Patrick Nagel

The Value of Patrick Nagel Paintings (Artist Price Guide)

Patrick Nagel (1945–1984) was an American painter and illustrator. He created illustrations of women in a distinctive style that incorporated aspects of art deco and pop art. His most famous projects include designing the album cover for Duran Duran’s Rio and his long-standing work as an illustrator for Playboy magazine.

Who Was Patrick Nagel?

Patrick Nagel was born in Dayton, Ohio on November 25, 1945 and grew up in Orange County, California outside of Los Angeles. After serving with the US Army in Vietnam, Nagel returned to LA and attended the Chouinard Art Institute in 1969. That same year, he graduated from California State University in Fullerton with a Bachelor’s in fine arts.

In the early 70s, Nagel began producing art for magazines like Harper’s, Rolling Stone, and Architectural Digest. He also produced promotional art for corporations including IBM, ITT, and Universal Studios. Starting in 1975, he began doing illustrations for Playboy. His work was very well received and he continued to produce an art piece for each issue for the next decade. In 1981, he painted the cover art for Duran Duran’s Rio. Although he had made other album cover art before, this particular cover earned him widespread acclaim.

Patrick Nagel died of a heart attack brought on by his participation in a celebrity fundraiser (“Aerobathon”) on February 4, 1984 at the age of thirty-eight. An autopsy later determined that Nagel suffered from an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. He was survived by his wife, Jennifer Dumas, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Carol Nagel LaVigne.

• Born / Died: November 25, 1945 – February 4, 1984
• Nationality: American
• Mediums: acrylic painting, illustration
• Related artists: Robert Blue, Barb Choit, Luis Preciado

What is Patrick Nagel Known For?

Patrick Nagel is known for his pop-art illustrations of stylish women. His minimalist, high-contrast style was reminiscent of art deco and pop art but with a distinctly modern twist. His work rapidly gained popularity in the early 1980s and came to symbolize the glamor and aesthetic priorities of the decade.

The Nagel Women

The majority of Nagel’s illustrations — especially those in Playboy — were of highly stylized women in provocative clothing or poses. Known as the Nagel Women, these characters all shared some key features: bold black hair, flawless white skin, a barely visible nose, and an aloof yet seductive expression.

Some believe the looks of the Nagel Women are modeled after Nagel’s wife. He used several other models when drafting his pieces, all of whom were blond and bore no more than a passing resemblance to his finished works. His women were elegant yet distant, meant to be viewed more as beautiful objects than accurate representations of a single real woman.

Duran Duran’s Rio

In 1981, Patrick Nagel designed and painted the art for Duran Duran’s Rio. His red, black, and white illustration of a heavily stylized grinning woman paired perfectly with the slick, energetic sound of the Rio album, and Nagel’s work with Duran Duran further solidified his place as an influencer of pop culture and art in the 1980s.

Playboy Magazine Illustrations

Nagel first began working with Playboy in 1975, which greatly expanded the audience of his “Nagel Women.” Initially, Playboy would give Nagel very specific prompts to guide his work, but by 1978 the popularity of his art had grown so much that the magazine allowed him nearly complete creative freedom. At least one of Nagel’s illustrations appeared in every Playboy issue between August 1975 and July 1984, usually in the “Playboy Advisor,” “Playboy Forum,” or “Playboy After Hours” columns. By the time of his death, he had produced approximately 285 individual works for Playboy.

The Influence of Patrick Nagel

Patrick Nagel was best known for his illustrations, which could be found in posters, magazines, silkscreen prints, and more. To produce the originals, Nagel would first photograph models in various poses, then make simplified sketches of the photographs. His wife actually preferred his sketches to his final poster art, saying that they were more detailed and evocative.

After completing the sketches, Nagel would paint the women in acrylic, further simplifying the design to the high-contrast, low-detail finished version. Each piece went through multiple rounds of stylization to transform the photographs of real women into the impersonal and stylish Nagel Women.

What Mediums did Patrick Nagel Use?

Patrick Nagel’s unique style of depicting women quickly caught on in Los Angeles and beyond. After his death, countless unlicensed reproductions and other pieces copying his style began to crop up in strip malls, hair salons, magazines, and movie theaters across the country. This over-proliferation led to his original pieces becoming less valuable, as the market was fully saturated with similar artwork. However, interest in Patrick Nagel’s work has been experiencing a resurgence, and prices for his original art and licensed prints are once again growing.

How much are Patrick Nagel artworks worth?

Original paintings by Patrick Nagel have sold for anywhere between $8,000 and $525,000. However, most Patrick Nagel art on the market is in the form of silkscreen prints / serigraphs or posters. These generally sell for between $200 and $5,000 depending on size and quality. Limited quantities of prints have been in continuous production by Nagel’s estate since the 1980s, so many thousands of these items are now in circulation.

• Prints (serigraphs): $500–$5,000
• Paintings: $8,000–$525,000
• Posters: $200–$1,000

Notable Patrick Nagel Auction Results

Patrick Nagel, “Rio” for Duran Duran Poster

Posters of the album cover for Duran Duran’s Rio were produced in fairly large quantities during the early- and mid-1980s. Rio posters kept in very good condition may still be valuable today.

• Estimate: $50–$150
• Result: $95

Patrick Nagel, Palm Springs Life Print

Patrick Nagel produced this uncharacteristically colorful image for the cover of the May 1983 edition of Palm Springs Life. A series of silkscreen prints of this image were produced by Nagel’s estate after his death.

• Estimate: $400–$650
• Result: $600

Patrick Nagel, Sunglasses Poster

This stylish lithograph poster was produced by Mirage Images in 1983, and incorporates silver foil on the lenses to make them reflective.

• Estimate: $100–$800
• Result: $275

Patrick Nagel, Shannon Print

This large silkscreen print of a bending woman in a pink dress was produced in a limited batch of 990 in 1989. It is signed along the reverse in pencil by Nagel’s widow, Jennifer Dumas.

• Estimate: $500–$6,000
• Result: $1,600

How to Identify a Patrick Nagel Signature

Nagel’s original works were signed “Nagel” with loose, widely spaced letters. After his death, his widow Jennifer Dumas signed many of the limited-edition serigraphs made during the late 1980s. Because Nagel died just a few years after his work began to achieve widespread recognition, most prints on the market were produced posthumously and do not contain a handwritten signature by Nagel.

How can I sell my Patrick Nagel art?

Original Patrick Nagel paintings, prints, and posters continue to interest buyers decades after the artist’s death. While reproduction lithographs and posters can still be purchased cheaply from Patrick Nagel’s estate, original Nagel pieces from the 1970s and 80s are more valuable and collectable.

Because of the large number of knock-off Patrick Nagel items produced during the 1980s, seeking an appraisal from a trusted auction house is the best way to find out what your Patrick Nagel art is worth. An auction house can also help you sell your Patrick Nagel originals, prints, or posters at auction, where the item will have the best chance of finding an interested buyer.

More Artists Like Patrick Nagel

Robert Blue — a Los Angeles–based artist known for his images of pin-up girls and cowgirls. His work precedes Patrick Nagel and may have been an inspiration.

Barb Choit — an up-and-coming Canadian artist based in New York. In a recent exhibition, she degraded Patrick Nagel posters using UV radiation and documented the results using a variety of photographic techniques.

Luis Preciado — a Mexican artist who made stylized, high-contrast paintings of women in a similar style to Patrick Nagel.