Art is in demand more than ever before. This has been confirmed by the excellent results of the spring auctions at Ketterer Kunst, which grossed some € 12 million**. “We were able to sell 14 objects in the realm of six-digits, additionally, we realized very high increases for most works,” said company owner Robert Ketterer. “Just like in the golden days,” he continued. “The section of Contemporary Art alone attracted 20 percent new customers. It’s simple, quality art is always highly treasured.”

Top 5 Lots:

1. € 344.000* Starting Price: € 240.000

Lot 62: Franz Radziwill - Gespräch über einen Paragraphen

2, € 305.000* (under reserve) Starting Price: € 300.000

Lot 16: Hermann Max Pechstein - Zerfallenes Haus

3. € 286.700* Starting Price: € 170.000

Lot 23: Emil Nolde - Marschlandschaft

4. € 274.500* (under reserve) Starting Price: € 250.000

Lot 28: Gabriele Münter - Stillleben mit Madonna

5. € 274.500* Starting Price: € 58.000

Lot 66: Otto Dix - Alte Birnbäume in Hemmenhofen (Old pear treas in Hemmenhofen)

The focal points of the auctions on June 4 were on Modern Art and Post War/Contemporary Art.

Modern Art

Among the top results in this section is the perhaps most sensual approach to the discussion regarding the abortion paragraph 218, Franz Radziwill’s painting ”Gespräch über einen Paragraphen“ (lot 62), went to a European collector for € 344.000*.

Also Hermann Max Pechstein’s oil painting “Zerfallenes Haus” (lot 16) is among the top lots. It was acquired by a Southern German private collector for € 305.000*, for the time being under reserve.

Another work by Pechstein achieved twice its estimate. The watercolor “Zwei Mädchen in der Hängematte” (lot 20) did not fully need the written bid of a Southern German collector and still stood its ground against the bidding frenzy in the auction room. It eventually climbed to € 164.700*, which is a  world record price*** for a work on paper by the artist.

 It was the same collector who also won the race for Emil Nolde’s “Marschlandschaft” (lot 23), which soared from a starting price of € 170.000 to a result of € 286,700*, thus he relegated competitors to places second and beyond. 

A collector from Germany’s east stood up to half a dozen opposing bidders, in the end € 274.500* seemed to be the appropriate price for the oil painting ”Alte Birnbäume in Hemmenhofen“ (lot 66) by Otto Dix. But it needed an incredible bidding skirmish which made for a five-fold of the starting price of € 58.000.

Two works by Gabriele Münter also remained in Germany. While the painting on the catalog’s title, the 1911 work ”Stillleben mit Madonna“ (lot 28), was sold for a result of € 274.500* under reserve, a bidder in the auction room allowed a result of € 146.400* for the oil painting ”Schloss Elmau im Winter“ (lot 47), which had been called up at € 110.000.

Excellent increases were also realized by the following:

Lot      Artist (Technique)               Title                                        Starting Price            Result

17        Cucuel (oil)                              Herbstzauber                           €  50.000                     € 140.300*

15        Bloch (oil)                               Eine Gruppe - Gethsemane    €  72.000                     € 130.540*

67        Kleinschmidt (oil)                   Sängerinnen                             €  60.000                     € 130.540*

38        Scherer (wooden sculpture)     Mutter                                     €  20.000                     € 103.700*

2          Putz (oil)                                 Spiegelbild                               €  48.000                     €   97.600*

5A       Amiet (oil)                               Blumenstillleben                      €    8.000                     €   79.300*

3          Kirchner (watercolor)              Liegender Akt                          €  30.000                     €   79.300*

Post War/Contemporary Art  

This section’s list of results is led by Gerhard Richter’s 1976 oil painting ”Abstraktes Bild“ (lot 212), which went to a German merchant for a result of € 170.800* (starting price: € 100.000).

Another work that went beyond the € 100.000 mark was Rupprecht Geiger’s ”318/61“ (lot 201), which went to a private collector in the auction room for € 140.300*. Thus he made for twice its estimate and relegated both written bids and four phone bidders to places second and beyond.

Three times its starting price, or, in other words a result of € 85.400* was paid for the oil painting ”Ohne Titel (Blaue Sonne)“ (lot 204) by the same artist. A private collector from Southern Germany, who had been quite active in the auction’s first half, owed this success to his written bid, which had not been made use of to full extent.

A New York collector and his € 76.860* put a stop to his opponent’s bidding frenzy. He eventually won the race for Markus Lüpertz’ bronze ”Daphne 1“ (lot 252) and allowed twice the starting price of      € 38.000.

The bidding skirmish for Ernst Wilhelm Nay’s gouache ”Drei Männer mit Stier“ (lot 200) was also quite impressive, as it comprised seven phone lines on top of the full auction room. In the end a German collector bore the palm at a result of € 75.640* which is a four-fold of the starting price.

Next to Jörg Immendorff’s 85 cm large bronze ”Affe in der Suppenschüssel“ (lot 231), which a collector from Hesse obtained for a result of € 41.480, a whole bunch of monkeys in all sorts of situations, which the artist executed in small-size bronzes (lots 300-321), was also quite successful. Starting at prices of € 3.500 each, the 22 figures realized an overall result of € 122.000*.

Excellent increases were also realized by the following:

Lot        Artist (Technique)                 Title                                     Starting Price            Result

265        Balkenhol (wooden sculpture)   Frau mit goldenen Stiefeln €  30.000                     € 61.000*

230        Francis (gouache)                      Untiteled No. 74 Bern         €  30.000                     € 58.560*

206        Winter (oil)                                Rot von Unten                     €  35.000                     € 57.340*

297        Reyle (acrylic)                                        Ohne Titel (Streifenbild)     €  40.000                     € 54.900*

248        Beuys (multiple)                        Hasenstein                           €  12.000                     € 50.020*

as well as  Luciano Castelli’s gouache ”Rückenakt“ (lot 257), called up at € 7.500 it soared to a result of € 21.250*, which means a world record price *** for a work on paper by this artist.

Objects unsold in the auction can be purchased in the post auction sale until 4 August, 2011. Lists of auction 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, which is  reflected by the overall result of € 12 million* for spring 2011.

***          Source: www.artnet.com