MUNICH.- Sociocritical, political and provocative best describes the works by the internationally celebrated American artist David Wojnarowicz. Now two of his works will be called up in what is probably going to be the most spectacular auction at Germany’s leading auctioneer Ketterer Kunst in Munich on December 9/10, 2022.

“It is quite a sensation that we can offer both the photography "Weigth of the Earth Part II“, its counterpart is in the collection of the MOMA in New York, as well as “He Kept following me“, one of David Wojnarowicz’s last major works, in an auction in Europe“, says Nicola Countess Keglevich, Senior Director at Ketterer Kunst.

In line with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kiki Smith, David Wojnarowicz is also considered a New York icon of the East-Village subculture in the 1980s. “Paintings are diaries, proof of my own existence” is how the artist, who died of HIV in 1992 at the age of 37, describes his works. The rebellious musician, filmmaker, writer, photographer and painter, also played an important role as political activist. He was an advocate for the queer scene and for people suffering from AIDS. His funeral was an early political protest action with signs saying “died of AIDS due to Government neglection".

In 1985 he was invited, along with John Baldessari, Nan Godin, Jasper Johns and Cindy Sherman, to the “East Village/Graffiti Whitney Biennial“. The year he died, the Whitney Museum acquired the first Wojnarowicz. Today his works are in the world’s most important museums, among them the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.




Wojnarowicz was inspired by the works of the French writer Arthur Rimbaud and his friend and mentor, the photographer Peter Hujar.

In his conceptual and stylistically versatile works, Wojnarowicz addresses issues such as homophobia, as well as the inactivity politicians showed in the HIV epidemic of the 1980s/1990s. In these days “queerness“ was a hot topic, and the exhibition “Witnesses: Against our vanishing“ by Nan Goldin and Susan Wyatt faced strong political attack. Budgets were cut and the public function of museums was questioned.

Wojnarowicz’s “He keept following me” from 1990 is part of a small series of works with erotically charged flower motifs, it was the last cycle he made before his death. After the work featured in the grand retrospective exhibition at the New York Whitney Museum of American Art, it is now going to be called up with an estimate of € 350,000–450,000. “He Kept Following Me“ unites the literary, pictorial and photographic creation of the artist and activist, who left behind an oeuvre that comprises paintings, photographs, films, collages, drawings, prints and installations as well as music, essays and poems.

Photography occupies a special rank in Wojnarowicz’s creation. Time and again it would take center stage in different periods of his life. As a homeless teenager in the streets of New York, he documented the shady side of existence with a 35 millimeter camera. His first photo series “Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79“ was made during his time with an advertising agency, where he made a life-size mask of the French poet out of cardboard. Wojnarowicz made 24 shots of friends who took the mask places the artist often visited. With a few exceptions, he only picked up photography again in 1988, shortly after he had taken over the loft from Peter Hujar in the East Village, which had its own darkroom. He made the controversial ’sex-series’ “Weigth of the Earth“, from which “Weight of the Earth, Part II“ will now enter the race with an estimate of € 100,000–150,000.

The artist himself best describe his oeuvre as follows: “Most of my work is about social reaction to the things around me. Anybody who thinks they are going to change the world with one painting is wrong. You end up giving people a focal point for different kinds of energy or ideas, and usually people are repelled or attracted to it. Sometimes, in the process, they can find themselves.“

Next to David Wojnarowicz, the section of CONTEMPORARY ART includes big names like Georg Baselitz with his “Hofteich“ (estimate: € 700,000-900,000) and Anselm Kiefer with “Die Ordnung der Engel” (estimate: € 300,000-400,000), but also Günther Förg, Katharina Grosse, Martin Kippenberger, Karin Kneffel, Konrad Lueg, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Günther Uecker and Gerhard Richter, as well as international artists: Richard Serra is represented with “Corner Prop No. 6 (Leena and Tuula)“, estimated at € 600,000-800,000, it is the sculptor’s first unique piece offered on the global auction market since 2016. Another highlight is “He Kept Following Me“ from David Wojnarovicz (estimate: € 350,000-450,000). The international array is completed by, among others, Tony Cragg, Keith Haring, Sol LeWitt, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Stanley Whitney, who celebrates an auction premiere in Germany.

The section of MODERN ART offers iconic works from “Painters of the Brücke - Collection Hermann Gerlinger“. Among them Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Das blaue Mädchen in der Sonne“ (estimate: € 2,000,000-3,000,000), Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s “Rote Düne“ (estimate: € 800,000- 1,200,000) and Erich Heckel’s poplar sculpture “Stehende“ (estimate: € 600,000-800,000). Other highlights are Emil Nolde’s “Meer D“ (estimate: € 800,000 – 1,200,000), Max Beckmann’s “Holzsäger im Wald“ (estimate: € 600,000 – 800,000). More fascinating modern art comes from, among others, Hans (Jean) Arp, Lovis Corinth, Paul Gauguin, Karl Hofer, Max Liebermann, Gabriele Münter, Emil Nolde, Christian Rohlfs, Egon Schiele and Hermann Max Pechstein.