VIENNA.- Dorotheum in Vienna is set to launch Contemporary Week with its Modern Art sale on 20 May 2025. One of the highlights is Female Nude, Leaning on Her Arm (1912), a gouache with watercolour and pencil by Egon Schiele, a leading figure of Viennese Modernism. The work presents an unusual pose seen from above, with the model’s body twisting in opposing directions and her head dramatically inclined downward. The sitter is believed to be Wally Neuzil, Schiele’s long-time companion (estimate €400,000–600,000). Also featured is a pencil drawing by Schiele’s contemporary and friend Gustav Klimt, Reading or Singing from the Front, from around 1907, offered with an estimate of €40,000–60,000.


🎨 Unlock Schiele’s vivid world: Dive into his daring lines and colors—grab a top‑rated Egon Schiele book on Amazon now!


Modern Landscapes

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, following his 1881 journey to Italy, immersed himself in the tradition of classical landscape painting. Seeking an Arcadian vision, he found inspiration in the untouched scenery of southern France. It was in Cagnes-sur-Mer—home today to the Musée Renoir—that he created Paysage à Cagnes in 1898. This painting exemplifies Renoir’s dedication to Impressionist ideals, especially the practice of painting en plein air (€220,000–330,000). Dreamlike and poetic, Marc Chagall’s Le retour au village reveals a night-time rural scene bathed in deep blue, interwoven with recurring themes dear to the artist: lovers, a floral bouquet and the moon (€200,000–300,000). Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical composition Piazza d’Italia is expected to fetch €250,000–350,000.

Carl Moll evokes the freshness of spring in Garten in Döbling (1908), a depiction of a verdant park once owned by Dr Julius Tandler, a notable social reformer of interwar Red Vienna (€100,000–180,000). In contrast, Alfons Walde offers a wintery alpine vista with his snow-laden mountain scene Rast (€70,000–130,000).

Island Visions

Nature remains a multifaceted subject in the Contemporary Art sale on 21 May 2025. French artist François Morellet—one of the most important representatives of kinetic art with his conceptual works, clear geometric structures and serial systems—interprets the notion of tidal movement in Entre deux mers no. 1, a visual principle that runs through the work as a horizontal line (€70,000–100,000). Another highlight is Surrounded Islands by Christo, which documents preparations for one of the artist duo’s most iconic projects: the 1982–83 encirclement of eleven Biscayne Bay islands in Florida with 61 metres of vivid pink fabric (€280,000–360,000). Christo and Jeanne-Claude saw themselves as landscape architects in their monumental wrappings—many people remember the Berlin Reichstag in particular.

Another highlight is a Selbstportrait mit Engel/Kleiner Harlekin by Maria Lassnig, renowned for the impact of her body-awareness paintings (€200,000–350,000). Created in Paris in 1961, the work reflects the same introspective focus found in her line drawings from that period, through which she explored themes of personal consciousness and physical awareness. Also featured are prominent figures from contemporary Austrian art, such as Arnulf Rainer (Untitled (Cross), 1970s, (€60,000–80,000), Hermann Nitsch, Erwin Wurm, Brigitte Kowanz, and Herbert Brandl. Martha Jungwirth will be represented by four works, including an oil painting from her 1990s series der affe in mir (€60,000–90,000).

Complex networks

Italy’s post-war avant-garde is strongly represented. Emilio Vedova's striking 2.8-metre diameter tondo Non Dove (Nowhere) from 1987 is one of the stand-out entries (€150,000–200,000). A significant work created in 1962 by Piero Dorazio, a pioneer of abstract painting in Italy, reveals a complex network of vivid lines and chromatic fields (€240,000–320,000). Carla Accardi’s Azzurro-Rosso n. 2 (1961, €100,000–150,000) testifies to the enduring vitality of Gruppo Forma 1, the artistic collective she co-founded in Rome in 1947.

Editions

Dorotheum Vienna’s second major auction dedicated to editions, taking place on 5 June 2025, will offer works by some of the most celebrated names in 20th-century art, including Warhol, Richter, Haring, and Picasso. Among the highlights is Andy Warhol’s celebrated 1975 screen print series of Mick Jagger, based on Polaroids taken at the musician’s estate on Long Island (New York). One print from the series, numbered 114 out of 250, carries an estimate of €70,000–90,000. From a German private collection comes Betty, Gerhard Richter’s renowned portrait of his daughter one of his most famous motifs (2014, €60,000–80,000).

A rare etching by Paul Klee, Zwei Männer, einander in höherer Stellung vermutend, begegnen sich – Invention 6 (1903), offers satirical insight. The two figures—who can be identified as Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Franz Joseph I—are not tied to any specific event. Rather, as Klee recorded in his diary, he was seeking solace for his “wretched social position … and was thinking of the many others in a similar situation” (€30,000–40,000).

Noble diamonds & fine timepieces

On 22 and 23 May 2025, Dorotheum will auction refined pieces of jewellery from aristocratic ownership alongside rare wristwatches. Several other auction items also boast distinguished provenance: on 23 May 2025, wristwatches and pieces of jewellery once owned by Pierre Brice—who rose to great fame in the 1960s for his portrayal of Winnetou in the Karl May film adaptations—will go under the hammer.


Artdaily participates in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn commissions by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help us continue curating and sharing the art world’s latest news, stories, and resources with our readers.