MUNICH.- Satisfied clients and excellent results – that's the bottom line of the seven successful auctions that grossed € 20.5 million for Ketterer Kunst. A total of 38 results met or crossed the € 100,000 line. The undisputed top star in the spring auctions is Max Beckmann. A collector from Baden-Württemberg offered more than twice the lower estimate and made the oil painting sure for himself for a result of € 1,687,500.

“I am more than content,” comments Robert Ketterer on his spring auctions, and has good reason to be, as the auction of 19th Century Art already exceeded its previous result of around 1,3 million by 30%.

“Sales figures in the Rare Books Department show that our efforts to downsize the auction's scale are going the right direction”, says the company owner, because proceeds of around € 1,6 million put the auction on par with figures from spring 2016 – realized with around two thirds less lot numbers.

A strong final chord for the first auction term in 2017 was played by the departments of 20th/21st Century Art. Ketterer sums up: “The sessions from 8 to 10 June grossed € 17.6 million and confirms last year's high level.”

Modern Art
Besides the million euro result for Max Beckmann's “Château d‘If“ (lot 237), the section is led by Gabriele Münter's “Berglandschaft mit Haus“ (lot 202). After a long bidding fight the lovely work from her important years in Murnau will remain in Bavaria. With a result of € 562,500 a collector in the salesroom relegated his active competitors, most of them from Southern Germany, to places second and beyond.

Hermann Max Pechstein was represented with a total of 17 works, of which almost all were knocked down and some with enormous price increases. A remarkable example thereof was the painting of the South Seas beauty “Ronmay“ (for 226) which was called up for € 180,000. As the consequence of a long bidding race, an art lover from Bavaria eventually won the work for a result of € 450,000. The aforementioned buyer of Beckmann's “Château d‘If“ from Baden-Württemberg seems to have a particular liking for coastal landscapes, because he also won the competition for Pechstein's “Sommermorgen“ (lot 230). With a result of € 350,000*, a number of interested German art traders had to give in.

Heinrich Maria Davringhausen's oil painting “Krieg“ (lot 233), made in context of the immediate impressions at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, will go to an important American museum through the agency of a Southern German art dealer and his bid over € 287,500, outperforming private collectors from Germany and Switzerland.

14 works by Emil Nolde also made for excellent results, the top three ranks are occupied by watercolors that realized prices in six-digit realms. While the work “Landschaft um Utenwarf (Wiedau-Niederung mit Hof Petersen)“ (lot 255) was sold to Northern Germany for a result of € 237,500, the watercolor “Drei rote Tulpen“ (lot 263) will call North Rhine-Westphalia its new home for a price of € 206,250 - around three times the calling price. With a result of € 162,500*, the “Marschlandschaft (Wiedau-Niederung um Utenwarf)“ (lot 236) went to Baden-Württemberg for well around twice the calling price.

The sculpture section saw a particularly remarkable result for “Nereide auf der Muschel“ (lot 254) from Fritz Klimsch. The victorious bid of € 206,250 that was necessary to curb competitors also came from Baden-Württemberg in this case. Eventually, the life-size sculpture realized a seven-fold of its calling price.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is always sure to guarantee good auction results at Ketterer Kunst. In total 16 works by the Aschaffenburg native were sold with good and very good increases. The array is led by the woodcut “Die Geliebte“ (lot 221) from 1915, which a collector from North Rhine-Westphalia honored with a result of € 462,500. Accordingly, the saleroom and competitors on the phones from all over Germany, the Netherlands and New York had to give in. The only known copy from the first printing state that Kirchner colored by hand was part of a Hessian private collection of 36 exquisite expressionist works that grossed almost € 800,000 alone. Quality and a rare appearance on the market were the reason why some 72% of the objects found new owners - and that is with sharp price increases.

Post War Art
One of the top lots in this department is the oil painting “Zwei halbe Kühe” (lot 830) from Georg Baselitz, one of the rare works from his important work period of the “Frakturbilder” (Fracture Pictures). Next to a large number of written bids and an eager salesroom, two tough phone bidders from Switzerland and Taiwan fought for the work. The first showed more staying power and relegated the latter to second place with a result of € 900,000.

Two works by Gerhard Richter from very different work periods were especially sought-after. Lot number 842, “Rot-Blau-Gelb” was very popular with the German audience. An art agent in the saleroom was able to curb his competitors' eagerness and to win the lot for a client from North Rhine-Westphalia with a bid of € 750.000. The black-and-white oil painting “Stadtbild” (lot 835) will remain in Bavaria. It was sold to another phone bidder against heavy but insufficient resistance from China and the rest of Germany for a price of € 350,000* (calling price: € 280,000).

Two oil paintings by Serge Poliakoff from 1958, both titled “Composition abstraite”, were in the focus of art lovers from Germany, Switzerland and Monaco. While lot number 811 was acquired by a Southern German collector for € 262,500, a Swiss collector honored lot 806 with a result of € 312,500 (calling price: € 250,000).

Next to Robert Longo, whose effective charcoal drawing “Untitled (Earth, for Zander)” (lot 894) was sold to a British collection for a result of € 250,000, Willi Baumeister's “Montaru” (Los 803) saw the fine result of € 237,500, with which a collector from Baden-Württemberg stood his grounds against competitors from the rest of Germany and Switzerland.

Contemporary Art
The range of offers in the department of Contemporary Art was met with broad approval and 39% first time buyers were recorded. Particular impressive results in this segment came from Jonas Burgert, whose ”Zyklus-Potsdam (dreiteilig)“ (lot 687) was lifted from a calling price of € 70,000 to the result of € 118,750 by an experienced collector from Lower Saxony. ”Stählerne Erbsen“, the work by Daniel Richter on the catalog cover (lot 689), climbed from € 70,000 to a result of € 112,500. A Bavarian collector stood his grounds against competitors from the rest of Germany, Austria and Taiwan.