A new chapter has begun at Villa Grisebach - the "Contemporary Art" auction took place for the first time at the weekend in the new premises at Fasanenstraße 27: In front of over 400 visitors in the room and a total of 150 telephone bidders, a painting by Anselm Kiefer realised the two highest hammer prices at € 312,500* and a Georg Baselitz at € 250,000.
At the top of the eight auctions was a work from the 19th century: With € 3,295,000 for Adolf Menzel's "Standing Armour" (estimate € 100,000 / 150,000), the previous world record for a work by the artist was surpassed by more than one million euros. The painting was acquired by a private collector in Switzerland against eleven telephone bidders and numerous room bidders. This is also the highest price ever paid for a work on paper at auction in Germany. The rare print "Die Frau mit dem Spinnennetz (Melancholie)" by Caspar David Friedrich caused a further sensation, realising a spectacular € 901,000 with an estimate of only € 10,000 to 15,000.
The last painting that Max Beckmann painted in 1937 before his emigration to Germany was sold at the "Selected Works" auction: The painting of the North Sea island of Wangerooge with dark looming clouds was knocked down to a German private collector in a bidding war for € 1,397,500 million.
The "Prints" auction was newly established: "The Kiss" by Edvard Munch achieved the highest hammer price with a result of € 500,000 at an estimate of € 180,000 / 240,000. The coloured woodcut went to a Scandinavian private collection.
The "ORANGERIE" auction with selected items from five centuries was also successful. Bucking the market trend, all pieces of furniture were highly bid upon. The total result of this auction reached almost one million euros for the first time.
Bernd Schultz: "We are delighted that the Villa Grisebach now has its own location for 21st century art - and that with Contemporary Art, 19th century art, Photography and the ORANGERIE, the other departments are now also helping to define the profile of our museum alongside Classical Modernism. The total result of our autumn auctions is 21 million euros."
Micaela Kapitzky
* All prices incl. buyer's premium