After a long and international bidding war a spectacular EUR 537,500* was garnered for Albrecht Dürer’s iconic piece of art history, his copperplate engraving “Adam und Eva”. With that, the engraving made itself a new world record at Grisebach, and it is also the fifth highest-priced graphic from Dürer ever sold. Yet another iconic artwork by the most important German Renaissance artist, “Melencolia I”, sold for EUR 318,750* and went to the same British private collection.
The Collectors once again held Modern Art in the highest esteem. Emil Nolde’s masterpiece of Expressionism, “Südsee Landschaft II” from 1915, was offered on the auction market for the first time and swiftly became the top lot of the “Selected Works” auction, finding a new owner in Northern Germany for EUR 949,000*. Another museum masterpiece, “Pommersche Bauern” by fellow Brücke artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, was sold for EUR 500,000*. Grisebach set a world record for a truly extraordinary discovery in the realm of New Objectivity. The painting “Schüler mit roter Mütze” by Dresden artist Hans Grundig, is arguably one of the artist’s most important works and was sold for EUR 462,500* to a private collection in Southern Germany. Wolfgang Paalen’s painting “Avertissement I (Peinture)”, yet another fascinating work of Modern Art, also set a new world record (EUR 387,500*, private collection Austria).
Günther Uecker’s “Bewegtes Feld” was found at the forefront of the Contemporary Art auction. The ZERO artist’s striking nail artwork found a new owner for EUR 525,000* (estimate: 200,000–300,000). The second-highest figure was obtained by Sigmar Polke’s 1993 untitled work (EUR 400,000*). The greatly anticipated carpet by Rudolf Stingel (“Untitled”. 2012) proved to be a sensation and sold for EUR 93,750* to a private collection in the United States. Norbert Bisky’s “SCHWARZMALER II” (EUR 137,500*) also achieved another top result and world record.
The highlight of the Photography department, “Elephant and Kilimanjaro” (1984/2005) by Peter Beard, was offered in the Selected Works auction and sold for EUR 150,000*. Other exceptional photographs were honoured with high prices as well. Werner Mantz’ “Haus der Kölnischen Zeitung auf der Internationalen Presse-Ausstellung ‘Pressa’ bei Nacht, Köln” was sold for EUR 47,500* (estimate: 4,000–6,000), Otto Steinert’s “Aggression II” from 1966 went to a Swiss private collection for EUR 32,500* (estimate: 3,500–5,500) and Karl Blossfeldt’s iconic portfolio “Urformen der Kunst” from 1915/25 found a new owner for EUR 46,250*.
Grisebach’s first Online Only auction took place from June 19th to July 5th 2020 and can proudly report high bidding rates: Out of 120 works offered, 108 were sold, meaning 90% of the lots. With a total result of EUR 270,000 including premium, Grisebach can look back on a very successful online premiere. The concept of a digital auction platform with high quality works of art will be continued with our second Online Only auction from 31st July to 9th August (estimates up to EUR 3,000).
With four auctions on two days (including Online Only), the summer auctions generated a total of 16 million euros.
Micaela Kapitzky
Berlin, 13 July 2020
* All results incl. premium