The last important collection of old art from Berlin in the 1920s was auctioned off at Villa Grisebach at the weekend with spectacular hammer prices: the Rohde-Hinze collection, consisting of 384 works of art that were considered lost, was auctioned off for a total of € 6,750,000* - even exceeding the upper estimate by € 2.5 million. This was the most successful auction to date in the "ORANGERIE. Selected Objects" at Grisebach. The hammer price of almost 90 per cent should also be emphasised - an outstanding result for the Arts and Crafts and Old Masters section.
European, American and Asian bidders battled for the freshly sold works, sometimes for several minutes. Important Italian and Dutch paintings and rare Asiatica were particularly sought after.
The Dutchman Jacob van Ruisdael's "Waterfall", which a German private collector was able to secure for € 805,000 (estimate € 180,000-240,000), tops the price list. This would have been entirely in the spirit of the founders of the collection: After all, it was precisely this painting that established the collection and was last exhibited in the famous "Art from Private Ownership" exhibition at the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1925. The Flemish master Anthonis van Dyck created an expressive apostle's head which, with a price of € 293,750, far exceeded its estimate of € 60,000-80,000. Lavinia Fontana's Portrait of a Boy from 1581 sold for € 212,500, more than ten times its estimate, like many other works in the three auctions.
The auction of arts and crafts with unique porcelain from the Meissen and KPM manufactories also repeatedly caused extreme price jumps. The most significant development, however, was in the Asiatica department. Here, two 18th century Buddha sculptures (starting price € 30,000) were auctioned for a total of € 531,250 after fierce battles between Chinese bidders in the room and on the phones.
Partner Bernd Schultz: "It was a particular pleasure and honour for us to work through the legendary Rohde-Hinze collection from an art historical perspective and now to auction it off with a spectacular result for the estate. The half-year turnover at Grisebach thus amounts to € 33 million. We are now looking forward to our big 250th auction at the end of November."
Micaela Kapitzky
*all prices incl. premium