VIENNA.- Dorotheum's fourth major auction week of the year is set to feature a stellar roster of renowned artists: Spanning from masterpieces of Viennese Modernism to the leading figures of international postwar and contemporary art, the Contemporary Week runs from 17 November to 3 December 2026. The highlights include a painting by Max Oppenheimer that had been lost since 1935, two newly discovered drawings by Gustav Klimt, works by Egon Schiele and Alfons Walde, as well as international artists such as Ad Reinhardt, Allen Jones, Victor Vasarely, Giorgio de Chirico, and Daniel Richter. Around 550 works of art will be up for auction.

After more than nine decades in private hands, appearing at auction for the first time
On 17 November 2026, a major work by Max Oppenheimer—his very first depiction of musicians—will hit the block at the Modern Art auction. Oppenheimer moved in the artistic circles of Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka and is considered a pioneer of Austrian Expressionism. The painting The Hess Quartet: String Quartet No. 1 from 1914 marks the beginning of his intensive artistic engagement with music. Oppenheimer, himself highly musical, studied the musicians’ bowing techniques, postures, and fingerings. As in his later monumental painting The Philharmonic Orchestra, which is now housed at the Belvedere in Vienna, Oppenheimer’s extraordinary ability to translate the musicians’ rhythm and movement into painting with powerful expressiveness and Cubist-Futurist stylistic elements is evident here.

The work had been considered lost since the 1935 Secession exhibition in Vienna and has only now resurfaced from a private collection in the Czech Republic. The estimate for the oil painting, which has been published and exhibited numerous times, is between 300,000 and 500,000 euros.

Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele are among the leading figures of Viennese Modernism. The auction features four newly discovered works: Two drawings by Klimt, depicting female figures, showcase his mastery of line, which is revealed in subtle details (Seated Girl with Bent Legs and Dress, c. 1909/10, €80,000–120,000; Seated Nude , c. 1907, €30,000–50,000). From Egon Schiele, the auction features a Woman Standing Sideways with a Dotted Blouse and Raised Left Arm from 1911, as well as a Portrait of a Soldier, a gouache with watercolour and black chalk (€120,000–180,000, €160,000–250,000).

Alfons Walde is one of the key figures in Austrian Alpine painting and one of the most important painters of the interwar period. In his compositions, he used striking accents of light and shaped the visual perception of the Tyrolean mountain landscape like no other. His iconic painting Ascent of the Skiers from around 1935 comes from a private collection in Vienna and is expected to fetch between 450,000 and 700,000 euros.

Colour Field Painting and Body Images

The Contemporary Art auction on 18 November 2026, will offer works by both international and Austrian artists. Abstract Painting (Green) from 1952 by Ad Reinhardt, a pioneer of Minimal Art and Conceptual Art. It is a key work in his artistic development, in which he explored the interplay of different colour fields (€400,000–600,000).

Victor Vasarely, co-founder of Op Art, is represented in the auction with Tomor from 1974/75. He plays with visual perception and creates the illusion of spatial depth through geometric forms, sophisticated colour contrasts, and optical shifts (€180,000–280,000). Giorgio de Chirico’s 1962 oil painting Gli Archeologi (Manichini Seduti) is a perfect example of Neometaphysical art in his late work. The upper bodies of the faceless mannequins sitting side by side are filled with fragments of Greek temples, arches, and columns, thus becoming a shrine to history (€200,000–300,000).

From a German Collection

The human body is the focus of an outstanding German collection. Assembled over decades by a psychotherapist, the works—including those by Daniel Richter (Scharnier von gestern zu morgen, 2005, €150,000–200,000)—reflect this theme. Renée Sintenis (Große Daphne, bronze cast, 1930, €180,000–260,000), Allen Jones (Waiting on Table, fiberglass sculpture, €50,000–70,000), and César (La Vénus de Villetaneuse, bronze cast, €80,000–120,000), their intense focus on humanity and art as a source of emotional strength.

The Italian avant-garde is represented by artists such as Piero Dorazio (Match, 1968, €150,000–250,000) and Carla Accardi (Assedio Rosso, 1955, €80,000–140,000), among others. With his relief-like, textured canvases, Enrico Castellani revolutionized postwar painting and created fascinating interplays of light, shadow, and space: Superficie Bianca from 2002 is estimated at 100,000 to 150,000 euros.

Postwar and contemporary Austrian art is also prominently featured: Two oil paintings by Martha Jungwirth, known for her distinctive, gestural, and expressive style, dating from 1995 and 2007, will be auctioned (€70,000–120,000, €80,000–140,000). Hermann Nitsch, one of the leading figures of Viennese Actionism, impresses with three of his characteristic Schüttbilder (splatterpaintings) from 1992 and 2018 (estimates ranging from 40,000 to 100,000 euros). An early work by Arnulf Rainer from 1952 is estimated at 60,000 to 80,000 euros. One of Herbert Brandl’s monumental colour panoramas will be offered. The 195 x 400 cm oil painting was exhibited at the Kunsthalle in Basel in 1999 and is estimated at 90,000 to 160,000 euros.

The auction week will conclude with the sale of Editions on December 3, 2026, featuring works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Gerhard Richter, and others.