BERLIN, GERMANY.- “Kurische Häuser”, painted by Max Pechstein so passionately in the Brücke year 1911, doubled its estimate after fierce bidding at Villa Grisebach’s evening sale and fell for EUR 944,500 to a German private collector. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Berghaus”, offered from a Canadian private collection, realized EUR 657,000, thereby doubling its estimate of EUR 300,000, and sold to a German private collection. Bidding was intense again for a selection of watercolors by Emil Nolde. “Weißrote Tulpen und gelbe Blüten” fetched the highest price and sold for EUR 174,000 to a South German private collection. The sale had begun with a number of high points: Max Liebermann’s small-format “Birkenallee am Wannsee” jumped from EUR 100,000 to EUR 248,750 (private collection, North Germany). Edvard Munch’s woodcut “Die Einsamen” achieved the most remarkable increase from EUR 50,000 to EUR 243,000 and sold to a Scandinavian dealer. The hammer for the highest price fell towards the end of the auction: Gerhard Richter’s “Landschaft mit Wolke” was seized by a West German dealer for EUR 1,036,500 against intense competition from a Scandinavian collector. The second painting by Gerhard Richter, “Mao”, a study for the series of “48 Portraits”, scored the triple estimate and sold for EUR 783,500 to a private collection.

The auctions’ second day posted many more surprising results: Jawlensky’s “Stilleben” sold for EUR 84,300 (estimate: EUR 35,000), Konrad Klapheck’s “Biographie” even climbed to EUR 70,500 from EUR 15,000. Young German art with the likes of Neo Rauch, Norbert Bisky, Martin Eder and Daniel Richter was particularly successful. The price for Tom Blackwell’s “Hi-Standard’s Harley”, offered for an estimated EUR 20,000 and sold for EUR 77,400, exemplifies the strong results for international contemporary art which Villa Grisebach has been able to achieve in recent auctions.

The sales realized a total of EUR 14.1 million with a low estimate of EUR 10.4 million. The sales percentage has been the best in the history of Villa Grisebach.