MUNICH.- “Il Guercino“, the squinter, that is what he was called. But that did not inhibit the genius in Giovanni Francesco Barbieri. On the contrary. On May 22 his splendid masterpiece “David with the Head of Goliath“ will be called up at Ketterer Kunst in context of the auction Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century with special auction Collection Max Geiger.

Pope Gregory XV called the young successful artist, whose style is characterized by the typical Baroque chiaroscuro, to Rome as early as in 1620. There Guercino realized, among others, an altar painting for St. Peter's Basilica, which counts among the main works of Roman realistic-illusionist Baroque.

In 1650 he made a knee-length portrait painting of David with the Head of Goliath. At the peak of his artistic career Guercino interpreted the scene from the Old Testament – a subject that was quite popular with Caravaggio, Guido Reni and other contemporaries – in his very own manner. His work does not show a narcissistic hero but a rather considerate David who seems to ask god for forgiveness for his brutal deed. The work, kept in the contemplative atmosphere characteristic of Guercino's later period of creation, has been estimated at € 250,000-350,000.

Flemish Baroque is represented with the “Portrait of Maria de Medici, Queen of France“ from the workshop of Antonius van Dyck. The former queen was disempowered by Louis XIII, her own son, and accused of high treason. In 1631, the first year of her exile, she had van Dyck made a portrait of her in Antwerp and thus set a clear sign of her claim to power. It is the only portrait that shows her as the fallen queen of France. The painting will be called up with an estimate of € 30,000-40,000.

Besides oil paintings by Johann von Spillenberger (“Susanne und die beiden Alten“, estimate: € 12,000-15,000) and Jan van Kessel (“Waldlandschaft mit Wandersmann, im Hintergrund ein Dorf mit Windmühle“, estimate: € 10,000-15,000) the section of Old Masters also comprises works on paper by sought-after names like Albrecht Dürer, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who is represented with more than a dozen sheets, Harmensz. Rembrandt van Rijn and Giuseppe Vasi, who contributes a remarkable copper with a view of Rome.

The section of Art of the 19th Century seduces art lovers with a real gem: The Collection Max Geiger. The Munich local by choice was a leading figure in the Bavarian financial world. As director and later speaker of the board of directors of the 'Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank' in Munich, he decisively set the economic course in the years after the war.

The passionate art lover compiled his collection with great sincerity and knowledge. He loved the atmospheric paintings by Adolf Heinrich von Lier just as much as the Bavarian landscapes of Karl Altmann and Heinrich Bürkel. While the first mentioned delivers his brilliant “Frühlingsmorgen“ (estimate: € 20.000-30.000), inspired by French plein-air art, Altmann is represented with his oil painting “St. Leonhardsfest in Fischhausen am Schliersee“ (estimate: € 30,000-40,000), made in 1832 – a year before the procession ban was lifted. Bürkel is represented with three works, of which the “Rauferei vor einem Wirtshaus“ (estimate: € 18,000-24,000) is particularly captivating for its masterly Biedermeier charm.

The range of unusual offerings is led by an oil painting by Franz von Defregger. Despite the many figures, the artist puts the emphasis on the depicted persons' faces in the rural scene. This way he captures both the merry atmosphere in the mountain hut as well as interpersonal nuances with great poise. The work by the native Tyrolean definitely is one of the main works in his vast oeuvre and a highlight of this collection.

Works that probe regional frontiers and that integrate into the collection's system for both artistic aspects as well as aspects with regards to content make for the overall special appeal. Accordingly, both the “Ansicht von Dordrecht mit der Grote Kerk“, estimated at € 15,000-20,000 by the Dutchman Elias van Bommel, as well as the atmospheric “Gebirgsprozession“ (estimate: € 12,000-15,000) by the Spaniard Mariano Barbasan y Langueruela promise exciting bidding skirmishes.

Other acclaimed names in the collection, which will be presented in its own catalog, are Julius II Adam, Peter Baumgartner, Adolf Eberle, Eduard von Grützner, Martin Knoller, Willy Moralt, Karl Raupp, Friedrich Voltz and Joseph Wopfner.

Next to the special auction, the range of offerings in the section of Art of the 19th Century is rounded off by a bronze by Max Klinger (“Badendes Mädchen, sich im Wasser spiegelnd“, estimate: € 30,000-40,000) and works by Oswald Achenbach (“Blick auf die Rigi“, estimate: € 30,000-40,000), Edward Theodore Compton (“Val Genova“, estimate: € 25,000-35,000), Alexander Koester (“Erpel mit Enten und Küken am Seeufer“, estimate: € 20,000-30,000), Oskar Mulley (“Berghof“, estimate: € 18,000-24,000), Adolph von Menzel (“Porträt eines Jungen“, estimate: € 18,000-24,000) and Wilhelm von Kobell (“Reiter vor Schondorf am Ammersee“, estimate: € 15,000-20,000).

Other big names are Ferdinand Konrad Bellermann, Gustave Courbet, Johann Georg von Dillis, Christian Friedrich Gille, Ludwig von Hofmann, Erich Kips and Frederik Marianus Krusemann.