MUNICH.- The auction of Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century in Munich made for a successful commencement of the jubilee auctions. Alongside avid bidders from Germany, it were art lovers from the Netherlands and Poland that showed great interest in the auction, some providing enormous increases. The overall result is at roundabout € 1 million.

The auction's most expensive lot is the chalk drawing “Interieur mit zwei Damen” (lot 45) from around 1670, which is ascribed to Frans van Mieris the Elder. The work in postcard format was especially popular among the Dutch. It took a long and heated bidding skirmish before a bidder from the Netherlands in the auction room made the work sure for himself with a result of € 83,000. The 250-fold of the starting price relegated other bidders in the room and on the phones to places second and beyond.

A little later a Flemish oil painting realized a 50-fold of its starting price. The same Dutch dealer also showed great endurance for the work titled “Schiffsflotte vor der Küste” (lot 62) from around 1600, letting it soar from an estimate of € 2,000-3,000 to € 76,000. In doing so, he stood his grounds against both German art traders as well as numerous fellow countrymen on the phones.

Place 3 in the section of Old Masters goes to the work “Heilige Familie mit Johannesknaben“ (lot 59) from the School of Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi). A collector from the Italian speaking region of Switzerland carried the trophy away after he had successfully fought the bidding combat against the saleroom and phones from Russia and Great Britain. Eventually, he got the oil painting for a result of € 26,000, after it had been called up at € 12,000.

Alongside a landscape painting from the surroundings of Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael (lot 65), which went to a collector from England for a result of € 22,500 and a “Porträt eines Orientalen“ (lot 72) made in Italy in the 17th century, which went to a new client from Italy for a result of € 18,750 (starting price: € 5,000) as well as the famous series of 80 sheets “Los Caprichos“ (lot 32) by Francisco de Goya, which went to Great Britain for € 10,000*, it was a number of woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer that made for special enthusiasm. They were all sold with sharp increases, most of them to the U.S.A. as well as some to Southern Germany and Switzerland.

While in the section of Art of the 19th century Carl Blechen's lithograph “Mühle bei Amalfi” (lot 80), made for a result of € 32,000 (estimate: € 3,000-4,000) after it had been won by a German collector who had to stand his ground against competitors from all over Germany and Great Britain, it was mainly Polish bidders who fought for this department's top lot.

Alfred von Wierusz-Kowalski's “Glückliche Kutschfahrt” (lot 222) will go back to the artist's home country. His fellow countrymen were lining up when the oil painting from 1890/1900 was called up. The heavy bidding skirmish stopped at a mark of € 65,000, which is almost three times the starting price of € 24,000.

The result of € 14,000 is almost four times the starting price, which another Polish collector was willing to pay for a work by Waldemar Los which had been called up right before the aforementioned. The fact that he won the oil painting “Zwei Kosaken zu Pferde” (lot 221) did not only leave half a dozen fellow countrymen but also collectors from the U.S.A. behind in disappointment.

Second place in the section of Art of the 19th Century was taken by Franz von Defregger, whose oil painting “Die Werbung” (lot 248) was especially popular with the German audience. Accordingly, after it had been called up at € 40,000, the work will remain in Southern Germany for a result of € 55,000.

Another top position on the list of results is occupied by both a work by Alexander Koester as well as by Ferdinand Olivier, each with a result of € 39,000. While “Sechs Enten am Teichufer“ (lot 255) by the first were sold to Northern Germany, the “Campagnalandschaft mit befestigter Stadt“ (lot 168) will remain in the South.