XURICH.- Koller’s June auctions of Modern, Contemporary & Swiss Art will feature a rare rediscovered early painting by Alberto Giacometti, German Expressionist works by Campendonk and Kirchner, as well as works by Post-War masters such as Ernst Wilhelm Nay and Rupprecht Geiger.
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (Borgonovo 1901 – 1966 Chur) Monte del Forno. Circa 1923/25. Oil on canvas. 60 x 50 cm. Estimate: CHF 300 000 – 400 000 At auction on 30 June 2017
This early work by Alberto Giacometti, recently rediscovered in a Swiss private collection, dates from a transitional period crucial to the young artist’s development. Giacometti was in his early 20s when he moved to Paris in 1922, where he would later become a key member of the Surrealist movement and achieve international fame though his sculptures of elongated human forms. This work depicts the Monte del Forno, a peak which overlooks his native Bregaglia valley in Switzerland. Although influenced by the post-impressionist style of his father, Giovanni Giacometti, it clearly shows Alberto’s own distinctive style, which has been described as a fascinating mix of passion and self-critical deliberation.
LOVIS CORINTH (Tapiau 1858 – 1925 Zandtvoort) The coast at Nienhagen. 1917. Oil on canvas. 73 x 99 cm. Estimate: CHF 150 000 – 360 000 At auction on 30 June 2017
This work originally belonged to Erich Goeritz (1889-1955), a German-Jewish textile manufacturer and art collector, and one of Lovis Corinth’s most important patrons. Goeritz managed to export a significant number of works by Corinth from Germany in the 1930s, which otherwise would likely have been destroyed as “degenerate art”.
HEINRICH CAMPENDONK (Krefeld 1889 - 1957 Amsterdam) Cow. Circa 1914. Gouache on paper, laid down on board. 21.5 x 14.5 cm.
This work is from Campendonk’s most sought-after Blaue Reiter period, and depicts one of his most beloved subjects, a cow. The work belonged to Campendonk’s widow, Edith, and then was part of an important German private collection. It will be sold for the benefit of charity.
ERNST WILHELM NAY (Berlin 1902 - 1968 Cologne) Mit vielfältigem Gelb. 1958. Oil on canvas. 100 x 81 cm. Estimate: CHF 120 000 – 180 000. At auction on 1 July 2017.
In the 1950s, Nay was one of the leading representatives of his artistic generation. His oeuvre can be classified by time and theme into clearly delineated creative periods, of which the Scheibenbilder (disc paintings) from 1954-1963 form the largest and most important group. It will be sold for the benefit of charity.
RUPPRECHT GEIGER (1908 Munich 2009) 792/88. 1988. Acrylic on canvas. 160 x 170 cm. Estimate: CHF 120 000 – 180 000. At auction on 30 June 2017.
Rupprecht Geiger, one of the most important representatives of Concrete Art in Germany, devoted much of his work to colour and the analysis of geometric shapes. His paintings in shades of pink are among the most sought-after in his oeuvre.
Estimate: CHF 80 000 – 120 000. At auction on 1 July 2017.
ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (Aschaffenburg 1880 - 1938 Frauenkirch b. Davos) Drei Akte im Wald (Three nudes in the forest). 1933. Colour woodcut, 5th state (final state). Image 35.3 x 49.7 cm, on Japan wove paper 38 x 57 cm. Estimate: CHF 70 000 – 90 000. At auction on 1 July 2017.
This rare print – one of only 17 known examples in this final state – depicts a subject which held an important place in Kirchner’s work for some time, as evidenced by his treatment of it in several drawings, paintings and the different states of this print. Kirchner helped revive the art of woodblock printing, and his woodcuts, along with those of Munch, are among the finest examples of Expressionist prints. It will be sold for the benefit of charity.
