The Bauhaus celebrated its centenary and Grisebach joined in the celebrations: 249 works of art from a wide range of fields were in great demand at the ORANGERIE auction "bauhaus forever!". The top lot was the coffee and tea service by Naum Slutzky, which the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg secured for EUR 225,000*. A complete set of the legendary Bauhaus postcards from 1923 went to a private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia for EUR 206,250. Lots from the estate of Bauhaus artist Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack sold exceptionally well, including the photogram "Reflektorisches Farbenspiel" from 1923, which more than doubled its price to EUR 62,500.
A Bauhaus artist also provided the most expensive work in the Selected Works: Paul Klee's "Dryads" from 1939 was worth EUR 500,000 to a private collector from Lower Saxony. Gabriele Münter's "Heuhocken in Murnau" went to a private collection in southern Germany for EUR 462,500. Paintings by Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth realised EUR 375,000 and EUR 312,500 respectively. Exciting bidding battles broke out in post-war art, for example for Ernst Wilhelm Nay's "Rot in tiefem Klang", which climbed from EUR 120,000 to EUR 437,500.
There were positive surprises in the Contemporary Art auction, where the overall result clearly exceeded the lower estimate. Günther Förg's "Untitled" from 1995 rose to EUR 112,500 with an estimate of EUR 40,000 and Werner Berges' "Vanessa" was lifted to EUR 72,500 with an estimate of EUR 12,000 by several bidders on the phones and in the room. Bridget Riley's colour study reached EUR 90,000 (estimate EUR 20,000) thanks to many international bids. One of the two large sculptures by Tony Cragg went to an Austrian private collection for EUR 175,000.
The two "Mask Self-Portraits No. 11+39A, Dessau" by Bauhaus photographer Gertrud Arndt from 1930 caused quite a stir in the photography auction: only after long bidding battles did the works, each estimated at EUR 3,000, find their new owners for EUR 20,000 and EUR 56,250 (Berlin dealer / private collection, USA). Lyonel Feininger's portrait, taken by his son Andreas in Dessau in 1928, was valued at EUR 5,000 and ultimately realised EUR 18,750 (private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia).
The atmosphere in the auction of 19th century art was excellent, with exciting bidding wars attracting attention from start to finish. The most expensive lot was Adolph Menzel's drawing of the interior of the collegiate church in Einsiedeln, which was sold to a Swiss private collector for EUR 275,000 against an estimate of EUR 60,000 . An icon of art history, Carl Philipp Fohr's portrait of his friend Sigismund Ruhl from 1816, recently restituted by the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, found its way into an important private collection for EUR 122,500. Fritz von Uhde's museum-quality "Holländische Nähstube" also climbed from an estimate of EUR 40,000 to EUR 168,750, but the surprise of the afternoon was Karl Stauffer-Bern's self-portrait from the collection of Rudolf Mosse, valued at EUR 2,500, which sold for an incredible EUR 143,750.
The spring auctions closed with a total result of EUR 15.3 million.
Micaela Kapitzky
Berlin, 4 June 2019
* All results incl. premium