Rating and value of drawings and paintings by Arbit Blatas

Arbit Blatas’s paintings and drawings sell for up to €15,500 at auction. An appraisal allows us to accurately determine the current market value of your Arbit Blatas artwork and, if applicable, optimize the sale of the piece.

If you own a work by Arbit Blatas and would like to know its value, our state-certified auctioneers will provide a free appraisal based on authenticity, market rating, and recent market results.

Artist’s Market Value and
Reputation

A leading figure of the École de Paris, Arbit Blatas is known for his figurative paintings and numerous seascapes. The market value of his works was high during his lifetime, and Blatas established himself as a safe bet in the art market.

Highly prized by collectors, his oil-on-canvas paintings are the most popular at auction and can fetch tens of thousands of euros.

A case in point is his 1954 painting *Village Square in Ceret*, which sold for €11,800 in 2008, despite an estimate of between €10,000 and €14,000.

Ranking of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

Placing the Artist in Context

Period

Arbit Blatas, the pseudonym of Nicolai Arbitblatas (1908–1999), was an artist born in Lithuania who died in New York. His career thus spanned nearly the entire 20th century, reflecting its major turning points: modernist avant-garde movements, World War II, exile, and reconstruction.

His career is structured into three distinct geographical and biographical phases: a formative period in Central Europe, a pivotal period in Paris, and then a forced exile in the United States. The Parisian phase was formative: 1925 marked his arrival in Paris, where he settled in Montparnasse.

He immediately integrated into the artistic circles of the interwar period and joined the artists of the École de Paris, of whom he was, at age 21, the youngest member. In 1941, he fled occupied France and settled in the United States, marking the end of his European period.

Artistic Movements

Blatas is primarily associated with the École de Paris and its Expressionist movement: his traditional figurative work is rooted in the deeply poignant Expressionist style characteristic of Central European countries, marked by a dense impasto and light captured by the texture of the oil paint.

His network of artistic friendships attests to his deep roots in the avant-garde: drawn to Paris, he reunited with his Lithuanian Jewish friends such as Kikoine and Soutine, and quickly formed bonds with Matisse, Chagall, and Foujita.

He attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi, where he studied with Othon Friesz and André Lhote, both leading figures of Post-Cubism and the “Return to Order” movement. His thematic repertoire is rooted in a humanist figurative tradition.

His work as a portrait sculptor constitutes a complementary dimension of his body of work. In 1976, following the advice of André Malraux, the Musée de l’Orangerie acquired a bronze sculpture depicting the painter Soutine. In 1990, the artist donated 41 portraits of artists from the École de Paris to the Musée des Années 30 in Boulogne-Billancourt.

The Life of Arbit Blatas

Cultural Background

Arbit Blatas was born to parents who were piano dealers; he grew up in an environment that was both cultured and religiously strict. His deeply devout father considered the depiction of images to be sacrilegious and severely punished his son’s artistic passion, creating a fundamental tension between Jewish tradition and his calling as a painter.

He fled the Communist Revolution to Germany in 1921, where he studied in Berlin, Munich, and Dresden, before moving to Paris in 1925—a path of exile typical of Jewish artists from Central Europe. At age 21, he became the youngest member of the École de Paris, a cosmopolitan network of foreign artists who transformed Paris into the world capital of the avant-garde.

Beginning in 1929, he exhibited regularly at the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Tuileries, and at age 24, the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume acquired his first paintings—an early institutional recognition for such a young artist.

Artistic and Intellectual Circle

Settling in Montparnasse on Rue de la Gaîté, he met Sylvia Satenstein, whom he would marry in 1933, and quickly became part of the neighborhood’s dense network of studios and cafés. At the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi, he studied notably with Othon Friesz and André Lhote.

He worked with Suzanne Valadon, of whom he was a student, and at the same time became a friend of the Utrillo family—a connection that linked him to a French tradition of popular Expressionist painting, distinct from the Central European Jewish movement.

Arbit Blatas' Techniques

The Artist’s Style

Arbit Blatas is part of the École de Paris movement, with an expressionist influence. His artistic training is diverse and transcends national boundaries. His dense impasto, broad brushstrokes, and the light captured by the oil paint’s texture are accentuated by backlighting, creating an immediate, spontaneous style.

His body of work reveals a predilection for human figures and scenes of everyday life; portraits, nudes, and scenes from daily life are his most frequently depicted subjects, rendered in brown and earthy tones, revealing a constant focus on the psychology of his subjects and the capture of the moment.

Blatas also designed opera sets and costumes for several opera productions, including *Carmen*, *Elektra*, and *Faust*—creations inspired by his marriage to Regina Resnik.

Spotlight on a Key Work

*Le Dôme*, 1938, oil on canvas

*Le Dôme* is a painting depicting the leading figures of the School of Paris, notably Soutine, Kokoïne, Krémègne, Mané-Katz, Lipchitz, and Blatas himself, set in a place steeped in cultural significance and a major gathering spot for the Parisian avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s.

Painted in 1938, at a time when anti-Semitic persecution was intensifying across Europe, the work takes on, in retrospect, the significance of a final gathering on the verge of disappearing. Blatas opts for a composition in the style of a visual chronicle, in which each face is captured in its expressive individuality.

By including himself among the figures depicted, Blatas affirms his full and complete belonging to the School of Paris, while also making a reflexive gesture (painting the very milieu in which he paints).

FAQ – How do you appraise a work by Arbit Blatas?

1) Which categories of works are most sought after by collectors?

His body of work is divided into several thematic series, each with varying market values. The portraits from the École de Paris constitute the most iconic and best-documented series. Next come the “Theepenny Opera” series, as well as landscapes and scenes from Venice, Céret, and Collioure. 

2) At what price points do Blatas’s works sell at auction?

The price of a painting signed by Arbit Blatas typically ranges from €230 to €12,000. Prints are the least expensive works, ranging from €50 to €1,500. Drawings and watercolors generally sell for between €200 and €2,500, compared to €700 to €6,000 for a sculpture. 

3) Does the provenance of a Blatas work play a significant role in its valuation?

Due to his personal connections with the greatest artists of the École de Paris, a work coming directly from the circle of Chagall, Soutine, or Lipchitz—or from a collection assembled by one of his close associates—holds significant documentary value.

His Signature

Not all of Arbit Blatas’s works are signed.

Although there are variations, here is an example of his signature:

Get Your Arbit Blatas Artwork Appraised

If you own a work by Arbit Blatas, an appraisal will help you determine its current market value.

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