MUNICH.- Eleven consecutive times: Number One Art Seller! Germany’s biggest art auction with four results in the millions and once more with the season’s highest hammer price. Second half of 2023: With sales of € 49 million** in the second half of 2023, Ketterer Kunst recorded the best seasonal result in the industry for the eleventh consecutive time.

Total figures for 2023: With a total of € 90 million* realized in 2023, Ketterer Kunst once again is Germany's number one auctioneer of 19th Century Art, as well as of Modern and Contemporary Art, and outpaces its competitors. A total of 145 results in six-figure price realms and 9 works that crossed the magic million euro mark confirm the company's success in 2023.

“I have seldom seen such an extremely emotional auction – seemingly endless bidding fights, world record prices but also with great works that sadly remained unsold - all in one evening.“ Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of the auction house.

An Evening Sale with four works in the millions

The array of top works in the auction is led by Wassily Kandinsky's "Murnau" (1908). The brightly colored work from the early days of Expressionism was called up at 1.5 million euros. Initially, several bidders pushed the price upwards, but eventually it came down to a duel between two ambitious collectors who made the small but art- historically significant painting the most expensive lot of the German season (sold for
€ 3.9 million).

The spectacular and remarkably long battle between two bidders for Konrad Klapheck's huge oil painting and the accompanying preparatory drawing on canvas of the same format with the allusive title "Die Jagd nach dem Glück“ (Chasing Happiness, 1984) ended with a world record price*** (estimate for both: € 730,000, sold for: € 2.5 million).

A rare opportunity made for strong demand and sharp increases: 3 paintings by Konrad Klapheck accompanied by their preliminary drawing in same format were on offer.

Two other works by the artist, who had passed away earlier this year, each with a corresponding drawing, also saw great interest among collectors. The work "Lamento"
- a modern trompe-l'œil - was offered on the international auction market for the first time and fetched a world record price*** of €711,200, which would be beaten just a few lots later by "Die Jagd nach dem Glück“. The small-format depiction of an over- sized key entitled "Die Rettung (Salvation) with the accompanying drawing on paper found a new home in a collection for €254,000.

A true rarity: Gerhard Richter’s early work “Alster“ – the artist’s first townscape from 1963 – aroused strong international interest and was sold to a Northern German private collection for € 2.1 million.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Alphütten und Tinzenhorn“ from 1919/20 also fetched a price in the millions. The tremendously colorful work in the rare original frame had been on permanent loan at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich since the exhibition "Farbenmensch Kirchner". Joining a Swiss private collection for € 1.1 million, it was able to double its starting bid of € 500,000.

Works by Willem de Kooning are absolutely rare on the European auction market. “Garden Landscape“ from 1977 was met with interest around the world and was eventually sold to a collector from Berlin. (Estimate price: € 90,000, sold for: € 241,300).

The international interest in Erik Bulatov’s “Land and Sky“ (1994) was also quite remarkable, called up at € 100,000, it could more than double its price when it was sold for € 279,400.

Alongside the works from the Ahlers Collection and a German private collection, the Bunte Collection aroused great interest with a single-owner sale of top-quality modern art: main focus of the works on offer from the private Bunte art collection is on the painter Hermann Stenner - accompanied by his teachers, companions and artist friends. Outstanding museum quality and works of utmost rarity were met with the greatest interest among collectors from all over Germany. Apart from a packed saleroom, art lovers also placed their bids over the phone or online.

“The extremely strong demand, a top sales quota of around 80%, as well as passionate bidding fights with sharp increases between estimate and final price underline the excellent quality of the Bunte Collection“, says Robert Ketterer.

The bidding battle between numerous bidders for Ernst Sagewka's "Kastanienallee bei Höxter" was sensational, raising the estimate price of € 4,000 to a world record price*** of € 71,120. As expected, the main work in the collection, "Auferstehung" by Hermann Stenner, headed the array of top sales and also set a world record*** with proceeds of € 241,300 (estimate € 80,000). Hermann Stenner's "Grüne Frau mit gelbem Hut I" (estimate price € 40,000, sold for € 184,150) and "Tulpen in grüner Vase" (estimate price € 30,000, sold for € 95,250) likewise saw outstanding results and strong increase rates. The Kunsthalle Bielefeld was able to acquire two works by the Bielefeld native Hermann Stenner: "Skizze zu einem Selbstbildnis" (estimate € 40,000, sold for € 146,050) and the "Damenbildnis mit Lilie" from 1914, a portrait of Stenner's friend Clara Bischoff (estimate: € 50,000, sold for € 63,500).

19th Century

The 19th Century Art sale also realized outstanding results and near record-breaking increase rates. The list of top lots by Carl Spitzweg from a German private collection (presented in its own collection catalog) was spearheaded by the romantic works “Der Postbote“ (sold for € 355,600), “Institutsspaziergang“ in an enchanting palette of summer colors (sold for € 165,100) and “Der Angler am Waldbach“ characterized by Spitzweg’s unmistakable irony (sold for € 152,400). Results in six-figure price realms were also realized by Franz von Stuck’s “Susanna im Bade“ (€ 127,000) and “Kämpfende Faune“ (€ 114,300). A lively bidding competition for works such as Karl Hagemeister’s “Märkische Uferlandschaft“ (estimate price € 4,000, sold for € 22,860) made for more stunning increases in the auction of 19th Century Art .

Rare Books

In the department of Rare Books, the Blank Collection, among others, was met with strong interest among collectors in late November. Achieving a sales quota of 80% and some extremely sharp increases, the works attracted 20% new customers. For the whole of 2023, proceeds were up by 20% from the previous year. Key success factor is an increasing digitalization which allows for an ever stronger online participation of potential clients around the world.