November 2018, and captures Soulages' sophisticated exploration of gesture and scale at the height of his creative powers. His use of black paint takes on an almost sculptural quality, with dynamic zones of light, dark, and colour. The painting’s strong performance at auction is also reflective of its interesting provenance: it was acquired directly from the artist upon completion and has remained in private collections without public exhibition ever since. As a result, its appearance at auction in 2018 was an exciting moment for Soulages collectors.

Selling at Tajan Paris in November 2019, this large-scale canvas from 1960 represents one of Soulages' most compelling explorations of his signature black palette. The work showcases his revolutionary approach to abstraction, with thick, gestural brushstrokes creating a complex network of light-reflecting and light-absorbing surfaces. This painting was created during a particularly productive period when Soulages was experimenting with increasingly bold architectural compositions. Its exhibition history includes museums and galleries in Texas, Tokyo, Paris, and Berlin from the 1960s to the 1990s. Its impressive scale and dramatic presence exemplify the characteristics that would later influence his development of the Outrenoir (beyond black) series, though this work predates that development by nearly two decades.

This 1960 oil painting achieved its notable price at Christie's London in October 2019. Like all of Soulages’ most sought-after works, it demonstrates the artist’s understanding of the relationship between light and dark. Its composition is almost rhythmic, absorbing and reflecting light in precise but spontaneous ways. The work’s slightly smaller scale compared to other works from this period made it easier to transport, leading to its exhibition at more than 10 venues since its creation. The strong result at auction in 2019 reflected a growing appreciation for Soulages’ artworks that has characterised the art market in recent years.

This work from 1962 achieved its result at Sotheby's Paris in June 2017 and is another example of the popularity of Soulages’ works from this period - when his raclage technique was fully developed. Raclage involved dragging a homemade spatula across thick brushstrokes of tar-like black paint to remove some of the pigment and reveal the colour or canvas beneath. This particular painting illustrates more of this paint-removal than others, revealing almost translucent layers of thinned paint. It was created at a time when Soulages was receiving significant international recognition, something that is evident in both the confident experimentation of the piece and also its provenance. It was originally gifted by Soulages to Mr and Mrs Samuel Kootz, the owners of Kootz Gallery. The gallery hosted Soulages’ first solo New York exhibition in 1954, and subsequent shows in 1956 and 1965, helping to boost his profile on the American art scene.

This 1963 canvas was sold at Sotheby's Paris on 25th October 2022, the exact day Pierre Soulages passed away, at age 102. The artist was reportedly still painting just weeks before his death. The work features his characteristic broad, black brushstrokes but introduces a more complex layering technique that would become increasingly important in his later practice. Rather than being punctuated by the removal of black paint, most of the painting’s unique character comes from the reapplication of black paint. The piece, like much of Soulages’ work, was first exhibited at Kootz Gallery in 1964.

At the time of this work’s creation, in 1956, Soulages was just beginning to establish his now-synonymous style of gestural painting with thick black brushstrokes. This piece, therefore, forms a significant part of Soulages’ artistic history. Its composition is more calligraphic than Soulages’ later works and uses a darker, more textural background. It achieved this top 10 auction result at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2022, almost quadrupling its 2011 sale price of £1.1M and delivering a significant return on investment. Notably, the work was incorrectly listed in Pierre Encrevé's catalogue raisonné as “3 Septembre 1956.”

This powerful composition achieved its result at Christie's Paris Avant-Garde sale in October 2020. The painting showcases Soulages’ iconic use of thick, dark brushstrokes against an empty background, but with a rich and luminous blue, rather than his usual black paint. Unexpected strokes of white paint are also visible underneath. Created in 1961, the same year as the current record-holder, this canvas reflects Soulages' full artistic maturity and technical sophistication. Its strong performance at auction, particularly during the challenges of the global pandemic, underscored the enduring appeal of works from this pivotal period in his career.

Achieving this notable result at Sotheby's Paris in December 2016, this 1958 work represents Soulages' growing confidence in his self-devised processes. These processes are perhaps more visible in this painting than in many others - countless layers of application and removal of paint can be seen as the work builds up to its top-layer darkest brushstrokes. The subtle gold elements simply add to this feeling of almost architectural depth. The piece was one of the first created in the house Soulages and his wife Colette designed and built in Sète, in the South of France, and was featured in Soulages’ first US solo exhibition at Kootz Gallery in 1959.

Selling at Christie's London in June 2013, this significant canvas from 1959 exemplifies Soulages' practised manipulation of scale and gesture. Like Peinture 162 x 130cm, 9 Juillet 1961 (1961), the composition is built around the unique translucency and luminosity of a phthalo-like blue paint - a pigment that responds slightly differently to Soulages’ raclage technique than his usual black. The striking white canvas again differs from the textural off-white or cream that is used in many of the works on this list. The sale of this painting in 2013 marked an important shift in Soulages’ market. It established a strong benchmark for his large-scale works from the late 1950s and early 1960s, and kickstarted more than a decade of significant sales and high value increase.