Munich, 5 June 2008, (kk) - The sum total of their ages is nearly 300 years: three ladies who ensured top prices at today’s Ketterer Kunst auction in Munich. While Heidi Klum has yet to pick her winner on television, "Mädchen mit blauem Schal" ["Girl with a Blue Scarf"], painted by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in 1909, has already topped the charts. The watercolour fetched € 360,000*, a world record for a work on paper by this artist. Incredible as it may seem: not all that long ago this outstanding work was left on the shelf at another auction in Germany.

The overall auction proceeds amounted to € 4,000,000*. That figure was realised with nearly 70 per cent of lots sold.

Feminine wiles coupled with subtle eroticism secured Amedeo Modigliani’s "Cariatide" ["Caryatid"] first place at the auction and continuing residence in Germany. A collector nearly quadrupled the estimate by paying € 425,000*.

Red hair and red lips not only top the bill on German television; they also come first in the international art scene. One art lover could not be restrained when Emil Nolde’s "Frauenkopf mit rotem Haar" ["Portrait of a Lady with Red Hair"] was called. He bid up the watercolour portrait to € 210,000*.

The Top 5 at the Modern Art Auction

€ 425,000*
No. 155: Amedeo Modigliani - Cariatide
Schätzung: € 120,000-150,000

€ 360,000*
No. 140: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff - Girl with a Blue Scarf
Schätzung: € 150,000-200,000

€ 210,000*
No. 183: Emil Nolde - Portrait of a Lady with Red Hair
Schätzung: € 150,000-250,000

€ 205,000*
No. 143: Heinrich Campendonk - Self-Portrait (Rural Impression)
Schätzung: € 100,000-150,000

€ 200,000*
No. 186: Emil Nolde - Sea (with the Evening Sky)
Schätzung: € 150,000-200,000

Another Emil Nolde watercolour on offer was "Meer (mit Abendhimmel)" ["Sea (with Evening Sky"]. It left the auctioneer’s lectern to adorn a German collection for € 200,000*.

Heinrich Campendonk’s "Selbstbildnis (Ländliche Impression)" ["Self-Portrait (Rural Impression"] (lot 143; estimate € 100,000-150,000) was honoured by a collector from southern Europe for € 205,000*. As recently as late last year the vendor had acquired it from another auction for an incredible € 14,000.

Another work that journeyed south was Oskar Schlemmer’s "Zwei Köpfe, einander zugewandt" ["Two Heads, Facing": lot no. 175]. A collector parted with € 120,000* for it. Only a few months ago, he could have bought it from a Berlin auction house for just € 42,000.

More than honourable mention to the following:

Post-auction sales of objects unsold at the auction run through 4 August 2008. For auction result lists please call 00 49 (0)89-55244-444.

* Sale price equalsHammer price + 18 per cent surcharge on hammer prices over € 200,000 and
Hammer price + 20 per cent surcharge on hammer prices below € 200,000