Abraham Gerardus Van Velde

Do you own a piece by Bram van Velde and would you like to know more about the work and its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your painting, provide you with an estimate of the market price, and help you to sell it at the best price.

Status, price and estimation of the artist Abraham Gerardus van Velde

Price of a painting: 480 – 540,000 €

Price of a drawing: 1 400 – 260,000 €.

Estimation of a print: 40 – 2 100 €.

If you would like to have a work by Abraham Gerardus van Velde appraised, our experts will take care of everything.

From interior design to the Salon des Indépendants

Abraham Gerardus van Velde, whose real name is Abraham Gerardus van Velde, is a Dutch painter and lithographer born in Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands in 1895. Born into a family whose father went bankrupt, the latter abandoned his family, leaving them in an economic misery that had a great impact on Bram’s life. The only moments of happiness he experienced during his childhood were those related to art and drawing.

He began working in the arts when he was hired as an apprentice in 1907 with the interior design firm Schaijk & Kramers. Encouraged to persevere by his boss and his son, an art collector, they became his patrons until 1934. After the First World War, he continued painting and decorating buildings and then joined the Mauritshuis in The Hague to copy the old masters. Van Velde travelled thanks to a pension paid to him by Kramers and then joined a circle of expressionist artists in the town of Worpswede in Germany. He thus entered the artistic modernity of his time. Van Velde then moved to Belleville, where he was successful with several exhibitions. In particular, he joined the Salon des Indépendants de Paris where he exhibited on numerous occasions until 1941 and discovered the work of Matisse and Picasso during this same period. He married a German artist, Lilly, who died during the Spanish Civil War. Later, he meets Marthe Arnaud, who allows him to meet his future friend Samuel Beckett.

A commercial failure…

Van Velde created his own graphic language in 1939, producing one of his three gouaches that characterise his work. Exhausted, he stopped painting in 1941 and only resumed painting in 1945. He had a solo exhibition the following year, which was a bitter failure for the artist. Nevertheless, he signed a contract with the famous and important Maeght Gallery in Paris in 1947 and exhibited the following year in New York, although it was still not a commercial success. Maeght eventually broke his contract with the gallery due to accumulated commercial failures. Van Velde even stopped painting for a year. It was not until 1958 that he had his first museum retrospective at the Kunsthalle in Bern.

… followed by international recognition

From 1961 onwards, Van Velde finally achieved commercial success, during which time it held a series of exhibitions. A film about him was made by Jean-Michel Meurice and he was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1964. The Netherlands also awarded him with the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1969. He subsequently received numerous awards. In 1973 he produced his famous large gouaches in the Chapelle-sur-Carouge, embodying his latest “wild” expansion of colour.

Recognising Bram van Velde’s signature

Like many artists, Bram van Velde did not sign all of his works. However, you will find below an example of the signatures to give you an idea. Variations of these signatures do exist, do not hesitate to contact one of our experts to formally authenticate a signature.

Appraise and sell a painting by Bram van Velde

If you own a Bram van Velde painting or any other sculpture, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your painting. In the event of a sale, our specialists will also advise you on the various options available to sell your work at the best price.