Munich (kk) – Postwar art sparked off boundless enthusiasm and brought high increases over estimates at the Ketterer 300th auction held in the packed 8seasons Opernsaal at  Maximilianstrasse 2 on June 2, 2006. "The special catalogue, Post War - International Postwar Art, which was almost sold out for an auction that ensured sale proceeds amounting to € 1.6 million contributed substantially to the extremely gratifying overall proceeds of € 6.6(1) million," thus Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and managing director of Ketterer Kunst. Some 480 bidders by telephone and 240 bids in writing from Germany and abroad competed for this attractive offer, resulting in an average of 30,000 per object.

€ 270,000 (1)
E. Nolde - Deep Blue Sea ...
Estimate: € 130,000

€ 205,000 (1)
A. Modigliani - Caryatid
Estimate: € 65,000

€ 188,000 (1)
O. Schlemmer - Head Game
Estimate: € 120,000

€ 188,000 (1)
L. Putz - Portrait of a Lady
Estimate: € 40,000

€ 165,000 (1)
A. Jawlensky - Variation
Estimate: € 100,000

The top lots from the private collection which opened the auction were, in addition to the small Stephan Balkenhol wood sculpture "Ohne Titel (Mann mit weißem Hemd)" ["Untitled (Man Wearing a White Shirt"], which went to a Hessian collector for nearly € 60,000 (1) (called at:   € 15,000), two works by Gerhard Richter. 

A 1990 Richter watercolor was snapped up by a Rhineland collector present in the auction room, who outbid a dozen rivals at nearly € 62,000(1) (estimate: € 20,000-30,000). The Richter parquetry picture "Grün-Blau-Rot" ["Green-Blue-Red"] was secured by an art lover from Portugal for more than € 58,000.(1)

The Fritz Winter oil painting "Kommendes Blau und Rot" ["Coming Blue and Red"], on the other hand, remained in Germany for over € 57,000.(1) Several bidders in the auction room skirmished over that one.

The winner also honoured Rupprecht Geiger’s "372/62" (1962) by tripling the price at which it was called and bidding more than € 50,000.(1)

The brilliant colors of Allen Jones’s "Swoon", which adorns the back cover of the special catalogue, enthralled a persistent Swiss collector who outbid competitors from London, Paris and Brussels on the telephone.

Works by Per Kirkeby also made a hit. Whereas a German bank secured the Kirkeby oil painting "Ohne Titel [Untitled] (Skowhegan IV)" for nearly € 43,000,(1) virtually four times the sum at which it was called, "Dunkelheit III" ["Darkness III"] went to a German private collection for more than  € 45,000,(1) tripling the estimate.

Twenty-three bidders on the telephone and thirteen bids in writing were registered for Alighiero Boetti’s "Simmetrie speculari" (1993). Called at € 2,000, this colored embroidery picture sparked off wild bidding, which was finally stopped at over           € 33,000(1) by a South German dealer present in the auction room.

The Markus Lüpertz "Porträt eines Straßenarbeiters" ["Portrait of a Man Working on the Road"] fetched some       € 40,000(1) (called at: € 9,000). On the whole, works by this charming prince of painters, who had given the inaugural speech at the vernissage, met with lively interest. The Lüpertz "Diptychon - Durchschnittene Baumstämme" ["Diptych - Hewn-Off Tree Trunks"] led off, with Emil Schumacher’s "Lamatan", which went to a North German art foundation for more than                    € 140,000,(1) the second part, Post War II, of the main auction. The Lüpertz went across the Atlantic to New York for                  € 135,000.(1)  Composed of oil painting and painted chopped wood, "Durchschnittene Baumstämme" triumphantly tripled the original estimate, going to a Swiss collection for nearly € 60,000.(1)

The Fritz Winter "Große Komposition vor Blau" ["Large Composition against Blue"], went for nearly double the estimate to a businessman from the Ruhre for nearly € 130,000,(1) who had bid for it in writing.

Other works that showed excellent increases were a blue and black Hans Hartung, "Ohne Titel" ["Untitled"], bid up to nearly € 60,000(1) from an estimate of  € 24,000 and the Otto Piene raster picture "Ohne Titel" (estimate: € 6,000; result:          € 25,000(1)) and Karl-Horst Hödicke’s "U-Bahn -Reflektion" (estimate: € 10,000; result: € 32,000).

The highest price in the entire auction was paid for the Emil Nolde "Tiefblaues Meer unter gelb-violettem Himmel" ["Deep Blue Sea under a Yellow Purple Sky"] (estimate: € 130,000; result: € 270,000(1)). Together with six other Noldes, including the watercolor "Heuboote im Fahrgraben", which went for nearly € 130,000,(1) the paintings by this artist fetched € 620,000,(1) roughly 10 per cent of the overall sale proceeds. 

Woman and all her wiles captured places two and three. Amedeo Modigliani’s voluptuous "Cariatide" held out for € 205,000,(1) paid by a  South German gallery bidding from the auction room to leave telephone bidders disappointed.

Leo Putz’s pensive "Damenbildnis" ["Portrait of a Lady"], painted in oils in 1922, was honoured by a German collector, who paid nearly five times the estimate to call her his own at 188,000.(1) 

The Oskar Schlemmer sequence of six lithographs, all concerned with "Spiel mit Köpfen" ["Head Games"], fetched the same, despite an estimate of only € 120,000.

Post-auction sales will run through June 30, 2006. For the auction result lists, please  call 00 49 89-55244-444. More information is available on the internet at www.kettererkunst.com.

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. The Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alfons Palais plays a leading role with two annual auctions of Classics of the XXth Century. At the Meßberghof in Hamburg two auctions a year are devoted to Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints. Auctions of Old Masters and Modern Art / Marine Art  are also held in Hamburg twice annually. In addition, exhibitions, lectures and benefit auctions for charity are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.

Munich, June 6, 2006

(1) Sale proceeds = Hammer price + premium