COLOGNE.- From 28 May to 5 June 2025, the Modern & Contemporary Discoveries auction at Sotheby’s Cologne will present a curated selection of modern & contemporary art, including paintings, sculptures, prints by national and international artists such as Oskar Kokoschka, Emil Nolde, Markus Lüpertz, Rainer Fetting, Mimmo Paladino, Joseph Beuys, Norbert Bisky, Yoshitomo Nara, Ivan Marchuk, Katharina Grosse, Mary Bauermeister.


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In total, the sale, which will run online from 28th May to 5th June 2025, includes 69 lots, with a pre-sale estimate of around €1,5 million.

The works will be exhibited publicly in the galleries of Palais Oppenheim in Cologne, Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 136-138, from 28th May to 5th June 2025, daily open from 10am to 5pm, on Saturday from 12pm to 4pm, and on 4th & 5th June 2025, daily open from 10am to 1pm.

Valentin Woltmann, Head of Sales Modern & Contemporary Art, said: ”The sale of Modern & Contemporary Discoveries is an exciting expedition through modern and contemporary art history. Collectors, young and established alike, will certainly discover what they are looking for. Regardless of whether the purpose of acquiring a work is to build the cornerstone of a collection or to add to an existing one, the works on offer - from Willi Baumeister, Alexej von Jawlensky to Mimmo Palladino, Thomas Schütte, Günter Uecker and Mary Bauermeister - are characterised by a strong market presence and outstanding quality and provide excellent opportunities to secure a fine work."

An insight into the auction offering

Whenever Oskar Kokoschka talked about Hamburg, it is said that he would go into rhapsodies. This deep-seated attachment to the city on the river Elbe is reflected in the star lot of the auction: coming from an distinguished European private collection, the picturesque view of Hamburg Binnenalster/Jungfernstieg by the Austrian Expressionist was created in 1926. Estimated between €200,000 and 300,000, this scenic harbour landscape of the magnificent boulevard on the Binnenalster in Hamburg is sure to inspire admirers of Kokoschka's work as well as Hamburg art lovers.

Hermann Nitsch, the initiator and important representative of Viennese Actionism, is represented with a large-scale work in mixed media created in 2005, which depicts the Austrian artist's intensive and ritualistic way of working, strictly based on the principles of his Orgies-Mysteries-Theatre. Untitled is estimated between €30,000 and 50,000.

The large-scale painting Orto dei Pianeti by the contemporary Italian artist Mimmo Palladino, who is one of the driving forces of the Italian transavantgarde, captivates with its bold choice of colours and a motif that is symbolic for the artist.

Estimated between €40,000 – 60,000, the work was created in 1982 and was part of a distinguished European collection until it was consigned for the spring auction. 1

In the contemporary art category, the work of German avant-garde artist Mary Bauermeister is likely to attract some attention. She is considered as one of the most influential representatives of the Fluxus movement in the Rhineland and is represented with a large-scale work. Farb- Fließbild was created in 2015 and was acquired directly from the artist by the current private collector. The work reveals the conceptual clarity and meditative restraint that characterise Mary Bauermeister's entire artistic practice.

This abstract work from the late work of the Rhineland artist reflects her constant exploration of order, chance and intuition and is estimated between €10,000 and €15,000.

1 Sotheby's holds the auction record price for a bronze by Mimmo Palladino: A Life in Art: Sculpture from The Mallin Collection Part I realised $381,000 (estimate: $200,000-300,000) in New York in February 2023. As well as the second highest result for a painting by the artist: Canto I sold in London in 2005 for £164,800 (estimate: £50,000-70,000).



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