MUNICH.- Total proceeds of € 49 million is the excellent result for the business year 2017 at Ketterer Kunst. “This is one of our best results ever“, says Robert Ketterer.

Indeed, the € 1 million line was crossed twice. The auctioneer and company owner explains: “Numerous records and almost a hundred results on or beyond the € 100,000 line are the result of both the quality of our offers, as well as of the great network of potential buyers around the globe that our house has.“

Results show that, apart from the big international names, German art sells particularly well on the domestic market. Especially upon appearance of a very acclaimed work there is no limit and top figures are guaranteed.

Next to Modern and 19th Century Art, the latter attracting up to 40% first-time buyers, Post War and Contemporary Art saw very high demand.

Modern & Post War/Contemporary Art
Works in these sections were met with great enthusiasm, which is why a result of € 41.3 million is no surprise, it is a plus of € 4.7 million in comparison with last year‘s figures.

The top of the list of desired objects in the department of Modern Art was occupied by half a dozen works by Gabriele Münter and almost two dozen by Hermann Max Pechstein. Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner were represented with more than 30 works each, which were almost entirely sold with very good increases. Max Beckmann, who contributed eight lots, provided the top hammer price with his “Château d‘If“ in the first half-year. Other top artists of the year are Auguste Herbin, Oskar Kokoschka, Franz Marc and Kurt Schwitters, as well as great names like Cuno Amiet, Ernst Barlach, Albert Birkle, Albert Bloch, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Erich Heckel, Karl Hofer, Alexej von Jawlensky, Fritz Klimsch and Max Liebermann.

The department of Post War/Contemporary Art has Ernst Wilhelm Nay as its biggest star. His painting “Scheiben und Halbscheiben“ did not only realize one of the two seven-digit results of the year, additionally, it saw a tenfold increase of its calling price and set a new world record that beat the old record, which had been set a week earlier, by more than a million. While works by Gerhard Richter and Georg Baselitz, just as by Serge Poliakoff and ZERO artists like Günther Uecker, realized excellent increases, it was an oil painting by Pierre Soulages which, among others with the help of 30 phone bidders from all over Europe, Africa, Canada, the USA and the United Arab Emirates, also realized a tenfold increase of its calling price. Other artists worthwhile mentioning are Josef Albers, Horst Antes, Willi Baumeister, Jonas Burgert, Sérgio de Camargo, Gotthard Graubner, Asger Jorn, Robert Longo, Markus Lüpertz, Blinky Palermo and Daniel Richter.

19th Century Art
With a total of around € 2.6 million this department realized an excellent result that even slightly topped last year‘s figures. The great popularity, both on a domestic and on an international scale, is not only reflected by the proceeds, but also by a sales quota of 75% by lots and almost 40% first-time buyers.

Next to works by Karl Hagemeister and Edward Theodore Compton, works by Franz von Stuck were particularly sought-after. The latter did not only provide the top lot in the May auction but also four other works with proceeds in six-digit realms. Apart from a big moment of surprise in which the work “Szene aus dem Griechischen Freiheitskampf“ by Paul Emil Jacobs realized more than a tenfold increase of its calling price, making it the top lot in the November auction, works by Jan Chelminski and Julien Dupré were also guarantors of successful sales. Other artists with convincing results were Paul Baum, Wilhelm Busch, Franz von Defregger, Friedrich Kallmorgen, Wilhelm von Kobell, Adolph von Menzel, Joseph Karl Stieler, Hans Thoma, Joseph Wopfner and Heinrich von Zügel.

Rare Books - Manuscripts - Autographs - Decorative Prints
This section also saw a very good result, as a total revenue of more than € 3.3 million was realized. “A wide range of high-quality offers is the reason for the department's success“, says Christoph Calaminus, auctioneer and head of the Department of Rare Books, “but also the fact that we are continuously reinventing ane improving our auctions. This year we restructured our high-class catalogs and introduced interesting categories like ‘Discovery of the World and of Knowledge‘.“ The current concept, which puts increased focus on quality with a reduced number of lots, was the reason for a result on par with our best results ever. Some of this year‘s main attractions are several religious works like the “Biblia germanica“ or several books of hours of which some even were of royal provenance. Classics like Hartmann Schedel‘s “Liber chronicarum“ were met with the same enthusiasm as were some of the outstanding autographs or the works on natural history.