MUNICH.- “Herbstwolken, Friesland“ is a powerful natural spectacle and an absolutely marvelous masterpiece. The view from the window of Emil Nolde‘s living room will be called up in the Auction from December 6 - 8 at Ketterer Kunst in Munich, Germany. The estimate is at € 1,200,000 – 1,500,000.

With its bright colors and the dissolving forms, this oil painting is a unique document of Emil Nolde‘s mystical concept of nature. Green marshland nestles up against the reflections of the afterglow on the water, while wild forces of nature rage on the sky. Strong brushstrokes of a bright orange glow whirl on the deep, sulfur yellow rainy sky, black-gray piles of towering clouds fight against the glistening azure.

The powerful natural spectacle awakens an abundance of associations within the suggestive range of human emotions. The faces of two primal, fire-spitting creatures can be recognized in the cloud formations. Respectively, their battle possibly illustrates the uncertain times between the May upheavals in Berlin and the Black Thursday stock market crash during which this work was made. Whatever it is, that the observer finds in this splendid masterpiece, it will surely leave him behind deeply touched.

Untouched, on contrary, is how Gerda Schilling possibly left Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, at least that‘s the impression one gets in “Selbstporträt mit Gerda (Mann und Sitzende im Atelier)“ from 1915. The seated rear nude is at the center of the color chalk drawing, and obviously shows Erna Schilling‘s younger sister Gerda. Her erotic forces even seize control of the surrounding objects and fill the entire room. With his closed arms and the absent look, the artist distances himself from her appeal. One possible reason for his rejection may be the fact that he had already decided to make Erna his partner after they had spent three summers on the Baltic island of Fehmarn together. The scene from his studio, which perfectly combines a spontaneous, dynamic draft and atmospherically composed colors, will enter the bidding race with an estimate of € 400.000-600.000.

The fascinating days of Ernst Wilhelm Nay‘s Disc Pictures produced the work “Schwarze Sternenbahn“. Among the ten periods of creation that his oeuvre comprises, it is the artist‘s most sought-after one, both on the domestic and international market. This oil painting from 1955 is a perfect example of this type in its purest form, a well-thought-out choreography of color details that create a sophisticated play of lightness and heaviness. In this work the artist does almost entirely without linear means of design, thus the composition solely lives on color bodies that float at different image levels. Soft shades of turquoise, taupe and coral on the one side and strong shades of blue with color glorioles on the other are framed by black and white fields. The titular dark diagonal at the center of the painting adds decisive impulse to the work. The estimate for this mellifluous composition is at € 400,000-600,000.

Next to works by Gerhard Richter (among them “Porträt Schniewind“, € 800,000-1,200,000), Günther Uecker (e.g. “Zärtlicher Garten“, € 600,000-800,000) and Ernst Wilhelm Nay, the auction also comprises impressive works by Erich Heckel (“Badende am Stein“, 1914, estimate: € 500,000-700,000) and August Macke (“Begrüssung“, 1913, estimate: € 350,000-450,000) as well as by Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Max Bill, Lovis Corinth, Tony Cragg, Otto Dix, Karl Hofer, Alexej von Jawlensky, Asger Jorn, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Max Liebermann and László Moholy-Nagy