Munich, 22 December 2008 - (kk) - Auction proceeds amounting to over € 21 million* is the outstanding result for the 2008 business year at Ketterer Kunst, only just behind 2007, which to date has seen the best results ever. Compared to the first half of 2008, Ketterer Kunst has not only maintained the high spring level of € 10.6 million* overall proceeds but even slightly improved on them, which must surely be the notable exception among auction houses.

The TOP Prices Achieved in 2008

€ 900,000*
Emil Nolde - "Landscape"
Estimate: € 800,000

€ 816,000*
August Macke - "Women by a Lake
(The Landing-stage)"
Estimate: € 300,000

€ 435,000*
Amedeo Modigliani - "Caryatid"
Estimate: € 120,000

€ 390,000*
Max Liebermann- "The Kitchen Garden at Wannsee, Looking West "
Estimate: € 250,000

€ 360,000*
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff- "Girl Wearing a Blue Scarf"
Estimate: € 150,000 - 200,000

€ 305,000*
Timoleon von Neff- "A Young Mother"
Estimate: € 50,000

€ 210,000*
Emil Nolde- "Head of a Woman with Red Hair"
Estimate: € 150,000 - 250,000

€ 105,000*
Heinrich Campendonk- "Self-portrait (Rural Impressions)"
Estimate: € 100,000 - 150,000

€ 200,000*
Emil Nolde- "Sea (with Evening Sky)"
Estimate: € 150,000 - 200,000

"Quality and rarity are the essential criteria for buying art. This is especially true in times of economic turbulence", thus Robert Ketterer, owner of Ketterer Kunst. "International participation in our opening auctions in December has declined compared to spring, however, the German art market has proven to be very stable. Emil Nolde's "Landscape" even brought the highest single auction result in Germany in autumn 2008. I am very optimistic for the future", the auctioneer continues.

Taken together, the two Munich auctions Modern Art & POST 1945/Contemporary Art , including the themed auctions Expressive Realism and Sidelines of the German Avant-garde as well as the Stiftung Kunst und Recht Collection, of which 100% of lots were sold, ensured overall proceeds of some € 13 million*. Proceeds from sales in this field amounted to a total of nearly € 17 million*, of which nearly € 4 million* were achieved at the Hamburg auctions. There the roll of most-sought-after names was headed chiefly by German artists, including Helmut vom Hügel, called Kolle, Christian Rohlfs, Franz von Stuck, Max Klinger, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Max Beckmann, whose works, along with works by Antoni Clavé and Almir da Silva Mavignier, fetched the highest prices.

The results achieved in the Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century, division, which made nearly € 2 million*, thus surpassing last year’s proceeds by nearly € 500,000*, were also outstanding. More than honourable mention must go here to the Adriaen van Utrecht "Küchenstillleben mit erlegtem Wild, Früchten und Gemüse" ["Kitchen Still-life with Game, Fruit and Vegetables"], which sold for € 122,000*, more than doubling the estimate and following up on similar results for another van Utrecht Kitchen Still-life in 2007, and, most notably, Timoleon Neff’s "Junge Mutter" ["A Young Mother"]. This oil painting was bid up to sell for € 305,000*, more than six times the estimate.

With overall sale proceeds amounting to some € 2.7 million*, the Rare Books - Manuscripts - Autographs - Decorative Prints division was overjoyed. "I am especially delighted that the top sale prices achieved were considerably higher than those of last year, in two cases even running to six figures," reports Christoph Calaminus, auctioneer and head of the Rare Books division.

The Top Three in All Divisions