The works on paper have sky-storming titles such as "Flying High", "Wind - Sun" or "Brise".

But a “fall” also happens: Günther Uecker called his contribution to a project that Paul Eubel, as head of the Goethe-Institut Osaka, initiated in the late 1980s.

He invited well-known artists from all over the world to design Japanese kites - and met with a wide response.

Ursula Scheer

Editor in the Feuilleton.

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Eubel initially bought large amounts of washi paper used for traditional kite building.

He sent this to the artists for design, who could orientate themselves on traditional kite forms – but did not have to.

Niki de Saint Phalle chose the free form for her “Vogel in Love”: The result is a colorful creature in the style of “Nanas”.

Daniel Buren also took part;

Jean Tinguely, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, Victor Vasarely and many others sent their works to Japan where artisans mounted them on bamboo structures.

157 kites by 120 artists from 27 countries comprise the resulting collection "Pictures for Heaven".

At the vernissage in 1989, numerous of these objects were tested in the open air.

The collection then went on an international museum tour until it seemed to find a permanent home in the "Art Kite Museum" in Detmold: A converted hangar was opened as a private museum in the context of "Expo 2000" - but closed again five years later.

Eubel took the kites to Palermo, where he lived until his death in 2010.

Now the artists' kites are rising again from the overseas containers in which they were stored, half-forgotten: the Nagel auction house, which is celebrating its centenary this year, is decorating its modern and contemporary art auctions on 23 February with them.

The range of the 146 lots called up from the "Art Kite Collection" is large.

The rectangular shape of the Edo dragon is followed by Yayoi Kusama's work entitled “Fire”, measuring 270 by 154 centimetres, in which she combines red dots into a flowing all-over (estimate 20,000 to 30,000 euros).

With a side length of 160 centimeters, Uecker's "Fall" follows the square Hamamatsu form: black tempera forms an abstract pattern that is continued with silk ribbons (30,000/50,000).

Every wind has its own shape

Gerhard Richter's dragon, measuring a good four square meters, is covered with colorful squares and arouses expectations of up to 200,000 euros.

A flying object by Kazuo Shiraga, measuring 250 by 190 centimeters and covered with action painting in red, is supposed to go the highest (300,000/500,000).

Niki de Saint Phalle's contribution is estimated at between 40,000 and 60,000 euros;

a lyrical work by Toshimitsu Imai depicting a silver moon on gold in the form of an Oogi dragon is estimated at a modest €4,000 to €6,000.

“Every wind has its own shape” is a Japanese proverb.

These works seem to illustrate it.

They hardly stay together, rather they are scattered to the four winds.

The proceeds of the auction, the estimated price of which is between 1.1 and 1.7 million euros, are to be donated in line with the original project idea of ​​selling the kites after a first tour for the benefit of disaster relief.