118
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Liebespaar im Atelier (Zwei Akte), Um 1908/09.
Colored chalk drawing
Estimate:
€ 50,000 - 70,000
$ 56,000 - 78,400
118
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Liebespaar im Atelier (Zwei Akte), Um 1908/09.
Colored chalk drawing
Estimate:
€ 50,000 - 70,000
$ 56,000 - 78,400
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1880 - 1938
Liebespaar im Atelier (Zwei Akte). Um 1908/09.
Colored chalk drawing.
Signed in the lower right and predated “04” by the artist. With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the barely legible handwritten registration number “FS Dre/ . 5” on the reverse. 34.6 x 43.1 cm (13.6 x 16.9 in), the full sheet. [CH].
• A particularly vivid, intimate, and provocatively erotic drawing from the Dresden “Brücke” period (1905–1911).
• The female nude in the studio was one of the most significant motifs for E. L. Kirchner and the “Brücke” artists during these years.
• Impressive physicality combined with the greatest freedom of line and a strict reduction to the contour.
• A fascinating testament to Kirchner’s outstanding spontaneity and mastery as a draftsman.
• Kirchner also explored motifs closely related to this depiction in paintings from these years, such as “Standing Nude Girls by the Stove” (1908, State Art Collections, Dresden).
PROVENANCE: Artist’s estate (with the estate stamp on the reverse, Lugt 1570 b).
Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart (1954).
Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York (acquired from Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, in 1964).
Galerie St. Etienne, New York.
Private collection, Southern Germany.
Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired from the above).
EXHIBITION: Kirchner – Klee – Kokoschka. Watercolors and Drawings, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Oct. 29, 1993–Jan. 3, 1994.
LITERATURE: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 112. Auction, Modern Art of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, May 27–29, 1964, lot 532.
Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co., Hamburg, Drawings of the 16th–18th Centuries / Modern Art, May 21, 1966, lot 634 (with illustration).
Kornfeld & Klipstein, Bern, June 9, 1976, lot 461 (with illustration).
Serge Sabarsky, Zeichnungen und Aquarelle des deutschen Expressionismus, Stuttgart 1990 (with illustration).
Ulrich Bischoff, Introduction, in: Exhibition catalog Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Stehende nackte Mädchen am Ofen, ed. by the Cultural Foundation of the German States, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Ernst von Siemens Art Fund, Dresden 1998, pp. 7–16 (with ill., no. 12).
Called up: December 5, 2026 - ca. 13.24 h +/- 20 min.
1880 - 1938
Liebespaar im Atelier (Zwei Akte). Um 1908/09.
Colored chalk drawing.
Signed in the lower right and predated “04” by the artist. With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the barely legible handwritten registration number “FS Dre/ . 5” on the reverse. 34.6 x 43.1 cm (13.6 x 16.9 in), the full sheet. [CH].
• A particularly vivid, intimate, and provocatively erotic drawing from the Dresden “Brücke” period (1905–1911).
• The female nude in the studio was one of the most significant motifs for E. L. Kirchner and the “Brücke” artists during these years.
• Impressive physicality combined with the greatest freedom of line and a strict reduction to the contour.
• A fascinating testament to Kirchner’s outstanding spontaneity and mastery as a draftsman.
• Kirchner also explored motifs closely related to this depiction in paintings from these years, such as “Standing Nude Girls by the Stove” (1908, State Art Collections, Dresden).
PROVENANCE: Artist’s estate (with the estate stamp on the reverse, Lugt 1570 b).
Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart (1954).
Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York (acquired from Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, in 1964).
Galerie St. Etienne, New York.
Private collection, Southern Germany.
Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired from the above).
EXHIBITION: Kirchner – Klee – Kokoschka. Watercolors and Drawings, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Oct. 29, 1993–Jan. 3, 1994.
LITERATURE: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 112. Auction, Modern Art of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, May 27–29, 1964, lot 532.
Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co., Hamburg, Drawings of the 16th–18th Centuries / Modern Art, May 21, 1966, lot 634 (with illustration).
Kornfeld & Klipstein, Bern, June 9, 1976, lot 461 (with illustration).
Serge Sabarsky, Zeichnungen und Aquarelle des deutschen Expressionismus, Stuttgart 1990 (with illustration).
Ulrich Bischoff, Introduction, in: Exhibition catalog Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Stehende nackte Mädchen am Ofen, ed. by the Cultural Foundation of the German States, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Ernst von Siemens Art Fund, Dresden 1998, pp. 7–16 (with ill., no. 12).
Called up: December 5, 2026 - ca. 13.24 h +/- 20 min.
Buyer's premium and taxation for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner "Liebespaar im Atelier (Zwei Akte)"
This lot can be purchased subject to differential or regular taxation.
Differential taxation:
Hammer price up to 2,000,000 €: herefrom 34 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 2,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 29 % and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 2,000,000 €.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 4,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 22 % and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 4,000,000 €.
The buyer's premium contains VAT, however, it is not shown.
Regular taxation:
Hammer price up to 2,000,000 €: herefrom 29 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 2,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 23% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 2,000,000 €.
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.
We kindly ask you to notify us before invoicing if you wish to be subject to regular taxation.
Differential taxation:
Hammer price up to 2,000,000 €: herefrom 34 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 2,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 29 % and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 2,000,000 €.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 4,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 22 % and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 4,000,000 €.
The buyer's premium contains VAT, however, it is not shown.
Regular taxation:
Hammer price up to 2,000,000 €: herefrom 29 % premium.
The share of the hammer price exceeding 2,000,000 € is subject to a premium of 23% and is added to the premium of the share of the hammer price up to 2,000,000 €.
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.
We kindly ask you to notify us before invoicing if you wish to be subject to regular taxation.
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