Lot 244 
Raumbeispiel
244
Otto Dix
Spelunke, 1925.
Gouache over pencil
Estimate:
€ 40,000 - 60,000
$ 46,400 - 69,600
Otto Dix
1891 - 1969
Spelunke. 1925.
Gouache over pencil.
Signed, dated and inscribed "351". Titled on the reverse. 50 x 67 cm (19.6 x 26.3 in), the full sheet.[KA/MH].
• Dix, chronicler of the Weimar Republic, sketches a bar scene with protagonists marked by life with a sharp eye.
• “Spelunke” addresses the dark side of the big city: social decline, hedonism, and excessive consumption.
• The watercolor technique lends the work both lightness in the fleetingness of the moment and a disturbing intimacy.
• Formerly owned by Otto Conzelmann, a close confidant of Otto Dix.
• Part of an acclaimed private collection in Berlin for over 40 years.
We are grateful to Mr. Rainer Pfefferkorn, Otto Dix Foundation, for kindly providing additional information.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Neue Kunst Fides, Dresden (1929, probably on commission from the artist's estate).
Dr. Otto Conzelmann, Stuttgart (1950).
New York art market.
Kende Galleries, New York (acquired in 1971, Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg).
Private collection, Berlin (since 1979: Sotheby's).
EXHIBITION: Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Autumn Exhibition Oct./Nov. 1925, no. 71.
Otto Dix, Moderne Galerie Thannhauser, Munich, June/July 1926, no. 27.
Sonder-Ausstellung OTTO DIX, Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich, Feb./March 1929, no. 62.
Otto Dix, Kunstverein Freiburg i. Br., collective exhibition, 1950/51, no. 73.
OTTO DIX, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, September 11–October 16, 1960, p. 31, no. 131 (illustrated).
Otto Dix. Ölgemälde, Aquarelle, das graphische Werk 1913-1963, Kongresshalle Berlin, 1963, cat. no. 110.
Otto Dix, Galerie Baukunst, Cologne, 1966, cat. no. 60.
LITERATURE: Suse Pfäffle, Otto Dix. Catalog raisonné of watercolors and gouaches, Stuttgart 1991, CR no. A 1925/1 ( illustrated in black and white on p. 203).
--
Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 180th auction, Modern Art, June 3-5, 1971, lot 462 (illustrated on p. 95).
Sotheby's, New York, 4247th auction, May 16, 1979, lot 109.
Called up: December 6, 2025 - ca. 16.12 h +/- 20 min.
1891 - 1969
Spelunke. 1925.
Gouache over pencil.
Signed, dated and inscribed "351". Titled on the reverse. 50 x 67 cm (19.6 x 26.3 in), the full sheet.[KA/MH].
• Dix, chronicler of the Weimar Republic, sketches a bar scene with protagonists marked by life with a sharp eye.
• “Spelunke” addresses the dark side of the big city: social decline, hedonism, and excessive consumption.
• The watercolor technique lends the work both lightness in the fleetingness of the moment and a disturbing intimacy.
• Formerly owned by Otto Conzelmann, a close confidant of Otto Dix.
• Part of an acclaimed private collection in Berlin for over 40 years.
We are grateful to Mr. Rainer Pfefferkorn, Otto Dix Foundation, for kindly providing additional information.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Neue Kunst Fides, Dresden (1929, probably on commission from the artist's estate).
Dr. Otto Conzelmann, Stuttgart (1950).
New York art market.
Kende Galleries, New York (acquired in 1971, Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg).
Private collection, Berlin (since 1979: Sotheby's).
EXHIBITION: Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Autumn Exhibition Oct./Nov. 1925, no. 71.
Otto Dix, Moderne Galerie Thannhauser, Munich, June/July 1926, no. 27.
Sonder-Ausstellung OTTO DIX, Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich, Feb./March 1929, no. 62.
Otto Dix, Kunstverein Freiburg i. Br., collective exhibition, 1950/51, no. 73.
OTTO DIX, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, September 11–October 16, 1960, p. 31, no. 131 (illustrated).
Otto Dix. Ölgemälde, Aquarelle, das graphische Werk 1913-1963, Kongresshalle Berlin, 1963, cat. no. 110.
Otto Dix, Galerie Baukunst, Cologne, 1966, cat. no. 60.
LITERATURE: Suse Pfäffle, Otto Dix. Catalog raisonné of watercolors and gouaches, Stuttgart 1991, CR no. A 1925/1 ( illustrated in black and white on p. 203).
--
Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 180th auction, Modern Art, June 3-5, 1971, lot 462 (illustrated on p. 95).
Sotheby's, New York, 4247th auction, May 16, 1979, lot 109.
Called up: December 6, 2025 - ca. 16.12 h +/- 20 min.
244
Otto Dix
Spelunke, 1925.
Gouache over pencil
Estimate:
€ 40,000 - 60,000
$ 46,400 - 69,600
Buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation for Otto Dix "Spelunke"
This lot can only be purchased subject to regular taxation, artist‘s resale right compensation is due.
Regular taxation:
Hammer price up to 1,000,000 €: herefrom 29 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 1,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 23% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 1,000,000 €.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 4,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 15% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 4,000,000 €.
The statutory VAT of currently 7 % is levied to the sum of hammer price and premium.
Calculation of artist‘s resale right compensation:
For works by living artists, or by artists who died less than 70 years ago, a artist‘s resale right compensation is levied in accordance with Section 26 UrhG:
4 % of hammer price from 400.00 euros up to 50,000 euros,
another 3 % of the hammer price from 50,000.01 to 200,000 euros,
another 1 % for the part of the sales proceeds from 200,000.01 to 350,000 euros,
another 0.5 % for the part of the sale proceeds from 350,000.01 to 500,000 euros and
another 0.25 % of the hammer price over 500,000 euros.
The maximum total of the resale right fee is EUR 12,500.
The artist‘s resale right compensation is VAT-exempt.
Regular taxation:
Hammer price up to 1,000,000 €: herefrom 29 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 1,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 23% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 1,000,000 €.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 4,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 15% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 4,000,000 €.
The statutory VAT of currently 7 % is levied to the sum of hammer price and premium.
Calculation of artist‘s resale right compensation:
For works by living artists, or by artists who died less than 70 years ago, a artist‘s resale right compensation is levied in accordance with Section 26 UrhG:
4 % of hammer price from 400.00 euros up to 50,000 euros,
another 3 % of the hammer price from 50,000.01 to 200,000 euros,
another 1 % for the part of the sales proceeds from 200,000.01 to 350,000 euros,
another 0.5 % for the part of the sale proceeds from 350,000.01 to 500,000 euros and
another 0.25 % of the hammer price over 500,000 euros.
The maximum total of the resale right fee is EUR 12,500.
The artist‘s resale right compensation is VAT-exempt.
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