Rating and value of paintings by Hans Bouman

If you own a work by or after the artist Hans Bouman, and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will offer you their appraisal services.

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Rating and value of artist Hans Bouman

Hans Bouman, an important artist of abstraction, has produced paintings and drawings that circulate regularly on the art market. He has also produced films.

Concerning the four categories mentioned below, the prices at which these works were sold ranged from €20 to €4,120, a considerable delta but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to the artist's works.

In this instance, an Untitled painting dominated by red and black dating from 1990 sold for €4,120.

Order of value ranging from a simple work to the most prestigious

Hans Bouman's style and technique

Hans Bouman is a Dutch painter who has lived in Paris since 1980. In his work, he uses recurring themes such as hieratic heads, floating bodies and anthropomorphic figures on the edge of abstraction.

He paints bodies that seem to float in space, wanting to escape the confines of the canvas. His aesthetic is marked by a strong pictorial material, with thick impasto, reliefs and superimpositions of layers, with the emphasis on a physical presence of paint.

In his bodies, faces and silhouettes, there is a constant return to the motif of the " visage-masque " or the " tête-totem ", evoking both African masks and the Moaï statues of Easter Island.

His work alternates between abstraction and troubled figuration. Some works come close to recognizable portraits. Others veer towards the symbolic, the archetypal or the mythological.

His travels in Africa (Burkina-Faso, Cameroon) exert a definite influence on his work, with an immersion in the imaginary forms and materials of these regions irrigating his sculptures and paintings.

The mediums are varied, with oil paint, mixed techniques, printmaking and drawing. He works on the surface, applying successive layers, reliefs, rubs and hollows, scraping gestures to create a dense texture. Matter becomes as much subject as form.

He creates formal patterns with a large format for face-masks (162 x 130 cm for FACES, 1987). He incorporates elements of engraving and uses digital processes in certain work cycles.

He also creates sculptures in bronze and wood, creating a link between painting-relief and three-dimensional space. He often uses neutral backgrounds to allow the figures to stand out, and uses brighter or accentuated hues for body matter or the mask-face.

Bouman's style is in continuity with gestural expressionism, with a strong awareness of materiality. His technical approach shows a hybridization between media (painting, engraving, video) and cultures (West, Africa, Asia).

The question of mask-faces can be brought closer to series by Francis Bacon, Jean Remlinger, Jean Fautrier or face masks by Pablo Picasso (post-war).

Hans Bouman's life

Hans Bouman was born in 1951 in Haarlem, the Netherlands. He graduated from the Amsterdam Graphic School and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam (1978). He moved to Paris in the early 1980s, which marked the start of his international career.

He was awarded the Prix de peinture at the 31st Salon de Montrouge in 1986, which opened the doors to galleries. In addition to painting, he creates sculptures, engravings and experimental videos, and takes part in artistic sojourns in Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon) and China.

He works in a studio in Paris and a second studio in the Loiret region, enabling him to combine urban life with immersion in nature. His work can be found in a number of institutions, including the Museum Haarlem in the Netherlands, and others in China and Luxembourg.

In the 1980s, he moved to Paris and his first solo exhibitions were held at Galerie Vanuxem and other Parisian galleries. In the 1990s and 2000s, he began a cycle of works exploring the figuration of the mask-face, the hieratic figure and bronze sculptures.

In the 2010s, he took part in several artistic residencies in China and created monumental pieces for Sino-French projects. From 2020 onwards, he continues to exhibit in Europe (Luxembourg, France) and monographs are published.

Market segmentation and artist's rating

Hans Bouman's works on the market are oils or mixed media, large or medium format, drawings, lithographs, prints or smaller accessible works.

Typical buyers are contemporary art galleries, individual collectors interested in post-war/actual art, as well as some institutions.

The geography of sales is divided between France, the Netherlands, with a possible export to Asia, notably due to the artist's stays and residencies in China and Burkina Faso, which enhance his visibility.

Valuation factors are creation date, format, technique, condition and provenance (solo exhibitions in Paris, Luxembourg). Bouman's " tête-masque " motif is a valued visual signature.

Small or secondary works constitute the access segment. Major works (large format, series " Visages ", sculptures constitute the premium segment. However, the segments remain poorly documented compared to the " stars " of the contemporary market.

There is a certain dispersion of prices, indicating that the quotation is still modest and that the artist does not occupy a very high place in the hierarchy of the contemporary art market.

The interest may lie in the prospect of rising recognition : it's likely that Bouman will rise in recognition : if he gains institutional or media visibility, his quotation could evolve.

Recognizing Hans Bouman's signature

The signature on his work by its small size is barely visible and usually appears at the bottom right of the painting when it is not a sculpture.

Know the value of a work

If you happen to own a work by or after Hans Bouman, ask without hesitation for a free valuation via our form on our website.

A member of our team of experts and licensed auctioneers will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the value of your work, as well as ad hoc information about it.

If you are considering selling your work, you will also be accompanied by our specialists in order to benefit from alternatives for selling it at the best possible price.