Munich, 16 May, 2012, (kk) – Two Moscow artists hold the top positions in the auctions at Ketterer Kunst on 9 June. Vladimir Georgievich Bekhteev and Serge Poliakoff, whose oil paintings will enter the bidding race with estimates of € 250.000-350.000 each.

Vladimir Georgievich Bekhteev's extremely rare work "Bogenschützen" (Archers) was made during his time in Munich around 1910, which marks the artist's most important period of creation. With his style, strongly influenced by Art Nouveau, Bekhteev anticipated future developments and already hints at Art Déco. He contrasts his slightly mannered idea of man with a landscape working up concepts of Cubism. At the same time he uses impressions of the dancer Sacharoff, who was close to the artist group "Blauer Reiter" (Blue Rider) and especially to Alexej von Jawlensky. On the one hand, Bekhteev's "Archers" captivate the observer with a poised coloristic framework, on the other hand, they emanate an unmatched optical elegance.

Space, proportion, rhythm and most of all color are in the focus of Serge Poliakoff's fine abstract composition. "Colors are a wonderful sound, music turned to light" said the Swiss artist and Poliakoff contemporary Johannes Itten. Whether it is because Serge Poliakoff had earned a living as a musician before he became a painter is hard to say, however, the renowned representative of the Nouvelle École de Paris lets the canvas of his oil painting "Composition abstraite orange jaune, vert, lie de vin" from 1964 vibrate. The bright color's rhythm and the slightly bent contours between the color fields make the work pulsate and both the composition’s harmony as well as it's optical resonance unfold.

The range of offerings in the auction of Modern Art and Post War/Contemporary Art is completed with works by renowned artists such as Georg Baselitz, Marc Chagall, Gabriele Münter, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Emil Nolde, Pierre Soulages, Georg Tappert, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann. (see separate press release from 14 May, 2012). Additionally, a special section of the auction is dedicated to works by representative of the New Leipzig School (see separate press release from 11 April, 2012).