MUNICH.- In terms of sales volume, the autumn auction at Ketterer Kunst on December 8/9 is Germany’s biggest art auction. In the Evening Sale alone, almost 90% of the 78 works on offer are in 6-figure price realms or above. In addition to internationally sought-after artists of museum quality, works from renowned collections and top lots with interesting provenances will be called up.

“We expect a very strong autumn auction, as the current demand for top quality art remains at peak level. A quality range of offers like this is rare on the art market. It has always been our goal and the guarantee for our success. Along with a global visibility realized through a sophisticated marketing strategy, it is what our clients value the most. We have recently been entrusted with outstanding works of art from international collections.” Said Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst, at a press conference in Munich. “The stunning array includes many works that have not been on the market for decades – a singular opportunity to enrich your own collection!”

Modern Art Highlights

The early Murnau view by Wassily Kandinsky (“Straße in Murnau“, 1908, estimate price: € 1.5 m. to 2.5 m.) is a special gem in the Evening Sale on December 8. A masterpiece from the early days in Murnau – the birth of German Expressionism. Green facades, a pink street and violet shade – that’s pure Expressionism! And a seminal work for Kandinsky, as he began to pursue his path to abstraction with Murnau motifs.

Emil Nolde’s “Palmen“ were privately-owned for more than 60 years – the heirs of the Jewish collector Dr. Ismar Littmann had to put it up for auction in 1935, because of Nazi persecution. In 2023, the anniversary year of the “Washington Principles“, an agreement was achieved through the mediation of Ketterer Kunst: The rare South Seas picture from 1915 is offered in an amicable agreement with the heirs after Dr. Ismar Littmann on basis of a “fair and just solution“ (estimate price: € 600,000 – 800,000).

The world coming apart: Max Beckmann’s “Drahtseilbahn in Baden-Baden“. Berlin, 1937 / „Bergbahn in Colorado“. Saint Louis, 1949 (estimate price: € 700,000 – 900,000) is an extreme composition made in dramatic days. "It is a picture between remembrance and aspiration, between dusk and dawn, between the past and the hope for the beginning of a new and better life." says Mayen Beckmann about this unusual work by her grandfather. In the fateful year 1937, immediately after the work was made at the peak of his political defamation, Max Beckmann left Germany. With the revision of the background in 1949, he expresses firm belief in a positive future.

With marvelously staged color contrasts and in the rare original frame, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner captured a fleeting moment in the glowing mountains in “Alphütten und Tinsenhorn“ from 1919/20. Formerly on permanent loan at the ‘Pinakothek der Moderne’ in Munich, it is called up with an estimate of € 600,000 – 800,000.

In a true color frenzy, Erich Heckel celebrates the maximum dissolution of form and color in “Blühende Kresse“ from 1907 (estimate price: € 550,000 – 750,000). There are very few landscapes of such a fascinating quality by Erich Heckel from this year. Most of the works made between 1905 and 1910 are considered destroyed or lost, so owning a landscape from 1907 is something very special indeed.

Ketterer Kunst also expects strong attention for Lovis Corinth’s “Walchensee, aufgehender Mond“ (1922). A painting of utmost museum quality estimated at € 500,000 – 700,000. A masterpiece of unleashed colors and forms: Walchensee landscapes mark the apex of Lovis Corinth's oeuvre.

In the 1933 work “Karavellen“ (estimate price: € 300,000 – 500,000), Lyonel Feininger stages a departure into the unknown in a spherical sunlight. The work looks back on an impressive exhibition history. A similar picture that Feininger once gave to his friend Wassily Kandinsky is in the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Other highlights in the section of MODERN ART are, among others, Otto Mueller “Badende in Landschaft“, 1920 (estimate price: € 600,000 – 800,000), August Macke “Junge mit Buch und Spielsachen“, 1912 (estimate price: € 300,000 – 400,000), Franz Marc “Blaue Kuh“, 1913 (estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000), Heinrich Campendonk ”Bild mit Vögeln“, 1916 (estimate price: € 350,000 – 450,000).

Contemporary Art Highlights

Gerhard Richter’s first city view “Alster (Hamburg)“, the vast Hamburg panorama in evening light from 1963, breathes the excellent quality of Richter’s painting: It is the fascinating combination of closenesss and distance evoked by his inimitable technique (estimate price: € 1 m. – 1.5 m.). Richter’s paintings from the 1960s are among his most sought-after works, while the townscapes are of highest rarity on the international auction market (source artnet.com).

Another rarity on the international auction market is Blinky Palermo’s 8 part work on metal. It is the last work that the exceptional talent and most progressive German artist of the 1960s and 1970s – along with Richter and Polke – made before his timely death at only 33. To date only two of these works were sold in international auctions (source: artprice.com). On top of that, only one other metal work is privately-owned. Palermo’s multi-part metal pictures (1973-1977), in which he succeeded in creating an almost spiritual amalgamation of the object-like image carrier with color and space, are considered the peak of his creation. (Ohne Titel 8-teilig). 1976/77. Estimate price:
€ 600,000 – 800,000)




His obsession with the emotional effects of colors and their high-contrast interaction is what the Irish artist Sean Scully expresses in his outstanding work “Cut Ground Blue Grey“ (2011): A work that comprises characteristic motifs and the essence of all his previous creation (estimate price: € 300,000 – 500,000).

