Grisebach's spring auctions in Berlin were characterised by a record: Max Beckmann's mysterious portrait of a woman from 1942, "The Egyptian Woman", which has remained in the possession of Beckmann's family, the Göpel couple, since its creation, sold for EUR 5.5 million* (estimate EUR 1.5-2 million). This makes it the highest hammer price ever paid for a painting in Germany. After a bidding battle lasting several minutes between thirteen telephone bidders and four collectors in the room, the intimate portrait ended up in an important Swiss private collection.
An early study by Gabriele Münter from the Blue Rider period, painted in Murnau in 1908, went to a Bavarian collection for EUR 575,000* (estimate EUR 350-450,000) - and in the 19th century art auction, Menzel's large-format pastel "Die Schlittschuhläufer" was sold to a German museum for EUR 312,000* (estimate EUR 250-350,000) in tropical temperatures in the auction room.
The increased importance of contemporary art for Grisebach is reflected in the fact that the next two highest prices after Beckmann's "Egyptian Woman" were achieved by works by Anselm Kiefer and Günther Uecker. The large-format Kiefer work "für Velimir Chlebnikow" sold for EUR 865,000* (estimate EUR 700,000-1,000,000) and Günther Uecker's nail painting "Interferenzen" found a new admirer for EUR 757,000* (estimate EUR 500-700,000).
The auction for photography was exceptional - here too there was a record: with a photogram by László Moholy-Nagy from his time at the Weimar Bauhaus, which was sold to an American private collection for EUR 488,000* (estimate EUR 300-500,000), Grisebach was able to achieve the highest hammer price ever achieved for a photograph in Germany.
In total, the seven auctions generated a sum of 23.5 million over four days.
Micaela Kapitzky
Berlin, 2 June 2018
* All results including buyer's premium