Kornfeld was not able to build on the successes of the past year with his auctions of modern, contemporary and Swiss art taking place parallel to Art Basel, but they delivered solid results.

Again, all forty offered works from the special auction "Marc Chagall - Fourty Paintings" found a buyer - not only during the auction on June 17 in Bern, but also in the immediate post-sale;

and so the auction was not a "White Glove Sale" like last summer.

The 1971 oil and ink work L'amoureux au profil rouge et l'âne blue".

Chagall's mystical goat is enthroned on the heads of the disproportionately large lovers in the foreground, while the blooming tree of life and the orange sun stand out strongly against the yellow background.

The 38 by 45 centimeter sheet sold for 530,000 francs, the estimate was 300,000.

"Le peintre aux bouquets", painted a year before the artist's death in 1984, was sold for 500,000 francs.

Measuring 72 by 60 centimetres, it shows the artist in front of his easel, with an angel looking over his shoulder while he is painting.

In the background stretches a colorful sea of ​​flowers with typical Chagall symbols such as the flying lovers and a sun and moon (estimate CHF 450,000).

All lots came fresh from the artist family's estate and achieved a total result of 7.9 million francs - slightly below the estimate, which was 8 million francs.

Chagall also had a prominent place in the main auction on June 16.

Nine of his works were called up.

The monochrome blue top lot "La grand bouquet sur fond bleu" from 1978 was expected to sell for two million francs, as did two ink drawings from 1958/59 (60,000) and 1980 (200,000).

The sombre red painting "Maternité dans le ciel du village", created six years later and measuring 91 by 73 centimetres, was sold at 710,000 francs, well below the estimate (one million).

Swiss artists, in particular, made sure that it rained millions: first and foremost Alberto Giacometti with the 80 centimeter high bronze "Grand femme assise" (cast from 1978, copy of six) created in 1958 with a hammer price of 5,