How Much Is The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Worth?

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Grant Wood, 1931; oil on masonite; approx. 30 × 40 in.) is held in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 50.117) and has not been offered on the public market since the institution acquired it in 1950 [1]. Because the work is museum‑accessioned, any market valuation is hypothetical and depends critically on condition, technical/authentication documentation, and the breadth of its documented exhibition and publication history.

My approach is a focused comparable‑analysis that weighs public auction benchmarks for Grant Wood’s major oils against typical results for studies, drawings and prints. The leading public benchmark is Spring Plowing, sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2005 for $6.96M, which demonstrates the ceiling for museum‑quality, top‑tier Wood oils under competitive conditions [2]. Conversely, preparatory drawings and lesser works realize amounts in the mid‑six‑figures (or lower), and multiples/prints trade in the low thousands—showing a segmented market where provenance, rarity and artistic quality drive wide price differentials.

Taking the Met accession and the painting’s 1931 date into account, I estimate a reasoned market range of $1,000,000–$4,000,000 (USD) for a hypothetical sale. The low end of this band assumes the work is a solid, well‑attributed oil in good condition but without demonstrable canonical status within Wood’s oeuvre; the high end assumes museum‑quality execution, excellent conservation, and supportive provenance/exhibition citations that place it among the artist’s stronger non‑American‑Gothic compositions. The Met ownership materially elevates buyer confidence and reduces attribution risk—both upward forces on price—while the painting’s historical subject (rather than a signature Iowa portrait) tempers the very top‑end potential relative to a signature masterpiece.

Alternative scenarios alter the estimate materially. If the painting required significant conservation, showed extensive overpaint, or carried unresolved attribution questions, a lower range (for workshop pieces or studies) of roughly $50,000–$300,000 would be appropriate. A mid‑tier authenticated oil with sound provenance but limited exhibition history would more plausibly sit between $300,000 and $1,000,000. These bands reflect observed auction outcomes across Wood’s market tiers.

To refine this valuation: obtain the Met accession and conservation files, secure high‑resolution images and any technical reports, compile exhibition/publication references, and then request pre‑sale estimates from leading auction houses or a formal written appraisal from a qualified specialist. With that primary documentation the estimate above can be tightened and presented to market with appropriate institutional disclosure and marketing.