Hamburg (kk) - With overall sales proceeds amounting to more than € 500,000, the first 2007 spring auction of Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century/Marine Art held by Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg on 31 March 2007 was a complete success. The enormous increases, often six or seven times the estimate prices, were sensational.

The top lot and not just in the Old MASTERS division but of the entire auction was a pair of paintings from the circle of Bernhard Strigel "Ecce Homo and Mater dolorosa" dating from the latter half of the 15th century. A New York private collection acquired the pair for triple the estimate at € 25,000*.

An Italian pen-and-ink drawing dating from about 1450 went for six times the estimate of € 4,000 to a London dealer amounting to € 25,000* as well.

A persistent telephone bidder acquired Franz von Kobell’s "Klassische Ideallandschaft mit Figurenstaffage" ["Classical Ideal Landscape with Staffage Figures"]. The meticulously executed pen-and-brush drawing by the Mannheim artist was bid up to € 22,000*.

Other excellent results in the Old Masters division were achieved with the Lucas von Leyden "Geschichte von Adam und Eva" ["Story of Adam and Eve"], told in six pictures, which a collector from Poland acquired for € 7,000* (estimate: € 1,800), "Drei phantastische Vogelwesen auf vertrocknetem Ast" ["Three Phantastic Birds on a Withered Branch"] (final sale price: € 7,000*; estimate: € 3,000) and Canaletto’s "Vue de la Place de la ville neuve de Dresden, ..." (final sale price: € 6,000*; estimate: € 5,000) and a "Vanitas" from Flanders (final sale price: € 5,000*; estimate: € 2,500).

In the ART OF THE 19TH CENTURY division, yearnings for Italy were responsible for fierce bidding skirmishes that brought good results. "Ansicht des Golfes von Neapel mit dem Vesuv" ["View of The Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius"] in an unusual format (27.7 x 151 cm) made its way into a London private collection, spiraling from an estimate of € 8,000 to the dizzying heights of € 22,000*.

The same sum was paid for Oswald Achenbach’s 1888 "Mondnacht auf Ischia" ["Ischia by Moonlight"] by a telephone bidder from Italy. Whereas a Franz Alt’ watercolour (estimate: € 4000) of a "Venezianischer Platz" ["A Venetian Square"] went to an Austrian private collection for € 16,000*, Carl Morgenstern’s "Kapuziner-Kloster bei Amalfi" ["Capuchin Monastery near Amalfi"] was sold to a German dealer at seven times the estimate (€ 1,800) for € 13,000*.

Exciting rises were recorded in the Art of the 19th Century division by numerous works, notably Eugene F. P. Bracht’s "Dünenstrand auf Rügen" ["Dune Beach on Rügen"](estimate: € 6,500; sale price: € 13,000*) and Carl Graeb’s "Das ‘Grab des Vergil’ am Golf von Neapel" ["Vergil’s Tomb on the Gulf of Naples"] (estimate: € 3,500; final sale price: € 11,000*) and Adolph von Menzel’s "Fabelwesen auf Grußpostkarte" ["Mythical Creatures on a Postcard"](estimate: € 3,500; final sale price: € 11,000*).

In the MARINE ART division, the greatest hit was William Howard Yorke’s "Bark ‘Olive’ aus Hamburg" ["The Bark ‘Olive’ out of Hamburg"], which stayed in northern Germany for € 7,000*.

"Sturm an einer Felsenküste" ["Storm off a Rocky Coast"], an oil painting from the circle of Pieter Mulier the Younger, called Tempesta, nearly doubled its estimate (€ 3,700), when an Italian private collection bid € 7,000.

Claus Bergen’s "Wikingerschiff vor Dünenküste" ["Viking Ship off a Coast with Dunes"] (estimate: € 2,500) saw the bidding off to an promising start, going to a telephone bidder from France who outstripped an international field to acquire it for € 5,000.

Post-auction sales continue in Hamburg until April 30, 2007.

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 in each of 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. In addition, exhibitions, special auctions, benefit auctions for charity and live auctions online are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.

Hamburg, April 02, 2007

*)Hammer price + 20 per cent buyer’s premium )rounded).