Best of German & Pop Art
Ketterer Kunst, Munich
Anniversary Auction June 7/8, 2024
The seventieth anniversary of KETTERER KUNST is celebrated with a sensational array of works. The highest estimate price tag in the house’s history has been put on Alexej Jawlensky’s marvelously elegiac "Spanische Tänzerin" in a blazing red dress, called up in the Evening Sale on June 7. Made in 1909, the pivotal work from the formative years of German Expressionism, in private hands for over ninety years, had only been known from a black-and-white photograph. Estimated at 7 to 10 million euros, it is particularly convincing for the fact that it is new to the market, as well as for the highly stylized Murnau landscape study it boasts on its reverse. A second market sensation is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Tanz im Varieté" from 1911, a time when the artist group "Brücke" set out to revolutionize the art world from its new base in Berlin. With unknown whereabouts for a long time, its existence was only documented by a black-and-white photo. Family-owned for eighty years, it is now up for sale at an estimate of 2 to 3 million euros.
Traditionally, German Expressionism is among Ketterer Kunst's core fields of expertise. Accordingly, the strong range of works in both our Evening Sale and Day Sale (June 8) featuring key works of Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Heinrich Campendonk and Gabriele Münter, most of which are priced in five- to six-figure realms. In addition, the auction also includes works on paper from the legendary Hermann Gerlinger Collection, which Ketterer Kunst has sold over the past three years.
Savvy collectors and informed investors alike will find plenty of reasons to make a purchase in this anniversary auction, reflecting on the singularity of an artwork even in challenging times and duly assessing its quality, provenance and novelty on the market. And eventually seize the opportunity. Needless to say this is also true for works of post-war and contemporary art, works like those of Ernst Wilhelm Nay from the 1960s as well as Konrad Klapheck's machine paintings (an artist for whom Ketterer Kunst set a new price record in the last auction). There is still more, for example, a large-scale "Finger Painting" by Georg Baselitz from 1972 and a portrait that Gerhard Richter made of his artist friend Günter Uecker in a grayish sfumato in 1964.
In addition to a number of Kirchner objects, a remarkable private collection compiled with intellectual focus and curiosity, includes a series of Henry Moore sculptures. In the course of a lengthy relationship with the artist, Dr. Theo Maier-Mohr has acquired 'Sheep Pieces' that include maquettes and large outdoor sculptures, as well as prime pieces of Moore's 'Family Groups', hence covering and honoring the central themes that drove the great sculptor.
This time around, we also put a strong focus on American Pop Art, however, rather in terms of quality than quantity. The key piece in this array is a monumental, ironically provocative motif by James Rosenquist ("Playmate", 1966), while Andy Warhol's complete series of ten color silkscreens "Flowers" from 1970 and an impressive wall sculpture by the late Pop veteran Frank Stella follow suit. Robert Rauschenberg, a decidedly flexible maverick among the pop art rebels, quickly found his own path. The evidence we provide in our auction is the bicycle ("Bicycloid VII", 1992) with colored neon tubes, which is now doing its rounds in an auction for the very first time.
Highlights Contemporary Art
Playmate, 1966
Oil on canvas in four parts, wood, metal wire
Estimate price: € 1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Rare on the auction market: Striking eroticism in an over-sized format from the heyday of American Pop Art. The work "Playmate" (1966) by James Rosenquist - the protagonist of American Pop Art with a great sense of humor – was part of the legendary "Playboy" magazine campaign "Playmate as Fine Art" in 1967. Other contributing artist were, among others, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and George Segal.
Flowers (10 sheets), 1970
10 color silkscreens
Estimate price: € 800,000 - 1,200,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Andy Warhol's ten-part series "Flowers" is another icon of American Pop Art and rarely comes to the market as matching set.
Finger Painting - Birch, 1972
Oil on canvas.
Estimate price: € 800,000 - 1,200,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Georg Baselitz's "Finger Painting - Birch" from 1972 is one of his early works with the characteristic "upside down" motif. Works from this pioneering creative phase are extremely rare.
