MUNICH.- It was a very good auction. “We booked numerous records and top results. In total, more than 70% of all objects were sold with an average increase of above 60% each“, says
Robert Ketterer. He continues: “The € 100,000 line was crossed 30 times, 19 times more than in the Dec. 2014 auctions. The top result of around € 24 million in our Dec. auctions even topped last year's figures from the same period by more than 2 million.
The auctions' focal points were on:
1. Modern Art
2. Post War & Contemporary Art
On 1. Modern Art
This section was led by Erich Heckel's oil painting “Hügellandschaft” (lot 231). A Swiss collector granted the result of € 750,000 for the atmospheric painting from the artist's best period of creation. He relegated a Northern German competitor on the phone to second place and made for almost twice the starting price of € 440,000. This result reflects the great atmosphere in the full saleroom and on the phones.
Called up a little later, Lyonel Feininger's “The Baltic (V-Cloud)” (lot 255) likewise realized almost twice its calling price. Next to the auction room and a long list of written bids, mainly German speaking potential buyers competed for the work on the phones. Eventually, an art lover from Northern Germany managed to win the desired work with a result of € 475,000.
The three works by Alfons Walde (lots 276, 278 and 280) were sold with remarkably sharp increases. This is not all too surprising, especially when considering that more than half a dozen, mainly Austrians were on the phones for each lot. Accordingly, it was a fellow countryman of the artist who made all three works sure for himself for a total of € 1300,000, first and foremost the “Verschneite Kirche (Bergdorf)“ (lot 280) for € 475,000. Thus he did not only set a new German record for a work by the artist, additionally he occupies places 2 and 3 in the German auction list for works by Alfons Walde.
More than 20 works by Gabriele Münter, for which a large number of written bids had been put in, almost entirely found a new home, and this at excellent increases. Next to the painting “Straßendurch-stich (Die Kurve bei Berggeist)” (lot 279), which a Southern German took home with him for a result of € 275,000, the two works “Gehöft in Murnau (Holzhauer)” (lot 213) and “Stillleben im Kreis” (lot 214) from 1909 and 1911, made during a period that was decisive for the artist's œuvre, are definitely worthwhile mentioning. While an art lover from Bavaria expressed his appreciation for the first work with a result of € 425,000* and thus more than tripled the calling price, a collector from the Berlin region let the same starting price of € 140,000 for the latter soar to € 375,000*.
In the section of sculptures Ernst Barlach's bronze “Der Bettler” (lot 250), was called up at € 190,000 and sold to a private collector from Berlin for € 312,500. The sculpture “Grosse Daphne” (lot 288) from Renée Sintenis was sold to a Lower Saxon collector for € 162,500. With her written bid, which would have allowed more steps, she relegated three active phone bidders to places second and beyond.
As far as Egon Schiele's “Mädchen mit Federboa” (lot 222) is concerned, it is very likely that current negotiations will be concluded with a result of € 625,000 in the next days.
on 2. Post War /Contemporary Art
This section comprised the largest range of ZERO offerings ever. With around 130 works, even the range of works offered this spring was topped. The top spots are occupied by two works by Otto Piene from the early 1960s. While a collector from the Rhineland lifted “Wave of Darkness“ (lot 906) from the starting price of € 300,000 to € 625.000* against fierce resistance from Belgium and Hong Kong, the bidding frenzy in the saleroom and on around a dozen phones for “Dynamisches Volumen“, called up at € 120,000 (lot 954), was only stopped by another German collector at a price of € 825,000. Accordingly, not only a new world record for a work by Otto Piene was realized, additionally, second place in the world ranking of auction results was taken. More than 20 further works by the artist, who passed away last year, were also sold with very good increases.
As expected, Günther Uecker was likewise in demand. Around 30 of his works realized excellent results and culminated in the nail work “Dunkles Feld“ (lot 967). It went to a collector from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland present in the saleroom for a result of € 500,000. This made him beat bidders in the auction room as well as phone bidders from Belgium, Israel, Austria and the U.S.A.
With a result of € 325,000 for his “Fata Morgana II“ (lot 911), Heinz Mack, the third ZERO master, set new standards. This price, granted by an art trader from the Rhineland, adds another top spot on the German list of records for this artist, as Ketterer Kunst had realized the same price for “Erzengel Michael und Gabriel“ last June.
Sean Scully's “Uist“ (lot 951) was also much sought-after. The work, which the artist had selected for the retrospective “Twenty Years“, entered the race with a starting price of € 200,000 and was eventually sold to an English art trader for a result of € 400,000. He defended the work against the saleroom and a number of written bids and particularly against a very persistent colleague on another phone.
Anselm Kiefer's “Maria im Rosenhag“ (lot 969) caused similar locomotion among art lovers. The intense bidding skirmish, mainly carried out on the phones between a Northern and a Southern German collector, was eventually won by the latter for a result of € 387,500.
The range of offerings in the section of Contemporary Art was well-received, too. It was led by Jonas Burgert and his “Potsdam-Zyklus“ (lot 868), sold to a Lower Saxon art collection for a result of € 95,000, which is a new record for a work by the artist in Germany.
