++ Far beyond Expectations +++ Proceeds exceed € 100,000 +++ over 500 Bidders +++ 42 % Sold +++
Hamburg Hamburg (kk) - With proceeds exceeding € 100,000, the first live online auction from art.auctions by Ketterer Kunst on September 2, 2006, certainly surpassed expectations. Robert Ketterer had reckoned with sales amounting to 20-25 per cent of the 734 art objects in the 19th century and Modern Art sections. "The actual rate achieved of 42 per cent was indeed a pleasant surprise. We were pleased about bidding skirmishes that were fought round the world to take some sale prices up to nine times the original estimates," says the auctioneer and managing director of Ketterer Kunst. By the time the auction started, there were more than 300 bids in writing and more than 200 bidders registered for active live participation. The results justify enormous optimism about the next live online auction, scheduled for November 4, 2006.

Estimates for the lots offered were below € 1000. Since this segment is increasingly disappearing from auction catalogues, the aim was to reinforce it by holding auctions live online. After all, a live online auction provides first-timers with an ideal opportunity to engage with the fascinating world of art. Moreover, through the internet as the medium, a young public or a public that has remained young at heart and venturesome is addressed and the results speak for themselves: many new clients took part in the event.

The highest price achieved at the auction was € 1715 for the William Scott "Jonah". The ferocious bidding that broke out over it also resulted in the largest increase of the estimate achieved that day since it had carried an estimate of € 190.

Wilhelm Loth "Tor mit weiblich-anthropomorphen Formen" ["Gate with Female-Anthropomorphic Forms"], which went from an estimate of € 1250 to € 1470.

The Rupprecht Geiger color silkscreen print "Aus: Metapher Zahl" ["From: Metaphor Number"] went for the same price. Since the artist is a native of southern Germany, it unsurprisingly went to an aficionado of his work from that region. The same buyer spent almost as much, € 1409, for a second Geiger print entitled "Schwarzes Rot" ["Black Red"].

Other works that handsomely exceeded estimates were the Friedensreich Hundertwasser silkscreen print "Ein Regentag mit Kampmann" ["A Rainy Day with Kampmann"] (estimate: € 500; result: € 1.409), the Wilhelm Lehmbruck etching "Große Auferstehung" ["Great Resurrection"] (estimate: € 700; result: € 1.409) and Horst Janssen’s "An Sarah Kirsch" (estimate: € 750; sale price: € 1347).

Hammer prices were highly gratifying for Lucio Fontana’s "Senza titolo I" and Jean Tinguely’s "Roto-Zaza" (both at € 1347) and especially for works by Josef Albers, Jim Dine, Zoran Music and Maurice Utrillo.

Demand has risen for affordable works by worldfamous artists in this new forum, including a round dozen works by Mark Tobey, only one of which remained unsold, with sale prices almost invariably topping estimates. A similar trend was noted when nine works each by Aki Kuroda and Bruce McLean were called.

Art.auctions by Ketterer Kunst, who were putting on their first live online auction, is part of the Ketterer Kunst Network. Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books. While the Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alfons Palais is committed to two traditional auctions of Modern Art & Post War annually, the Meßberghof in Hamburg is the venue of two yearly auctions each of Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century/Marine Art and Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints as well s Modern Art & Post War, with a focus on works on paper. In addition, exhibitions, special auctions and benefit auctions for charity are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.

Hamburg, September 04,2006