MUNICH.- Albert Oehlen counts among the most influential contemporary artists, yet a monumental triptych by the Neo-Expressionist and member of the ‘Neue Wilde‘ has never been offered on the auction market before. Now a three-piece key work from his possibly most important creative period will be called up at Ketterer Kunst in the auction on December 10/11 in Munich. It is estimated at € 1,500,000-2,500,000.

The impressive work dated 1988 has been part of a German private collection since 1991, and is a remarkable document of how Albert Oehlen merges concrete representation and abstraction in his painting in an entirely new manner.

“I am very delighted about the great opportunity to offer our clients this work, which was part of the grand European Albert Oehlen retrospective in Lausanne, Salamanca and Nuremberg in 2004/2005. This is a true rarity on the German auction market that will definitely generate tremendous international attention“, says Dr. Sebastian Neußer, Director at Ketterer Kunst.

“Indeed, the few works by Albert Oehlen that fetched prices in the millions have been sold by the two big international auction houses“, explains Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst, and adds with delight: “I am very pleased that we are going to change this now. Thus we are also strengthening the German art market.“

Albert Oehlen‘s triptych is an important programmatic picture with a reference to medieval church painting from the time of a transition from readable figuration to metamorphotic abstraction. The artist, who had attended the class of Sigmar Polke, uses the “pathos formula“ of the triptych as a direct citation from art history. Through the pictures’ arrangement he addresses the relationship between the three motifs. The work, characteristic of the painting style Oehlen had developed towards the late 1980s, combines an earthen glazing with a harmonious golden color composition.

Albert Oehlen‘s masterwork is in good company, because ...

… the auction offers other fascinating works of POST WAR ART, like Pierre Soulages’ “Peinture 92 x 65, 3 Aout 1954“ (estimate: € 700,000-900,000), Sean Scully‘s “Blue Yellow Figure“ (estimate: € 600,000-800,000), Gerhard Richter‘s “Colmar (I-V)“ (estimate: € 500,000-700,000), the portrait “Tara“ by Alex Katz (estimate: € 350,000-450,000) and Cy Twombly‘s “Untitled (Drawing for Manifesto of Plinio)“ (estimate: € 250,000-350,000), as well as Imi Knoebel‘s “Lilola“ (estimate: € 200,000-300,000). More high-quality art comes from, among others, Enrico Castellani, Christo, Yves Klein, Yoshitomo Nara, Ernst Wilhelm Nay and Jan Schoonhoven.

The section of MODERN ART offers stunning works such as Alexej von Jawlensky‘s “Frauenkopf mit Blumen im Haar“ (estimate: € 2,500,000-3,500,000, Emil Nolde‘s famous “Buchsbaumgarten“ (estimate: € 1,200,000-1,800.000, as well as Max Beckmann‘s “Hunde“, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner‘s “Im Bordell“ and Otto Mueller‘s “Drei badende Mädchen“ (each estimated at: € 400,000-600,000), and the paintings “Leda und der Schwan“ by Vladimir Georgievitsch Bechteev and “Erzgebirgslandschaft im Winter“ by Erich Heckel, which are both estimated at € 300.000-400.000. Additionally, further works come from renowned artists like George Braque, Max Liebermann, Gabriele Münter and Francis Picabia, who is represented with “La résistance“ (estimate: € 250,000-350,000).