22/10/2001
by Riccardo Sorani

The results of the German and Austrian art sales that Christie’s and Sotheby’s held in London at the beginning of October not only gave an indication of the market for this category but also and more interestingly, showed that the two auction houses have diverging ideas on how to present their lots. Sotheby’s opted for a wide-ranging sale with drawings, oils, engravings and prints, dating from the early 20^th century right up to post-war German names. By striking comparison Christie’s sale was a truly traditional German expressionist auction.

Sotheby’s held their sale on the 10^th of October at their New Bond Street headquarters in London with an auction that opened with 20 lots dedicated to the "Der Blaue Reiter" period. Also on offer were pamphlets and letters associated with the likes of Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, August Macke and Alfred Kubin. Among these lots there was a good deal of competitive bidding for a number of preparatory sketches. One of these, The tower of blue horses believed to date from 1913, (with the final work of this piece now lost), sold for $ 42,950 (€ 47,950) against an estimate of $ 11,450-14,310 (€ 12,780-15,980). Another drawing this time a study for the painting Leaping Horses (1910) was sold for $ 32,930 (€ 36,770) against an estimate of $ 17,180-21,420 (€ 19,180-23,920). Also of note was a Franz Marc watercolour. Showing the strong influence of the work of Kandinsky, this piece entitled Abstract Forms (1912) easily surpassed its estimate of $ 35,780-50,100 (€ 39,950-55,930) and sold for $ 57,260 (€ 63,930). It is likely that the successful sale of these works was due to their historical importance, market rarity and above all inviting estimates.

The bulk of the auction was made up of oils on canvas by the better-known German expressionists of the inter-war years, such as Max Beckmann, Ludwig Meidner, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Otto Mueller. Three lots were of note in this section. A truly angst-ridden Apocalyptic landscape by Meidner sold for $ 1 million (€ 1.1 million) against an estimate of $ 1.14-1.7 million (€ 1.27-1.9 million). However there was no hiding the disappointing result of this painting after it had a good deal of catalogue space devoted to it. By comparison Tigerlilies and Roses, a typically brightly coloured garden scene by Emil Nolde met with greater success, fetching $ 1.28 million (€ 1.4 million) against an estimate of $ 1.14-1.4 million (€ 1.27-1.56 million). A bit later still, a delicate and wistful portrait by Gustav Klimt entitled Woman in an Armchair encountered resounding success. The painting, one of the few non-Secessionist Klimt’s available, that being a traditional portrait, eventually sold for $ 3.57 million (€ 3.98 million) against an estimate of $ 1.4-2.1 million (€ 1.56-2.3 million) after a fascinating battle between buyers in the saleroom and phone bidders. Following this came a collection of ten post-war German works. Of note, an oil canvas by Emil Schumaker (Rofos II) sold for $ 128,820 (€ 143,860) against an estimate of $ 143,146-214,830 (€ 159,860-239,900), while Ernest Wilhelm Nay’s White and Yellow sold for $ 200,500 (€ 223,880) against an estimate of 214,830-200,500 (€ 239,890-223,890). The only post-war piece which exceeded its estimate was Numbers in space by Gerhard Hoehme which sold for $ 64,450 (€ 71,970) against an estimate of $ 50,120-78,770 (€ 55,970-87,960).

And so to Christie’s whose German sale focused on the traditional rather than the post-war names. The King Street auction house limited the number of works to 85 (against the larger sale of 103 at Sotheby’s the day before). Christie’s decision to focus on a small sale of high quality works paid dividends. The Christie’s sale raised $ 11.6 million (€ 12.9 million) from the 50 lots sold whilst their rivals managed $ 12.8 million (€ 14.2 million) for the 67 lots offered.

Two works were of particular note, interesting in that they were painted on both sides. An Erich Heckel oil on canvas of a landscape, with a depiction of dancing figures on the reverse, sold for $ 1 million (€ 1.1 million) at its low-end estimate, while a nocturnal landscape with a scene of models on the other side of the canvas by Kirchner sold for $ 859,260 (€ 959,480) against an estimate of $ 930,800-1 million (€ 1.03-1.1 million). The most important lot, however proved to be a disappointment with Matrose by Beckmann going unsold against an estimate of $ 8.6-11.4 million (€ 9.6-12.7 million). The outcome was probably due to an exaggerated estimate given the difficult subject matter, which was less expressionist vis-à-vis to signed works by the artist. Such a high estimate might well have been due to the fact that as recently as May, Sotheby’s New York sold Beckmann’s Self-Portrait with Horn for a new world record for the artist at auction of $ 22 million (€ 31.5 million).

The recent trend to orientate the auction world towards more specialised niche markets, such as by national groups (as shown by the Italian sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s on the 22^nd and 23^rd October in London), has proved to be a smart move. But its still too early to say whether Sotheby’s decision to integrate this sale with German post-war art has worked. Nevertheless given the public interest these auctions have generated, the long term trend would seem to be the further categorization of auction genres. With the auction houses taking steps to cement client relations - dealers be warned.