Promising autumn

Adjusted art market makes for a good price performance ratio
Munich, 08 October 2009, (kk) - "Our spring auctions have shown that art as a means of investment is more in demand than ever before", says Robert Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst. "It is a time for connoisseurs, and the perfect moment to buy art. High quality works and moderate starting prices coincide". The Munich Ketterer Kunst auctions on 23/24 October 2009, which will open the fall season with the following focuses, are also proof thereof.
Emil Nolde Emil Nolde
Mädchenkopf. Around 1916-18.
Watercolor and India ink.
35,2 x 28,5 cm (13.8 x 11.2 in).
Estimate: € 35 000-45 000


1. Modern Art/Side lines of the German Avant-garde
2. Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century
3. Post War/Contemporary Art

on 1. Modern Art/Side lines of the German Avant-garde
This section is lead by Emil Nolde‘s watercolor "Mädchenkopf" (Girl’s Head) with an estimate of € 35.000-40.000. The watercolor’s smooth color traces are not only suitable for landscapes and flower paintings. With his portraits, Nolde delivers proof of how versatile this technique actually is. This work is a prime example of his mastery of the color’s spontaneity and the blending of color and paper.

Other top lots in this section have been estimated between € 18.000-24.000, besides the "Stillleben mit Fischen und Kohl" (Still life with Fish and Cabbage) by Paul Kleinschmidt, executed in oil on cardboard in 1921, and the watercolor "Erotische Szene" (Erotic Scene) by George Grosz, this group also comprises a classic portrait by Karl Hofer. His "Jüngling mit Buch" (Youth with Book) was made in 1954 and is one of four paintings by the Karlsruhe artist which will be called up in this auction.

With estimates ranging between € 18 000 - € 24 000, this section definitely has a leading trio. Besides the "Stillleben mit Fischen und Kohl" (Still life with Fish and Cabbage) by Paul Kleinschmidt, executed in oil on cardboard in 1921, and the watercolor "Erotische Szene" (Erotic Scene) by George Grosz, this group also comprises a classic portrait by Karl Hofer. His "Jüngling mit Buch" (Youth with Book) was made in 1954 and is one of four paintings by the Karlsruhe artist which will be called up in this auction.

Next to Otto Mueller‘s chalk drawing "Stehender weiblicher Akt" (Standing Female Nude, estimate: € 8 000-10 000), two works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner make for great expectations. While his etching "Junger Hirte mit Pfeife" (Young Herdsman with Pipe), being one of the rare impressions of the first printing state, has been estimated at € 9 000-12 000, the estimate for the color charcoal drawing "Zwei Mädchen bei der Toilette", (Two Grooming Girls, size 32 x 25,5 cm, made in 1909) is at € 15 000-20 000.

Marc Chagall‘s lithograph in colors "Les Tois" is marked with € 9 000-12 000, while Pablo Picasso‘s "Aztekenvase mit vier Gesichtern" (Aztec Vase with Four Faces) will be starting off with an estimate of € 14 000-18 000. The technique of ceramics, which the artist came across at a rather late point, with the clay’s moldability, the bright colors and the brilliance of the glazing opened new perspectives for the artist.

Ketterer Kunst is also successful off the beaten paths, as the special auction Side lines of the German Avant-garde celebrates its fifth anniversary this October. This unusual concept offers a forum for expressionist artists and representatives of New Objectivity, whose oeuvre was sharply decimated during the reign of the National Socialists and World War II. The focus on works such as Heinrich Harry Deierling‘s "Stilleben mit Blumenstock" (Still Life with Flower Stem, sculpture and cigarette box, estimate: € 8 000-10 000), Walter Gramattée‘s "Mondaufgang auf Hiddensee" (Moonrise on Hiddensee, estimate: € 5 000-7 000) and Curt Erhardt‘s "Regen stürmt" (Rain Storming, estimate: € 4 000-6 000) also promise exciting bidding skirmishes this October. Other works that will be called up are, among others, by artists such as Georg Breitwieser, Karl Otto Hy, Fritz Klein, Helmuth Macke, Heinrich Schlief and Walter Schulz-Matan.
Alexander Koester Alexander Koester
Vier schwimmende Enten im Teich. After 1900.
Oil on canvas. 45 x 76 cm (17.7 x 29.9 in).
Estimate: € 25 000-30 000


on 2: Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century
This section will be opening this year’s autumn auction, headed by a typical work by Alexander Koester. His oil painting "Vier schwimmende Enten im Teich" (Four Ducks Swimming in a Pond) will be called up at an estimate of € 25 000-30 000.

