Hamburg (kk) - Georg Sciltian’s "Musikstunde" ["Music Lesson"] fetched € 61,000* at the Ketterer Kunst auction of Modern Art & Post War in Hamburg on March 30 and 31, 2007, making it the most expensive object to go under the hammer on those two days. Carrying an estimate of € 14,000, the oil painting by the Armenian artist sparked off a fierce bidding skirmish before going to a collector from the international fashion scene. The overall auction proceeds amounted to € 2,1* million.

The Henry Moore gouache "Reclining Figure" (final sale price: € 24,000*) and August Macke’s "Unter den Lauben in Thun I" ["Under the Arcades in Thun I"] (final sale price: € 22,000*) met with an enthusiastic response and so did a 1916 Erich Heckel lithograph "In der Tram" ["In the Tram"] - also in the MODERN ART division. A telephone bidder from Monaco outstripped a wide field to acquire it for € 19,000* (estimate: € 9,000).

Another work that surpassed the estimate was the Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann 1914 oil painting of a "Vorstadt von Hamburg" ["A Hamburg Suburb"]. A French private collection acquired it for € 18,000* (estimate: € 15,000).

A French work that remained in Germany, on the other hand, was "Estampes", a portfolio of 12 prints by different artists (Braque, Chagall, Dufy, Matisse, Picasso, etc), that more than trebled the estimate of € 6,000 to go for € 17,000*.

Five oil paintings by Willem Anthonie Oepts, all of which handsomely topped the estimates, were much in demand: three of them were bought by a Dutch dealer, including the most expensive objects by the Amsterdam artist at € 13,000* (estimate: € 5,000) and 14,000* (estimate: € 2,000).

Other exciting results were obtained with works by Otto Modersohn ("Wümme mit Booten" - estimate: € 12,000; final sale price: € 14,000*), Mario Sironi ("Senza Titolo" - estimate: € 10,000; final sale price: € 13,000*) and Marc Chagall ("Champs Élysées" - estimate: € 5,000; final sale price: € 13,000*).

Wolfgang Mattheuer led off in the MODERN ART division (Post War) with "Paradiesgarten 98/6" ["The Garden of Paradise 98/6"]. Carrying an estimate of € 40,000, it was rapidly bid up to € 46,000*, when the gavel went down, ensuring that it would go to north-east Germany.

Other works that went for many times the original estimates were the Francis Bacon portfolio "Miroir de la Tauromachie" and a Fausto Melotti object, "Senza titolo". Appropriately, the Bacon portfolio was sold for six times the estimate (€ 6,000) to a British dealer for € 36,000* while the Melotti was acquired by a dealer from northern Italy for € 25,000* (estimate: € 6,000).

Other lots in the Modern Art division considerably exceeded their estimates included Tom Wesselmann’s "Big Blonde with choker" (estimate: € 8,000; final sale price: € 23,000*), Günther Förg’s "Ohne Titel Rot-Gelb" ["Untitled Red-Yellow"] (estimate: € 12,000; final sale price: € 18,000*), Bernd Koberling’s "o.T." (estimate: € 8,000; final sale price: € 17,000*) and Adolf Luther’s "Sphärisches Objekt" ["Spherical Object"] (estimate: € 8,000; final sale price: € 16,000*).

Post-auction sales continue in Hamburg through 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 premium (rounded off).