The most expensive lot in the “Selected Works” auction came from the realm of modern art: August Macke‘s idyllic scene Mann auf Bank from 1913 was snapped up for a private collection in North Germany for a top hammer price of EUR 1,125,000. Max Pechstein‘s Expressionist work Sonnenflecken found a new home in a South German private collection for EUR 500,000, while Max Beckmann‘s small-format composition Hängematte generated lively interest from Germany and abroad before being sold to a South German bidder for EUR 400,000. Lovis Corinth‘s erotically charged Maske im weissen Kleid, a portrait of his wife-to-be Charlotte, went to a private collection in Berlin for EUR 312,500.
Interest in top works of post-war and contemporary art was remarkably strong. An outstanding result was achieved, for example, for Untitled, Günther Förg‘s impressive 12-part series of lead paintings from 1987, which was awarded for a hammer price of EUR 550,000 to a German collector after a lengthy bidding battle. Hans Hartung‘s T 1985 - H 34, an exceptional work from 1985, was also keenly fought over, doubling its lower estimate to EUR 287,500 and changing hands to a private collection in Switzerland. An increase in value was also achieved for Gegen Abend I (Towards Evening I), a painting that epitomizes the signature style of Per Kirkeby; this was acquired for EUR 275,000 by a private collection in South Germany. The EUR 237,500 paid by a private North German collection for Anselm Kiefer‘s collage Jakobsleiter from 2003 caused quite a stir, as did the EUR 193,750 bid for Imi Knoebel‘s 1984 painting Untitled, since these bids effectively doubled the lower estimates of each of the works. A special edition of Gerhard Richter’s book object War Cut II commanded a winning bid of EUR 187,500 and is now owned by a private collection in Hesse. This wave of success is positive proof of the strong demand driving a buyer‘s market for post-war and contemporary art.
With the 19th Century Art auction, the summer sales already got off to a successful start. The lively bidding interest exhibited by a number of public institutions was a pleasant surprise – thus, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden acquired eleven of the series of fourteen floral silhouette paper cuts by Philipp Otto Runge. The “Munich beauty,” Joseph Karl Stieler’s famous portrait of Helene Sedlmayr, also proved to be a highly coveted lot: Originally appraised at EUR 80,000 - 120,000, it ultimately racked up a record price of EUR 237,500. The buyer was the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation in Munich, which intends to show the work and make it accessible to the public. The haunting, large-scale portrait Bildnis eines hessischen Bauernmädchens by Carl Bantzer was another standout, multiplying its original estimate of EUR 35,000 - 45,000 to EUR 118,750. It will now move to the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.
Daniel von Schacky, Spokesman of the Managing Board and Partner:
“I am gratified by this strong demand for contemporary art; it shows that we are on the right track in this regard and that we will be able to place an even greater weight on this particular segment going forward.”
The sales turnover for the first half of 2023 amounts to EUR 18 million.