Hamburg, 29 October 2007, (kk) - The Ketterer Kunst auction of Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century in Hamburg on Saturday, 27 October lived up to its name. Overall proceeds amounting to € 1 million meant impressive rises of up to seven times estimates as well as outstanding results for individual lots. The panoramic vista of "Tivoli" by Friedrich Preller the younger fetched € 46,000*, making it the most expensive work by that artist.**

The Top 5 at the Auction

€ € 84,000*
Adriaen van Utrecht - "Kitchen Still Life ..."
estimate: € 40,000-60,000

€ 46,000*
Friedrich Preller d.J. - "Tivoli"
estimate: € 6,000-8,000

46,000*
Jan oder Robert Griffier - "Mountain Landscape ..."
estimate: € 25,000-35,000

38,000*
Albrecht Dürer - "Adam und Eve"
estimate: € 6,000-7,000

31,000*
Carl Morgenstern - "View of Lake Como"
estimate: € 6,000-7,000

"I am delighted that the Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century division, which is relatively new in our house - we have been represented with our own catalogues in this field for a bit over a year - has been so much in demand. Record prices, continuously rising proceeds and enthusiastic feedback from our clientele confirm that we are going in the right direction. I am very confident that this positive trend will continue," thus Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst.

At the top of the list (sale price: € 84,000*) was the Adriaen van Utrecht "Küchenstilleben mit erlegtem Wild und Gemüse" ["Kitchen Still Life with Game and Vegetables"], dating from the latter half of the 1640s. Comparable to a version (1648) in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the still life now adorns a German private collection. A connoisseur of banquet ingredients arranged by the hand of a master painter easily outbid in writing rivals from France and Luxemburg.

The last-named bidder, however, snapped up the Jan or Robert Griffier oil painting (c. 1700) "Berglandschaft mit Anlegeplatz bei einem Dorf" ["Mountain Landscape with Landing Stage near a Village"] for 46,000*. Bidding in writing, he outstripped a committed auction room.

Friedrich Preller the Younger’s "Tivoli" (1886) remained in Germany. A lively auction room, a book full of six bids in writing and over a dozen bids on the telephone catapulted this panoramic vista to a world record for work by this artist sold at auction (€ 46,000*).1)

The 1504 Albrecht Dürer copperplate of "Adam and Eve" fetched more than six times the original estimate of € 6,000. A German collector bidding on the telephone left bidders from Switzerland and the US as well as compatriots behind to acquire it for € 38,000*.

Carl Morgenstern’s "Ansicht vom Comer See" ["View of Lake Como"] more than doubled the estimate of € 12,000. A German collector outran a bid in writing from Switzerland and several bidders on the telephone to take home this landscape painted in 1865 for the respectable price of € 31,000*.

Also well worth a mention:

"Die Vorbereitung zur Flucht nach Ägypten" ["Preparation for the Flight to Egypt"], painted in oils (1605/10) by a member of the circle of Carlo Saraceni, has one of those incredible lucky-find stories we all dream of: it was discovered in a second-hand bed-sofa bought by a student at a flea market for € 150. A remark verso attributed the work to Adam Elsheimer so the girl brought the painting to Ketterer Kunst. Thorough research resulted in attribution to the circle of Carlo Saraceni and a resounding sale price of € 19,000*. (For more details on this see separate report).

Objects not sold at the Ketterer Kunst auction at 1 Meßberg, Hamburg, on 27 October 2007 can be acquired at post-auction sales until 27 November 2007. Auction results lists are available: please call +49-(0)40-3749610. More information also online 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. While our Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alphons Palais is responsible for the two traditional annual auctions of Modern Art & Post War, the Meßberghof in Hamburg is the venue for two traditional auctions a year, each based on the following fields: Old Masters and 19th-Century Art /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 and benefit auctions for charity as well as live auctions online are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.