Our upcoming evening auction spans a sweeping historical range over five centuries long – featuring works from Albrecht Dürer, over Alexej Jawlensky, to Stephan Balkenhol.
The journey begins with two copperplate engravings by Albrecht Dürer, the most important German Renaissance artist. The two iconic works were produced during the artist’s lifetime, “Adam und Eva” in 1504 and “Melencolia I” in 1514 (both EUR 80,000–120,000) and will be sold at auction in Berlin on 9 July. An impressive excursion into the Baroque will follow, as well as the large format, extravagant still life “Großer Blumenstrauß mit Kaiserkrone im Holzbottich”, which Jan Brueghel the Younger painted around 1625/30 (EUR 800,000–1,200,000) and is sure to be a highlight of the evening.
From there, we’ll take a large leap into the modern era of 1909 with a masterpiece from Alexej von Jawlensky´s most important artistic period. Using extraordinarily vibrant colours, he formulated a new concept of landscape painting with his “Landschaft mit Bäumen” (EUR 300,000–400,000). A special discovery awaits with Mela Muter´s “Kindergruppe” from 1913. This work, created by an artist who has been unjustifiably almost forgotten, depicts a striking group portrait with immense humanity and depth (estimate EUR 180,000–240,000). That same year Emil Nolde took a trip to the South Seas, and in 1915 he painted “Südsee Landschaft II” (EUR 800,000–1,200,000), a chef d’oeuvre of Expressionism, which Grisebach has the pleasure of offering for the first time on the auction market. Another masterpiece, from fellow Die Brücke artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, will be called for with “Pommersche Bauern”, an oil painting with two characteristically angular heads carved out of wood (1924), estimated at EUR 400,000–600,000. Around 1925/28 Hans Grundig, the icon of Dresdener New Objectivity, created “Schüler mit roter Mütze” – a pivotal artwork with an impressive exhibition history (EUR 150,000–200,000).
We are pleased to offer a significant work by the renowned ZERO artist Günther Uecker, from one of his most important creative phases, “Bewegtes Feld” from 1971 (EUR 200,000–300,000). Another work with international museum quality and top-class provenance is “Ohne Titel” (1993) by Sigmar Polke, which is estimated at EUR 300,000 and will also be offered in our evening auction. An oil painting by Neo Rauch will make its debut on the German art market, “Leitung” is an exemplary work from 1997, during the Leipzig artist’s powerful early phase (estimate EUR 80,000–120,000). Finally, we will round off our summer evening auction´s diverse collection covering more than 500 years of art with Rudolf Stingel’s carpet (“Untitled” from 2012), a testimony to an ephemeral exhibition experience (estimate EUR 50,000-70,000).
The top lot of the Contemporary Art auction is Katharina Grosse’s exceptionally powerful and luminous painting, a work that exhibits her typical gesture with fresh dynamics (“Ohne Titel”, 2000, EUR 200,000–300,000). German Minimal Art’s most important protagonist Imi Knoebel will also be present. His sculpture “Frauenstück” was created in 1989 and is estimated at EUR 70,000–90,000. André Butzer’s “Pluton” from 2002 confronts us with a mysterious, pastose painted figure that appears to have sprung from a comic strip (EUR 50,000–70,000).
Naturally, there will be special collector’s items to discover in the medium of photography. Artists such as Gustave Le Gray, one of the most sought-after photographers of the 19th century will be included. His impressive city panorama “Pont du Carrousel, vue du Pont Royal, Paris”, was created around 1859 (EUR 10,000–15,000). Another highlight will be offered in our Selected Works auction by the recently departed American photographer Peter Beard, “Elephant and Kilimanjaro” from 1984/2005 (EUR 100,000–150,000). Our Photography auction will also feature two other eye-catching trouvailles. The “Givenchy Hat for ´Jardin des Modes´” (Paris 1958) by Frank Horvart combines fashion history with the spirit of the epoch (EUR 12,000-15,000). And we are pleased to offer an artwork from one of the most important German photographers in history, Germaine Krull’s “Daretha [Dorothea] Albu. Kostümentwurf: Lotte Pritzel” from around 1925 (EUR 3,000–5,000).
A total of 666 artworks will be offered in 4 catalogues at Grisebach on two auction days with an average total estimate of 15 million.
The preview will take place in Berlin from 17 June to 8 July at Fasanenstraße 25, 27 and 73.
Micaela Kapitzky