Working Model for Sheep Piece, 1971
Bronze with green-brown patina.
Estimate price: € 600,000 – 800,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
One of Henry Moore's rare large-scale outdoor sculptures on the auction market. Further casts of our work can be found in museum collections in California, Michigan and Japan. Part of the same German private collection since its creation. Further works from the Dr. Maier-Mohr Collection are offered in the Evening Sale and the Contemporary Art Day Sale on Friday, June 7, 2024, as well as in our Modern Art Day Sale on Saturday, June 8, 2024 (see extra catalog "A Private Collection - Dr. Theo Maier-Mohr").
Herr Uecker, 1964
Oil on canvas.
Estimate price: € 450,000 – 650,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Gerhard Richter's sought-after early black-and-white paintings from the 1960s are based on photographs. Richter subsequently "inpainted" his motifs in the moist paint enlarged to the dimensions of the canvas, dissolving the contours into soft blackand-white modulations. The famous painterly blur that would become his artistic trademark, first appeared in Richter's paintings of the early 1960s. Gerhard Richter's portrait of his fellow artist and friend Günther Uecker, the important "ZERO" protagonist, was created in the context of a small series of portraits that Richter created on the initiative of the legendary Düsseldorf gallery owner Alfred Schmela for his first solo exhibition in September 1964. "Herr Uecker" is one of the last early Richter portraits still in German private ownership.
Ene mene ming mang. 1955
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Ernst Wilhelm Nay's painting "Ene mene ming mang" is of museum quality, showing a particularly harmonious color scheme in a large format from the group of the famous "Scheibenbilder" (Disk Paintings). As early as in 1957, Nay showed two works from this series in the exhibition "German Art of the Twentieth Century" at the Museum of Modern Art. Comparable works can be found in, among others, the Museum Folkwang, Essen, the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
The Pequod Meets the Rosebud (D-19, 1X), 1991
Mixed media on aluminum
Estimate price: € 200,000 – 300,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
As an important representative of Minimal Art and Abstract Expressionism, Frank Stella's work "The Pequod Meets the Rosebud (D-19, 1X)" from the important Moby Dick series unfolds an overwhelming expansive monumentality with an explosion of form and color.
Posse Stir (Galvanic Suite), 1989
Mixed media. Acrylic and lacquer on galvanized steel
123,5 x 306 cm, incl. the original frame.
Estimate price: € 200,000 – 300,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Bicycloid VII, 1992
Bicycle, with colored neon tubes on aluminum base. 151 x 190 x 56 cm.
Unique piece from a series of 7 bicycle sculptures.
Estimate price: € 100,000 – 200,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Robert Rauschenberg's collaged compositions realized in silkscreen were groundbreaking for Pop Art. Our Evening Sale includes both a large-format radiant work from Rauschenberg's important "Galvanic Suite" (1988-1991) as well as the bicycle sculpture "Bicycloid VII", a futuristic hybrid between ready-made and neon sculpture. Both works were acquired directly from the artist through the Swiss gallery Jamileh Weber and have been part of an important southern German private collection since.
Die Technik der Eroberung, 1965
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 180.000 – 240.000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
'Die Technik der Eroberung' is a masterful presentation of a surreal puzzlement as a symbol of a sensual-erotic quest. Konrad Klapheck tells a story of seduction in subtle colors with surprising accents in green and red. The work has featured in several important Klapheck exhibitions since 1966
Highlights Modern Art
Spanische Tänzerin, 1909
Oil on cardboard
Estimate price: € 7,000,000 – 10,000,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
"Spanische Tänzerin” (Spanish Dancer) - An ecstatic and exuberant expressionist masterpiece by Alexej von Jawlensky. In 1909, he was at the absolute peak of his creativity. Paintings from this short and colorful creative phase are almost exclusively owned by international museums today. A powerful avant-garde double strike: the radiant, highly stylized oil study on the reverse is reminiscent of the painting "Murnauer Landschaft" from 1909, created in a smaller format the same year, it is part of the collection of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich today. Shortly after it was made, the painting found a home in the renowned modern art collection of Josef Gottschalk in Düsseldorf, and remained in the family for over nine decades.
