The demand left nothing to be desired;

Right at the beginning of the Ketterer evening auction with works from classical modernism to the present, the first tranche of the extensive Hermann Gerlinger collection, which focuses on works by the Brücke artists, was sold without a decline.

Including premium, she brought in 6 million euros, the sum of the upper estimates was a good 4 million euros.

"Bridge" to the USA

As expected, the most expensive lot was Erich Heckel's oil painting "Children" from 1909/10, which the hammer awarded a private bidder in the hall for 1.1 million euros (estimate 600,000 to 800,000 euros).

Works on paper also created amazing things, such as Kirchner’s drawn self-portrait with a model from 1910: it came to 420,000 euros (200,000/300,000), and Kirchner’s rare color woodcut “Wintermondnacht -Längmatte bei Monduntergang” from 1919, which the artist printed himself, sold for 500,000 euros Estimate far behind (250,000/350,000).

Three Brücke works went to American museums, while German museums were not involved here.

97 percent of the 101 lots had been sold by the end of the evening and 27 million euros in the till, including the premium.

The hammer sealed four million surcharges - a proud stretch that is not very common in Germany.

August Macke's idyll “Girl with Blue Birds” ranks at the top, for which a German private collector slightly surpassed the lower estimate at 2.1 million euros.

Plus the premium, the price for the work, which was created in 1914 shortly before Macke's early death, adds up to a good 2.5 million euros.

Private commitment also lifted Emil Nolde's sea of ​​colors from "Lelphinium and Silver Poplars" with 950,000 euros far above the upper estimate of 700,000 euros or Georg Baselitz' "Waldweg" from 1974 to 1.1 million euros, with which he clearly exceeded expectations (700,000/900,000 ).

The leading group shows a consistent pattern: "safe values" were in demand, i.e. good works by renowned and market-proven artists from across the ages.

Post-war modernism, for example, scored highly with Ernst Wilhelm Nay.

His “Omicron” from 1952, a lively improvisation that only evokes unpleasant associations in the title, earned 380,000 instead of the expected 150,000 euros.

The impulsive "Ciclo 1962 BB4", which Emilio Vedova smashed onto the screen, even more than tripled its estimate at 510,000 euros.

As a complete series and “matching set”, Andy Warhol's four-part color serigraph “Goethe” rocketed to 600,000 euros (180,000/240,000).

A detail from Roman Opalka's gigantic counter, begun in 1965, brought in the same result, although expected.

on the 7th

On January 1, 2020, Pierre Soulage, who is now over a hundred years old and had been quiet for a while, signed a black and white "Peinture" (220,000/320,000) for 380,000 euros.

The more recent gems also included Karin Kneffel's "Apples" from 1996, which changed hands at 150,000 euros (90,000/120,000).

This spring, Ketterer adds up sales of its two-day auctions plus those of the online auctions, the Hamburg book auction and private sales to 44 million euros.

The house has thus calculated the best seasonal result in the German art auctioneer industry for the eighth time in a row.

There can still hardly be any talk of weaknesses on the auction market, provided the goods are of high quality.