LONDON.- “21,000 … 22,000 … 23,000 …” the bids called out by auctioneer Cyril Koller had clients in the packed saleroom checking and re-checking their catalogues – the first lot of Koller’s Prints & Multiples auction on 8 December was estimated at CHF 1,500 – 2,500, and already the bidding was well into five figures. Despite its small format, the suite of ten small-format woodcuts by Felix Vallotton entitled “Les Petites Baigneuses” had become a must-have lot for several collectors. “45,000 … 46,000 … 47,000…” in increments of 1,000 francs, two collectors carried the bidding war on to a new auction record for any set of prints by the artist: CHF 168,000.

The Swiss, Modern & Contemporary Art auctions at Koller on 7 and 8 December exhibited strong bidding across the fine art categories, with prices well exceeding pre-sale estimates overall. The Swiss Art auction featured two masterful paintings of sunsets by modern Swiss artists Adolf Dietrich and Felix Vallotton, each of which sold to private Swiss collections. The Dietrich, Abendstimmung am Untersee , 1926, more than doubled its estimate at CHF 480,000; the Vallotton, Couch er de soleil jaune et vert , 1911, fetched CHF 883,000 against a pre-sale estimate of CHF 700,000. A colourful view of the Val Bregaglia by Giovanni Giacometti doubled its mid-estimate to sell for CHF 312,000.

German artists from the first half of the 20th century were particularly sought after in The Impressionist & Modern Art auction, led by a striking double portrait by Emil Nolde, Doppelbild (Sie seltsames Licht) , 1918, which changed hands for CHF 1 million. A 1930s landscape by Otto Dix, Wintertag in Randegg , 1933, sold for CHF 174,000, and works by Christian Schaad and Paul Klee also found new owners. An auction record was set for a painting by German-Columbian artist Guillermo Wiedemann, Nocturno , 1947, at CHF 77,000.

The Postwar & Contemporary auction featured an untitled work in rich tones of black and blue by Pierre Soulages from 1973 which sold for more than four times its estimate, at CHF 324,000. A colour screenprint enhanced with diamond dust by Andy Warhol from 1981 depicting Mickey Mouse changed hands for CHF 168,000, a world auction record.