Tanz im Varieté, 1911
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 2,000,000 – 3,000,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Spectacular rediscovery: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Tanz im Varieté" has been hidden in a German private collection for 80 years. Until now, the work was only known from a black-and-white photograph. The grand painting from the best "Brücke" period was part of the seminal "Brücke" exhibition at the Fritz Gurlitt Art Salon in Berlin (1912) shortly after it was created.
Landschaft mit Tieren, around 1913
Oil on cardboard, laid on fiberboard and mounted on the stretcher
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Heinrich Campendonk's "Landschaft mit Tieren" (Landscape with Animals), around 1913, dates from the artist's most innovative creative period: he showcased his talent in exhibitions of the "Blue Rider" and the Rhenish Expressionist in 1911 and 1913. In dialog with Franz Marc, he developed his distinctive pictorial language. This largeformat work was presented in major exhibitions at the leading galleries of the time (Walden and Flechtheim) and is now offered with an estimate price of € 600,000 - 800,000.
Im Wald, 1910
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
Zwei Menschen im Freien, 1909/10
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
A rare opportunity! Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Max Pechstein spent the summer of 1910 at the Moritzburg Ponds with a number of friends and models, painting in the woods and by the ponds. In the forests and lakes around Moritzburg, the artists occasionally set up their easels in a row to capture one and the same scene, which explains why the naked couple in Kirchner's painting "Im Wald" is also depicted in Heckel's "Zwei Menschen im Freien".
Kaffeegarten am Ammersee, 1911
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 90,000 – 120,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
From the Hermann-Josef Bunte Collection: This auction puts Stenner in the foreground with 14 important works from a total of 27 lots from the Bunte Collection. In addition, works by other artists from the Hölzel circle are also on offer. Ackermann, Kinzinger, Graf, Eberhard, as well as works by Sagewka and Böckstiegel again.
In "Kaffeegarten am Ammersee", Stenner boldly combined impressionist lightness and bright colors with highly concentrated surfaces. This works should become one of his most accomplished paintings from the summer sojourn in Dießen on Lake Ammer.
Highlights 19th Century Art
Die Colomierstraße in Wannsee, 1917
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 200.000 - 300.000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the house on Wannsee, hidden in the picture on the right, became Max Liebermann's artistic retreat. This was where he created his most sought-after works. Our painting also boasts an important provenance: it was part of the estate of Albert Janus, important collector and patron of the Folkwang Museum. In 2010, it was exhibited on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Liebermann Villa on Wannsee.
Wannseegarten - Haus mit roten Stauden, 1926
Oil on canvas
Estimate price: € 400,000 – 600,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
In his celebrated paintings of the garden at his Wannsee villa, Max Liebermann liberated form and color in an unprecedented way. Wannsee paintings of this luminosity are extremely rare on the auction market.
Der Engel des Gerichts, around 1922
Oil on panel
Estimate price: € 100,000 – 150,000
Photo courtesy of Ketterer Kunst
For over 20 years, Franz von Stuck's " Der Engel des Gerichts" (The Angel of Judgement) was on permanent loan at the Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz in Munich. A fascinating interpretation and daring modernization of the age-old motif in the rebellious zeitgeist prevailing at the turn of the century. The work has been privately owned since its creation and is now available on the auction market for the first time.
DATES
June 7, 2024 Contemporary Art Day Sale, Evening Sale in Munich
June 8, 2024 19th Century, Modern Art Day Sale in Munich
Until June 15, 2024 Online Sale - parallel to the saleroom auction
Preview Shows of the Top Lots in Munich
Ketterer Kunst, Joseph-Wild-Str. 18, 81829 Munich
June 1, 2024 12 - 6 p.m.
June 2, 2024 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
June 3 - 4, 2024 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
June 5, 2024 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
June 6, 2024 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
KETTERER KUNST
