MUNICH.- € 38 million in total: the excellent result of Ketterer Kunst's business year 2013. “We have surpassed all record years in our company's history – including 2012, the best until now, by around € 8 million”, says Robert Ketterer.

“This year we crossed the € 100.000 line 55 times and three times the € 1 million mark. These excellent results show that, along with big international names, German art sells best in Germany”, continues the auctioneer and company owner. “Modern Classics were a particular highlight, whilst Contemporary Art also proved to be on the rise. In just one single auction we realized seven new records.”

Modern Classics & Post War/Contemporary Art
These sections alone – including the special auction Sidelines of the German Avant-Garde, which saw its tenth anniversary this year – brought in proceeds of € 31 million, more than € 5,5 million more than last year. Alongside this year's big stars, classics such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and ZERO artists achieved excellent increases.

German names head the list of desired artists: in the auction of Modern Classics, we find Hermann Max Pechstein with 16 extremely successful works, two of which exceeded the € 1 million mark. Gabriele Münter is represented with 13 works, five of which also reached six digit realms. In the section of Post War art, German classics such as Georg Baselitz and Karl Otto Götz stood alongside big international names: Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol and the late Beijing artist Zao Wou-Ki. The latter's work made for an international bidding frenzy, in particular amongst Chinese and French art lovers. Tony Cragg, Jack Goldstein, Anselm Reyle and Daniel Richter were leading figures in the section of Contemporary Art, which had its own catalog for the December auction.

Old Masters & Art of the 19 th Century
With an overall result of € 4,2 million, this section achieved more than twice last year's result. The fact that this period is currently experiencing a renaissance proves testament to the strong interest of new collectors. One out of three bidders was a new client and almost every second buyer a first time buyer. In the December auction alone some 40% bidders were first time bidders.

In the department of Old Masters, graphic works from Albrecht Dürer to Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn are particularly worthwhile mentioning. The group is led, however, by Francisco de Goya, represented with “Los Caprichos” in an excellent first edition from 1799. The 80 aqua-tint etchings soared far beyond expectations and achieved the remarkable result of € 195.000. Parts of the collection of the Munich art trader Harry Beyer, led by an oil painting attributed to Francesco Botticini (“Anbetung Mariens mit zwei Engeln“, starting price: € 7.500, result: € 122.000), contributed to this section's success.

Alongside a painting by Konstantin Egorovic Makovskij, which more than doubled its starting price of € 66.000 with a result of € 155.000, a number of works by renowned artists of the Düsseldorf and Scandinavian artist schools – from a collection from Luxembourg – set the highlights in the section of art from the 19th century.

Rare Books - Manuscripts - Autographs - Decorative Prints
With proceeds of more than € 3 million, this department achieved a strong result. “Especially the two evening auctions, both with a wide-variety of high quality books, were popular and attracted not only antiquarian book lovers but new clients who had previously had only an eye for art – on a world-wide level”, says Christoph Calaminus, auctioneer and head of the Rare Books department.

At the top of this year's list of desired objects was a first-class copy of Hartman Schedel's “Liber chronicarum”. Bidders from Germany and France entered the competition in Spring, driving the starting price (€ 90.000) of this unusually well-preserved copy to a result of € 114.000. In the Autumn auction the top lot was “Les liliacées” by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, possibly the most important flower painter of all times. For a result of € 102.000*, a European art dealer won the book for twice the starting price. Also thrilling was Jan Huygen van Linschoten's travelogue “Navigatio ...” which was sold for € 95.000, and the “Topographia” by Matthäus Merian the Elder, which climbed to € 70.000.