The most recent Winter Auctions saw Grisebach securing bids in the millions for three exceptional works. The most hotly fought-over painting was Lyonel Feininger’s museum-quality seascape Wolken überm Meer I, whose bid price soared from EUR 800,000 to EUR 2,368,000 during a long and suspenseful international bidding battle playing out in the saleroom and over the phones. The successful bidder was a private collection in Northern Germany. A further highlight of the “Selected Works” auction was the sale of Caspar David Friedrich’s Karlsruher Skizzenbuch of 1804. This work, which had been privately held until now and was estimated at EUR 1 to 1.5 million, ultimately changed hands for an impressive EUR 1,819,000. Another result of international note was the third million-euro bid to be placed that same evening: Emil Nolde’s strikingly expressive painting Mohn und blaue Lupinen from the collection of Anneliese and Dr. Wolfgang Schieren and was sold to a Berlin-based private collection for EUR 1,636,000 following vigorous in-room and telephone bidding.
Other lots commanded top prices as well: Nolde’s masterwork In Demut from 1946 went to a Northern German private collection for EUR 889,000, while René Magritte’s airy cloudscape La Malédiction found a new owner in the Swiss art-dealing sector for EUR 609,600. A world record was achieved for Grosse Daphne, a graceful sculpture by Renée Sintenis, which was acquired by a private collection in Southern Germany for EUR 508,000 after fierce competition among half a dozen bidders, more than doubling its original upper estimate (EUR 150,000 – EUR 200,000). Balthasar Lobo’s abstract sculpture Pièce d’eau sur socle likewise fetched EUR 508,000 and will now grace a private collection in Northern Germany. There was strong demand for the two paintings by Hans Hartung on offer: The large-scale composition T 1980 H 34 from 1980 went to a private collection in Switzerland for EUR 457,200, while T1948-41 from 1948 was purchased by a Swiss art dealership for EUR 330,200, doubling its original lower estimate.
The “Selected Works” auction also saw strong international interest, both in the room and over the phones, for the contemporary pieces on offer: The impressive oil painting Untitled by Per Kirkeby from 2011 went to a Scandinavian art dealer for EUR 444,500, while a private collection in New York City secured Untitled, an oil painting from 1990 characteristic of Günther Förg’s individual abstract style, for EUR 317,500. Another standout lot was David Hockney’s work on paper Ouesten from 1994, which doubled its estimate to EUR 222,250 and will also go to the United States.
Having achieved an annual turnover of over EUR 47 million, Grisebach looks back on a decidedly successful auction year!
* All results incl. buyer’s premium