Munich (kk) - € 18* million overall auction proceeds is the outstanding result of the year 2006 at Ketterer Kunst. Some 8,000 objects were sold at seven auctions in Munich and Hamburg, approximately the same number of lots as last year. The big news, however, is that this year’s proceeds exceeded last year’s by 50 percent. "This success is surely owing to a great extent to our greatly increased presence online," thus Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and managing director of Ketterer Kunst.

The two Modern Art & Post War auctions in Munich alone ensured proceeds of some € 11* million, more than double the proceeds from the same auctions in 2005. The highest sale price, € 475,000* for a single lot, was paid for the Vladimir Georgievich Bechteyeff oil painting "Die Kurtisane" ["The Courtesan"]. A client from the Ukraine, whose attention had been drawn to it on the internet, acquired not only this work but also paintings by Alexandra Exter and Natalia Sergeievna Goncharova.

With overall sale proceeds amounting to € 3.4* million, the two Modern Art & Post War auctions held in Hamburg also did better than last year. What is notable here, however, is that the October 2006 auction scored the best results ever in the more than fifty years Ketterer Kunst has been in business in this division with objects called at up to € 50,000.

Masterly results were also achieved by the Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century division, which brought in € 1.3* million at the very first auction devoted to this field. Alongside works by Henri Lebasque and Adolph von Menzel, the stars here were the Russian artists Vasili Ivanovich Surikov and Klavdiy Vasilievich Lebedev, with works that exceeded their estimates by extraordinary percentages.

The Rare Books - Manuscripts - Autographs - Decorative Prints division was very pleased indeed with overall proceeds amounting to approximately € 2.5* million and an increase of 25 per cent over 2005. "I am delighted that the first evening auction in particular, with its own completely illustrated catalogue, was such a resounding success, especially since it attracted a clientele previously interested more in art, one that has now also discovered the fascination of books," says Christoph Calaminus, auctioneer and head of the Rare Books division.

Moreover, special and themed auctions such as the third Siede lines of the German Avant-garde auction did brilliantly this time, too, achieving sales of over 90 per cent and providing exciting bidding skirmishes.

The new live online auctions of art carrying estimates below € 1,000 at Ketterer Kunst have been met with enormous enthusiasm. The first live online auction in September vastly surpassed expectations, with overall proceeds amounting to over € 100,000* and a sales quota of 42 per cent for 734 art objects.

Apart from auctions, Ketterer Kunst also plans to become more active again in organising and mounting exhibitions. To facilitate such undertakings and, of course, to provide clients with more service, Ketterer Kunst has had a Berlin-Charlottenburg branch since Novemmber 2006. At its inauguration, the 150 m2 of show and salerooms at Fasanenstrasse 70, showcased highlights of the December auction. An exhibition of original silkscreen prints by the Pop Art artist Tom Wesselmann currently featured at the Berlin branch will run until the end of January.

Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books. While the Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alfons-Palais is responsible for the two traditional annual auctions of Modern Art & Post War, the Meßberghof in Hamburg is the venue for two auctions a year each based on the following fields: Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century /Marine Art and Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints as well as Modern Art & Post War, with a focus on works on paper carrying estimates of up to € 50,000. In addition, exhibitions, special auctions and benefit auctions for charity as well as live online auctions are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.

Munich, December 12, 2006

* Sale price = Hammer price + 17%
(for hammer prices over € 100,000)
or Hammer price + 19%
(for hammer prices below € 100,000)