BERLIN.- Max Beckmann’s painting "View of the Outskirts at the Sea near Marseille", formerly in the possession of the famous collector and friend of the artist Stephan Lackner (California), surpassed all expectations at auction in Berlin; it sold for 2,618,000 Euros, the new world record auction price for a landscape by Max Beckmann. After intense bidding, the work was purchased by a Southern German private collection. This result was only part of the extraordinary sales total of Villa Grisebach’s fall auctions.

The Evening Sale alone, consisting of Selected Works, exceeded its estimate of 5.5 million euros and achieved a total of 8.6 million euros. Several artworks doubled their estimates, for example Max Liebermann’s "Flock of Sheep" (392,700 Euros), Karl Hofer’s "Card Players" (333,200 Euros), Gabriele Münter’s "Flower Bouquet in High Vase" (249,900 Euros), Alexej von Jawlensky’s "Large Meditation" (154,700 Euros), Emil Schumacher’s "Tara Bulba" (202,300 Euros), and Günther Uecker’s "Diagonal Division" (273,700 Euros). The Evening Sale had its grand finale with the sale of "The Joyous Yvonne Smiling" by Alex Katz, selling for 273,700 Euros above its estimate of 90,000 Euros.

The Day Sales on Saturday also featured, in all categories, strong bidding in the auction room and on the telephones. The overall sales volume totaled 13.4 million euros and achieved, in relation to the total estimates, a sales percentage of almost 138% by value. Of all the 1,025 lots offered in the four auctions in Berlin, a total of 776 lots (75.7%) were sold. Bernd Schultz: “Grisebach ends the year 2009 with an exceptional sales result and remains on a very successful path.”