Munich (kk) -  € 10.2 million overall sales proceeds is the outstanding result from the three spring auctions held by Ketterer Kunst in Munich and Hamburg. "With this outcome we have succeeded in nearly doubling the figures (€ 5.3 million) for the same period last year. The excellent results this year are certainly due, on the one hand, to the enormous attention attracted by our Jubilee Auction. On the other hand, our clientele, both established clients and newcomers, are enthusiastic about our new catalogue concept as well as our ongoing activity on the internet," as Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and managing director of Ketterer Kunst, draws the balance for the past half year.

Enormous demand and high increases over estimates accrued to post-1945 art especially, which in future is to be given higher priority in the Ketterer Kunst programme. The special catalogue, Post War - Internationale Nachkriegskunst [Post-War - International Postwar Art], of works from this period that went under the hammer under the auspices of the Jubilee Auction sold out and sales of its contents amounted to nearly 100 per cent. Stars here were, in addition to Stephan Balkenhol's 1.31-m- high wooden man wearing a white shirt (called at: € 15,000; sold for: € 60,000) two Gerhard Richters (the watercolor "Ohne Titel" ["Untitled"]: called at: € 10,000; sold for: € 62,000 and the parquetry picture "Grün-Blau-Rot" ["Green-Blue-Red"]: called at: € 20,000; sold for: € 58,000).

Impressive results in the main auction were achieved by such contemporaries as (Emil Schumacher - "Lamatan": estimate: € 100,000; sold for: € 140,000; Markus Lüpertz - "Diptychon ...": estimate: € 100,000; sold for:    € 135,000 and Fritz Winter - "Große Komposition vor Blau" ["Large Composition against Blue"]: estimate: € 70,000; sold for: € 130,000) as well as by the classics.

Emil Nolde, represented by half a dozen works, all of which did brilliantly, was not just responsible for the highest hammer price, for the watercolor "Tiefblaues Meer..." ["Deep Blue Sea ..."] (estimate:  € 130,000; sold for: € 270,000), but also sound gains with "Heuboote im Fahrgraben" (estimate: € 90,000; sold for: € 130,000) and "Mädchenkopf" ["Girl's head"] (estimate: € 80,000; sold for: € 95,000).

Roughly 90 per cent of the lots at the Hamburg auction of Old Masters and Modern Art / Marine Art , which achieved overall proceeds of approx. € 1.6 million, were in the segment carrying estimates of up to € 10,000, which made this auction particularly attractive for young collectors and first-timers. Here, too, estimates were greatly exceeded (see below).

Known for producing more than respectable sales, the Rare Books - Manuscripts - Auto-graphs - Decorative Prints section lived up to its well-earned reputation this spring: classics such as the Heinrich Vogeler cycle "An den Frühling" ["To Spring"] (estimate: € 20,000; sold for: € 32,000) and works on botany, including Mark Catesby's book on plants (estimate: € 12,000; sold for: € 26,000), were highly appreciated by bidders. The handsome increases over the estimates are exemplified by a 16th-century illuminated initial, which had caused a stir at the beginning of the auction. Carrying an estimate of € 800, it was bid up to the dizzy heights of    € 20,000. The overall proceeds, amounting to c.   € 1.2 million from this auction alone, represent a good indicator of the respectable prices achieved at the Hamburg book auctions. "These results justify optimism as a reliable indicator for the autumn auction," thus Christoph Calaminus, head of the division.

Special attention goes to the Old and New Masters / Marine Art section, to which not just a separate catalogue is to be devoted at the autumn auction but it is to be a pivotal event as an auction of its own. The acquisitions team has been enlarged for the occasion and, in the person of the distinguished art historian Harald Weinhold, additional expertise will be available in Munich.

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. The Munich headquarters plays a leading role with two annual auctions of Modern Art. In Hamburg two auctions a year are devoted to Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints. Two auctions of Old and New Masters / Marine Art  and two auctions of Modern Art are also to be held here twice annually. 

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. The Munich headquarters plays a leading role with two annual auctions of Modern Art. In Hamburg two auctions a year are devoted to Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints. Two auctions of Old and New Masters / Marine Art  and two auctions of Modern Art are also to be held here twice annually. 

Spring 2005		Spring 2006
Georg Kolbe		Emil Nolde
Cathedral. c 1922/23		Deep Blue Sea
Estimate: € 50,000		Estimate: € 130,000
Sale price: € 98,000		Sale price: € 270,000
Emil Nolde		Amedeo Modigliani
Poppy and White Lilies		Cariatyd
Estimate: € 80,000		Estimate: € 65,000
Sale price: € 92000		Sale price: € 205,000
Franz von Stuck		Oskar Schlemmer
Helena. 1909		Play with Heads
Estimate: € 60,000		Estimate: € 120,000
Sale price: € 91,000		Sale price: € 190,000
		Leo Putz
		Portrait of a Lady
		Estimate: € 40,000
		Sale price: € 190,000

Pablo Picasso		Pablo Picasso
Françoise		Portrait de Jacqueline...
Estimate: € 22,000		Estimate: € 18,000
Sale price: € 33,000		Sale price: € 43,000
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff		Jörg Immendorff
White Narcissi		Hutmuseum (Beeman)
Estimate: € 10,000		Estimate: € 9,000
Sale price: € 28,000		Sale price: € 37,000
Friedrlich Karl Gotsch		F. Ahlers-Heestermann
Danish Girl		Watermill
Estimate: € 18,000		Estimate: € 12,000
Sale price: € 25,000		Sale price: € 35,000

Latin and French Book of Hours		Heinrich Vogeler To Spring
Estimate: € 60,000		Estimate: € 20,000
Sale price: € 48,000		Sale price: € 32,000
Gart der Gesundheit		Johann Baptist Homann
		Großer Atlas Uber die Gantze Welt
Estimate: € 20,000		Estimate: € 24,000
Sale price: € 22,750		Sale price: € 26,000
Miró, Joan		Mark Catesby
Trois Livres de Poèmes		Hortus Europae Americanus
Estimate: € 6,000		Estimate: € 12,000
Sale price: € 16,000		Sale price: € 26,000