ZURICH.- Koller’s Modern, Contemporary and Swiss Art auctions once again showed the strength of the Swiss art market, as sales totalled over 1.5 times the estimates. The success included jewellery and watches, with some lots boasting over 20 telephone bidders, alongside active bidding in the full salerooms and online.

A stunning panorama of the Engadine mountain range framing the Val Bregaglia by Giovanni Giacometti sold for CHF 790 000 to a buyer in Switzerland (lot 3029, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000). Pablo Picasso’s colour linocut ‘Buste de femme d’après Cranach le Jeune’, 1958, from an edition of 15 artist’s proofs, was the subject of a bidding war that ended at CHF 600 000 for a bidder in Germany (lot 3621, estimate CHF 350 000 / 500 000).

Paul Cézanne’s ‘L’après-midi à Naples’ from 1876–77, from a small group of erotic paintings which the artist created in response to Edouard Manet’s infamous ‘Olympia’, sold for CHF 570 000 to a bidder from Germany (lot 3216, estimate CHF 450 000 / 650 000). Among the other Impressionist & Modern highlights was ‘Garçon russe’ by Chaïm Soutine, a work from 1935–38 that more than quadrupled its upper estimate, selling to a UK buyer for CHF 268 000 (lot 3267, estimate CHF 50 000 / 70 000).

Works by Andy Warhol set new records, including ‘Apple’ from 1985, a depiction of the Macintosh logo that sold for CHF 175 000 to a bidder in the UK, making it the second-highest auction result ever realised for this work (lot 3680, estimate CHF 60 000 / 90 000). ‘Grevy’s Zebra’ set a world auction record for this work by Warhol, selling at CHF 162 500 to a bidder in Hong Kong (lot 3677, estimate CHF 60 000 / 80 000).

Other records were set by ‘Head No. 1’, a mirrored sculpture by Swiss artist Not Vital, which sold for CHF 112 500, and all-time auction record for the artist (lot 3409, estimate CHF 40 000 / 60 000), and a set of four paintings by Jean-Frédéric Schnyder (lot 3495, estimate CHF 30 000 / 50 000) which realised the second-highest auction price for the artist at CHF 106 000 (the current highest price for Schnyder was also set by Koller this past June).

The Post-War & Contemporary Art auction also featured an installation by Korean artist Lee Ufan from 2006 that more than doubled its upper estimate at CHF 181 000, selling to a bidder in France (lot 3404, estimate CHF 40 000 / 70 000), and an untitled 1942 composition by Wifredo Lam that achieved CHF 212 000 against an estimate of CHF 160 000 / 240 000 (lot 3462)

A group of historic pieces from the noble house of Borbón y Braganza alongside 20th-century masterpieces by Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari made the Jewellery auction a tremendous success, with 97% of the lots sold, and hammer prices totalling 160% of the auction estimates. Watches, headed by a ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona wristwatch in original condition, also far surpassed expectations. It was another ‘White Glove’ sale for the department: every lot found a buyer, and total hammer prices were 1.8 times higher than the estimates.