Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s consummate painting Heuernte from 1924-26 is a striking visualization of the beauty and hardship of life in the mountains. This masterwork full of symbolism and depth, inspired by Switzerland’s majestic Alpine peaks and autumnal meadows, evinces both Kirchner’s genius and his deep connection to the natural world. The work was previously owned by the artist’s family and has been on loan to the Museum Biberach since 1967 (EUR 700,000–900,000).
Glockenblumen from 1919 is a rare floral painting by Kirchner that also dates from his period in Davos. Alive with movement, it radiates Kirchner’s unmistakable Expressionist flair and boasts the same provenance as Heuernte (EUR 350,000–450,000).
A further highlight of the Selected Works auction will be Wassily Kandinsky’s 1906 oil study Rapallo – Castello und Kirche, an important milestone in Kandinsky’s artistic oeuvre. The insight it offers into his evolution towards abstract painting could hardly be more cogent (EUR 250,000–350,000).
Oskar Schlemmer’s work on paper Raum mit sieben Figuren from 1937 forms part of his Lebensskizzen, a series of intimate tableaus set in domestic environments. This particular image is reminiscent of his famous work Die Frauenschule, which explores the presence of figures in a concrete space and reflects Schlemmer’s enduring search for the essence of what makes us human (EUR 250,000–350,000).
The dynamic upward surge of the yellow pillar of fire in Ernst Wilhelm Nay’s dramatic painting Feuersäule from 1965 contrasts with the otherwise slowed-down feel of the composition – another example of Nay’s complex merging of opposites and deft handling of clashing feelings and ideas (EUR 150,000–200,000).
A number of particularly notable contemporary pieces will be offered in the Selected Works auction. First and foremost, the monumental and fascinating image object Phantom by Günther Uecker. Made in 1962, during the artist’s heyday as a member of the ZERO movement, its intensively focused aesthetic and overall quality cast a mesmerizing spell over the human eye from which it can barely break loose (EUR 400,000–600,000). The carefully curated selection also includes Neo Rauch’s CLOUSE! from 2000, created as a gift for the East German art historian Klaus Werner on the occasion of his 60th birthday (EUR 150,000–200,000), as well as the large-format
Violet Times, painted in 2012 by the Afro-American artist Stanley Whitney (EUR 250,000–350,000).
A no-less impressive set of works by the group of artists known as the Neue Wilde will come under the hammer in both the Selected Works auction as well as in the Contemporary Art auction. The creators represented here include Helmut Middendorf, Karl Horst Hödicke, Bernd Koberling, and Salomé.
The special auction The Rudolf Zwirner Collection – Works on Paper, to be held on 30 May at 2 pm, will feature 31 select works on paper spanning three centuries, lovingly selected by a true pioneer of the modern art market from his own private holdings. The top lot will be Pierre-Paul Prud’hon’s gouache L’Enlèvement de Psyché (EUR 200,000–300,000), a preliminary study from 1808 for his major painting Psyché exposée sur le rocher est enlevé par les Zephyrs qui la transportent dans la demeure de l’Amour, which can now be admired in the Louvre. In Rudolf Zwirner’s eyes, this gouache conveys the light, wafting quality of the breath of wind even more palpably and intuitively than the larger version subsequently executed in oil. Another rarity from the collection is the well-nigh abstract image Carnet Guernesey created in 1856 by the eminent French novelist Victor Hugo. As one of the comparatively few visual works which Hugo created in a rather sizeable format (EUR 100,000–150,000) it epitomizes his painterly penchant for bold lines, imagery that defies all specification, as well as somber scenes and settings. The visual art created by this literary lion definitely merits further exploration. Additional showpieces of the Zwirner collection will be Rembrandt’s etching Landscape with a Cottage and Haybarn: Oblong from 1641 (EUR 50,000–70,000) as well as two early watercoloured prints by Max Ernst that once were owned by Tristan Tzara (EUR 30,000–40,000 each).
The highlights of the 19th Century Art auction boast high-caliber provenances as well. They include five works by Caspar David Friedrich. Quite sensational among these is the unfinished sepia drawing Feuer in einer Kirchenruine (circa 1800/01) depicting a landscape with ruined church in which the play of light creates an atmospheric mood, perfectly illustrating Friedrich’s approach to composition and lighting. The drawing was held in the family of one of Caspar David Friedrich’s brothers (EUR 200,000–300,000).
Friedrich’s Landschaft mit strohgedeckten Hütten in einem Wald (circa 1798), an early painting on wood, allows us to trace the artist’s first forays into the realm of oil painting before the year 1800. It is a work that exemplifies Friedrich’s early artistic experimentation as well as his passion for landscapes densely layered with symbolic elements (EUR 150,000–200,000).
In Ruine des Klosters Altzella in Nossen bei Dresden, 20. September 1800, we see Friedrich focusing on prominent architectural details and demonstrating his sensitive use of auxiliary motifs (EUR 120,000–150,000). He would later return to this subject in his famous oil painting Ruinen in der Abenddämmerung.
Blick über den Wolfsgraben, an 1813 folio taken from Friedrich’s Krippen sketchbook, illustrates his unequalled ability to bring landscapes to life with a few subtle strokes (EUR 50,000–70,000).
Last but not least among the works by Friedrich entrusted to Grisebach is the folio Weg zwischen Laubbäumen mit Staffage from 1800, one of the very rare etchings by the artist. It, too, was previously owned by the family of one of Caspar David Friedrich’s brothers (EUR 15,000–20,000).
A very special discovery is Georg Friedrich Kersting’s watercolour Ausblick aufs Meer. A portrait of a friend, it also executes a programmatic visual idea conceived by Caspar David Friedrich. The impressive folio from Kersting’s estate, dated to 1809/10, almost certainly shows Friedrich as a figure seated on a rock. Thus, it also bears witness to the vibrant artistic interaction of the two painters during the famous trip they went on together to the Giant Mountains. The watercoloured drawing documents the deep mutual esteem and understanding which Kersting and Friedrich shared as they together explored their progressive Romantic vision for what art ought to be (EUR 150,000–200,000).
All told, the five summer auctions to be held on 30 and 31 May will encompass 494 artworks with an aggregate lower estimate amounting to EUR 12 million.
The preview of all works will be held in Berlin from 23 to 29 May at Fasanenstrasse 25 and 27.