Excellent results in Munich
Auctions continue to soar
Munich, 17 May 2011, (kk) – With an overall result of more than € 3,6 million* in the May auctions, the start into this year’s spring auctions could hardly have been better. The proceeds of the same period in the 2010 season was even topped by € 600 000. Works from the collection Schiefler alone made for a remarkable sales quota of 272 percent (ratio between limit and hammer price).
"25 percent new customers alone in the auction of Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century once more confirm that art’s attractiveness is still increasing", said Robert Ketterer about the first part of his spring auctions**.

This is also proven by an average increase of 67 percent per sold lot (ratio between limit and hammer price) in the section of Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century as well as 71 percent in the section of Modern Art.

The company director continues: "What is most striking is the artworks’ quality and the fact that art continues to be a means of investment that is crisis-proof. 25 results far beyond the € 20 000 benchmark in the two auctions of Art of the 20th/21st Century up until € 20 000 show this in a most impressive way".

So there is reason enough to be excited about the main auctions on 4 June, 2011.

Top 5

€ 152 000* Starting price: € 35 000
No. 160: Philipp Otto Runge
- Die Zeiten

Record price***

€ 97 600* Starting price: € 35 000
No. 513: Fritz Koenig
- Mona II
Record price***

€ 73 200* Starting price: € 12 000
No. 364: Fritz Winter
– Blau-Rot-Vertikal

€ 68 320* Starting price: € 12 000
No. 324: Fred Thieler
- Monadisch spektral
Record price***

€ 65 880* Starting price: € 16 000
No. 352: Oskar Kokoschka
– Sitzender Mädchenakt

The auctions focal points were on:
1. Post War/Contemporary Art with the special auction Garden Sculptures
2. Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century
3. Modern Art
with the special auction Art from the Collection Schiefler

on 1: Modern Art
The spring auction season was opened by Contemporary Art on 7 May, it is headed by the bronze "Mona II" (lot 513) by Fritz Koenig from 1971, estimated at € 40 000-50 000, it realized an impressive world record price *** of € 97 600*, which was granted by a collector from Southern Germany.

Next to Pablo Atchugarry’s white marble sculpture without a title (lot 500), rising from € 28 000 to € 39 000* and going to a foundation in Uruguay, other successful lots in the special auction Garden Sculptures came from Horst Antes (lot 501, Figur 1000, starting price: € 6 000, result: € 25 000*), Gianpietro Carlesso (lot 505, Decostruzione XXIV, starting price: € 15.000, result: € 34.160*), Michael Croissant (lot 507, Kopf, starting price: € 10 000, result: € 31 250*, world record price***) and Michael Staub (lot 525, starting price: € 10 000, result: € 29 280*). All those lots mentioned found a place in the top ten of Contemporary Art. The 31 lots in the special auctions were not only almost entirely sold, most of them even realized incredible increases that in some cases made for a multiple of the starting price.

Fritz Winter, whose six works in the auction all went to new owners, made it to one of the top positions with his oil painting "Blau-Rot-Vertikal" (lot 364), which was called up at € 12 000 and finally honored with a result of € 73 200* by an Austrian collector. Thus it was not only one of the top results, but at the same time the work with the sharpest increase.

An increase of more than 400 percent was also realized by Fred Thieler’s "Monadisch spektral" (lot 324). The race for the oil painting from 1956 did not only comprise bidders in the auction room and written bids, but also half a dozen telephones. An art dealer from Southern Germany stood his ground and won the race for the 130 x 189 large work at the mark of € 68 320* and thus set a new world record price***.

More than just worthwhile mentioning in the section of Post War/Contemporary Art:
Lot
no.
Artist (Technique) Title Starting price   Result
2 Albers (silkscreen) SP (Hommage to the Square) € 15 000 € 37 820*
9 Appel (acrylic) Portrait of a Farmer € 16 000 € 24 375*
193 Kippenberger (photo) Von Weiß zu Schwarz … € 3 500 € 24 375*
515 Lechner (plastic) Kreis-Teilung € 5 000 € 22 500*
365 Winter (oil) Roter Bogen € 8 000 € 22 500*
317 Tadeusz (oil) Weiblicher Akt in Interieur € 5 000 € 22 500*

on 2. Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century
Just as expected, this section is headed by the four etchings "Die Zeiten" (lot 160) by Philipp Otto Runge. Along with the enormous German interest in the sheets from 1805, it was particularly the American market that competed for the works. A private collector from the USA stood his ground against strong rivals, among others, on half a dozen telephones. Starting at € 35 000 the rare copy from the first edition was honored with a result of € 152 500* and thus set a new world record price*** for a printwork by the artist.

Other great results were realized by :
Lot no. Artist (Technique) Title Starting price Result
169 Spitzweg (oil) Der Kaktusfreund € 18 000 € 22 500*
55 van Ostade (etching) Die Bezahlung der Zeche € 5 000 € 18 750*
41 da Vinci – succession (oil) Salvator Mundi € 13 000 € 16 250*
172 von Stuck (bronze) Amazone € 9 000 € 15 625*

on 3.Modern Art
This section is headed by Oskar Kokoschka's watercolor "Sitzender Mädchenakt" (lot 352), which realized more than a quadruple of the starting price of € 16 000. With his written bid a Southern German collector outdid all other competitors in the room and on the phones. With a result of € 65 880* he can now call the sheet from 1922 his own.

It was the same art lover who would be successful once again in the later course of the auction. Despite strong headwind in the auction room, he allowed a result of € 30 000* for Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's watercolor "Die weißen Blumen" (lot 493) from 1968, which had entered the race at € 12 000.

A slightly higher sum of € 31 250* was realized by George Braque’s gouache "L'oiseau, fond rouge" (lot 235), which also remains in Germany, this time in the north.

With Hesse as its new home, Franz Xaver Fuhr's oil painting "Stadt im Vulkangebiet (Der Vesuv)" (lot 307), which adorns the catalog’s title, reached a five-fold of its starting price of € 5 600 soaring to a result of € 27 750.

The total of 18 works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner were highly desired, not only were they entirely sold, most of them even realized results far beyond their starting price. The most incredible result was achieved by two works in the special auction of Art from the Collection Schiefler: The postcard "Straßenszene" (lot 706), called up at € 2 000 went to a stately sum of € 39 040*, which is almost a twenty-fold, it was just as much sought-after as the drypoint etching "Blonde Pippa in weißem Tanzkostüm mit Schirm" (lot 707) which went from € 7 000 to € 32 940*. Both works will stay in Germany.

Other top results in the section of Modern Art:
Lot no. Artist (Technique) Title Starting price Result
723 Schmidt-Rottluff (woodcut) Alte vor dem Vorhang € 10 000 € 26 250*
701 Heckel (color chalk) Ananas-Esser € 2 000 € 25 000*
724 Schmidt-Rottluff (India ink) Bäume am Weg € 2 000 € 23 750*
346 Klee (pencil drawing) Blumen in zwei Gläsern € 15 000 € 21 250*
All unsold objects can be acquired in our post auction sale up until mid June 2010. Lists with results are available by phone under +49-(0)89-55244-0.

*   The result is the hammer price + 25 percent buyer’s premium for objects up to € 25 000
     The result is the hammer price + 22 percent buyer’s premium for objects above € 25 001
     The result is the hammer price + 20 percent buyer’s premium for objects above
     € 500 001

**  Unlike other German auction houses Ketterer Kunst holds it auction season on several
      days. The main auction will be on 4 June 2011.

*** source: www.artnet.com

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