The watercolor "Gotische Kapelle in einer Berglandschaft" (Gothic Chapel in Mountain Landscape) by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, estimated at € 12 000-15 000, will definitely make for some stir in the auction hall. The dramatic moonshine scene can be seen in connection with panoramas made for the so-called Christmas exhibitions. Schinkel, along with Peter Ludwig Lütke, was the only high-ranked artist who executed works for these exhibitions between 1807 and 1816.

Next to Wilhelm Trübner‘s "Porträt am Chiemsee" (Portrait on Chiemsee, 1891, oil on wood, estimate: € 7 000-9 000) this section can also impress with a rare print by Karl Blechen and works by Max Clarenbach, Friedrich Kuhnert, Franz von Lenbach as well as Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn.

Herbert Brandl Herbert Brandl
Ohne Titel.
300 x 200 cm (118.1 x 78.7 in).
Estimate: € 20 000-30 000


on 3: Post War/Contemporary Art
One of this section’s top lots is an untitled oil painting by Herbert Brandl with an estimate ranging between € 20 000-30 000. His mostly large-sized works hover between abstraction and figuration, as there seems to be nothing obvious in his compositions. At a first glance they seem to be abstract color surfaces, however, after a more intense examination figural compositions can be seen.

Niki de Saint Phalle‘s multiple "Les Baigneurs" from 1990 (estimate: € 20 000-30 000), and the oil and tempera work "Männer ohne Frauen - Parsifal" (Men without Women - Parsifal, estimate: € 18 000-24 000) by Markus Lüpertz are two other important works in the section of contemporary art. The latter makes the process of abstraction, which is usually executed in a mere intellectual process, visually fathomable for the observer by quite impressive means. He conveys a painting to another canvas and then continues to process the result. He alienates the initial representation to a point that only the black contours as well as the nose and the neck hint at a head that has been inflated to the image’s margin.

His feeling of not belonging is mirrored in A.R. Penck‘s 1989 oil painting "Ich in Lörsfeld" (Me in Lörsfeld). Even though the artist had relocated from the GDR to Lörsfeld near Kerpen in West Germany as early as in 1980, the feeling of being uprooted is the topic of this portrait which was made nine years later: The head, executed in broad and pastose strokes of the brush sinks into a black nothingness. The painting is estimated at € 15 000-20 000.

The second auction day will be topped off by Jörg Immendorff‘s 1981 oil painting "Probestunden" (Trial Lesson, estimate: € 15 000-20 000) and Fritz Winter‘s "Spiegelung" (Reflection, estimate: € 10 000-12 000) and other promising works by artists such as Max Ackermann, Stephan Balkenhol, Joseph Beuys, Herbert Brandl, Emilio Vedova, Tom Wesselmann and Zao Wou-Ki.

Pre-sale viewings:showing selected works:
03 - 04 October11 am-5 pm
05 - 07 October10 am-6 pm
Ketterer Kunst, Am Meßberg 1, Hamburg
09 October 11 am-7 pm
10 - 11 October 11 am-4 pm
12 - 14 October 11 am-7 pm
Ketterer Kunst, Fasanenstr. 70, Berlin
Pre-sale Viewings (all works):
17 - 18 October 11 am-5 pm
19 - 22 October 10 am-6 pm
Ketterer Kunst, Joseph-Wild-Str. 18, Munich
Auction dates:
23 Octoberat 3 pm     Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century
followed by Side lines of the German Avant-garde
followed by Modern Art
24 October at 3 pm     Post War/Contemporary Art
Ketterer Kunst, Joseph-Wild-Str. 18, Munich
Press enquiries: Client enquiries:
Ketterer Kunst Ketterer Kunst
Joseph-Wild-Str. 18 Joseph-Wild-Str. 18
81829 Munich 81829 Munich
Michaela Derra M.A.
Tel:+49-(0)89-55244-152 (Fax: -177) Tel:+49-(0)89-55244-444 (Fax: -166)
E-Mail: m.derra@kettererkunst.de E-Mail: infomuenchen@kettererkunst.de