Günther Uecker fascinates observers with one of his highly energetic nail fields. These signature pieces are loaded with dynamics that captivate us time and again. And Ketterer Kunst offers options for lovers of Uecker’s art: the highly dynamic paintings are available in three different sizes in the autumn auctions.

Auction market premiere: Those who have a fancy for the ‘Master of the Machine Pictures“ have three opportunities to acquire a painting by the lately deceased artist Konrad Klapheck. Above that, the corresponding preparatory drawings in same format are also on offer. A masterpiece of post-war art of museum quality: the larger- than-life-sized work “Die Jagd nach dem Glück“ (1984), oil on canvas, and the charcoal drawing in same size on canvas. The other two works are “Lamento“ from 1986 and “Die Rettung“ (1989).

Andy Warhol is represented with a number of works in the autumn auction. Next to Goethe (1982) in loud pop art colors - extremely rare as complete series and Matching Set (estimate price: € 300,000 – 500,000) - it is the unique work Friedrich II. (1986) on canvas that impresses us with its unusually large format (estimate price: € 500,000 – 700,000).

Ernst Wilhelm Nay is one of Germany’s most important post-war artists and is considered a pioneer of abstract painting. His oeuvre follows a clear sequence of different creative periods. The Evening Sale on December 8 offers several first-rate masterworks from different times, among them “Rot in Rot II“, 1965 (€ 350,000 – 550,000), “Azuro“, 1952 (€ 200,000 – 300,000), “Morningstar“, 1963 (€ 200,000 – 250,000), “Himmlische Botschaft“, 1946 (€ 100,000 – 150,000), and “Menschenschicksale II“, 1939 (€ 40,000 – 60,000) in the Contemporary Art Day Sale.

The array of excellent of works in the Evening Sale is completed by, among others, prime works by Marc Chagall “La Femme en rouge“, 1978 (estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000), Günther Förg “Ohne Titel“, 2005 (estimate price: € 250,000 - 350,000, Willi Baumeister „Maschine grau mit Pfeil II“, 1926 (estimate price: € 200,000 - 300,000), Robert Rauschenberg “Holy Lattice (Urban Bourbon)“, 1988 (estimate price: € 180,000 - 240,000), Per Kirkeby “Ohne Titel“, 2011 (estimate price: € 150,000 - 250,000), Katharina Grosse “Ohne Titel“, 2020 (estimate price: € 120,000 - 150,000), Tom Wesselmann “Standing Nude“, 1985 (estimate price: € 120,000 – 150,000) and not least “Garden Landscape“ by Willem de Kooning from 1977 (estimate price: € 90,000 - 120,000). Works by the important representative of Abstract Expressionism are absolutely rare on the European market.

19th CENTURY ART

The two top lots come from a German private collection: In “Der Postbote“ (around 1860), estimated at € 280,000 – 300,000, Carl Spitzweg arranged the scene like a stage play, while “Der Angler am Waldbach“ (1844) was made at a time when Spitzweg was intensively occupied with caricature and the pointed pen of French draftsmen. (estimate price: € 120,000 – 150,000).

Strong interest is also expected for Franz von Stuck’s “Kämpfende Faune“ (1889), one of the best versions of his key theme of fighting fauns in wonderful radiant colors in a magic interplay with landscape, figure and sky.

Additionally, the auction comprises seven sculptures from the oeuvre of Franz von Stuck as well as works by, among others, Hans Thoma, Wilhelm Busch, Karl Hagemeister.

Collections in the Autumn Auction on December 8/9

The Bunte Collection will be called up in a Single Owner Sale on December 9. Its works reflect the profile of a vast private collection of highest quality: The art of the German expressionist painter Hermann Stenner (1891‒1914), as well as from Westphalian Expressionism and the Hölzel circle. Key piece in the collection is Hermann Stenner’s “Auferstehung“, 1914 (estimate price: € 80,000 – 100,000), as well as the remarkable unique bronze: Oskar Schlemmer’s “Bauplastik R.“, 1919/1964 (estimate price: € 150,000 – 200,000).

Other renowned collections that will surely be met with strong interest:

A German private collection offers an exquisite selection of works by Carl Spitzweg, Hans Thoma and Pierre-August Renoir. The array of gems that enrich the Evening Sale and the 19th Century Sale is honored with an own print catalog.

The absolute highlight of the Ahlers AG Collection is Yves Klein’s “Peinture de Feu Coleur, sans titre (FC 11), around 1961 (estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000) and Albrecht Dürer’s "Melencolia I (Die Melancholie), 1514 – an icon in the history of print art and one of the world’s most famous artworks (estimate price: € 150,000 – 250,000). The curated selection is likewise honored with a printed extra catalog.

A treasure from the Deutsche Bank Collection is Oskar Schlemmer’s watercolor “Sinnender“ from1931 (estimate price: € 180,000 – 240,000).