Contemporary Art - Records

The three auctions of Modern Art, Contemporary Art and Photography brought in one of their best results of recent years with a total of € 11.5 million euros –and thus clearly surpassed last autumn's result.

AT the pinnacle of the Contemporary were two noteworthy works by Zdeněk Sýkora (€ 605,000) and Georg Baselitz (€ 580,000). These were followed by many six-figure lots, often from the artist’s most important work periods: Josef Albers (€ 229,000, record price), from Karel Appel (€ 189,000), Gerhard Richter (€ 242,000 and € 202,000), as well as A.R. Penck (€ 164,000 and € 93,000), Werner Berg (€ 158,000), Andy Warhol and Norbert Bisky (each € 126,000). Six-figure sums were also achieved by Wolfgang Hollegha (€ 107,000), Helen Frankenthaler (€ 113,000) and Joannis Avramidis (€ 101,000).

From Zdeněk Sýkora - whose paintings Lempertz has sold in recent years, always with great success, (with an international record of € 1,052,000) – we had ‘Linie Nr, 102’ from 1992. Acquired direct from the artist and exhibited in the Ludwigshafen Wilhelm Hack Museum in 1995, the painting triggered a long bidding battle, eventually won by a bidder from the Czech Republic for an excellent result of € 605,000 (lot 15, € 180/250,000).

A German collector acquired a further leading lot of the auction, that of ‘Der Jäger’ by Georg Baselitz for € 580,000. In the painting from the 'Remix' series from the year 2007, themes from his earlier works are recombined like set pieces. It is characterised by a distinct division of the surface into four parts; the figure of Hitler in the top quarter is no longer purely suggestive, but clearly recognisable. The four areas stand out from each other in a painterly way; fiery brushwork and pasty colour alternates with surfaces left blank and hints of spray technique. Equally striking: from top to bottom the colour palette is increasingly reduced (lot 22, € 450/650,000).

A six-part untitled, acrylic on lead work by Günther Förg from 1989 is from a significant work phase. Förg dedicated himself with particular intensity to the lead pictures from the second half of the 1980s; they are from his most well-known work group in which the materiality of the chosen material emerges especially powerfully. The six-part series of six vertical pictures has been sold under reserve for € 400,000 (lot 18, € 500/600,000).

An international record of € 227,000 was achieved for Josef Albers’ ‘SP (Homage to the Square)’ from 1967. The 12 colour screen prints on card were won by a South German collector against persistent national and international competition (lot 68, € 40/60,000).

Gerhard Richter was represented by two works. The first ‘Abstraktes Bild’ from 1976 performed a radical upheaval in Gerhard Richter’s creativity and the start of an important new work phase. The estrangement from overpaintings and grey pictures, with the radically objective lack of form, brings something completely new with it. The 42 x 40 cm canvas created in 1977 was taken on by the Rhenish trade for € 242, 000 (lot 16, € 240/280,000). His 1994 oil on card painting ‘3.3.94’, consigned from Hong Kong, has now moved to a Paris collection (lot 20, € 100/150,000). Karel Appel’s 1961 canvas ‘Nue’, from a series of female nudes, has been exhibited numerous times, and has now been acquired by the Swiss trade for € 189,000 (lot 61, € 150/180,000).

A North German collection invested 164,000 in A.R. Penck’s ‘Ich in London 1’ was created two years after the East German authorities had cancelled his citizenship. His move to West Germany was accompanied by a change in style, as his paintings became freer and less constrained: A lavish use of oil paint and acrylic as well as a wealth of new techniques and approached led to a change in the pictorial language (lot 6, €100/150,000). The painting ‘Homer und die Folgen’ from 1996 changed hands for € 93,000 (lot 81, € 70/90,00), whilst the Austrian trade were willing to contribute € 158,000 for Werner Berg’s ‘Kegelbuben’, painted in 1976 and influenced by Expressionism and Magical Realism. In reduced, clear forms with rigid contours and in bright colours, the artist - much sought-after in Austria and elsewhere – depicts scenes of everyday rural life. The village ‘Kegelbuben’ are a frequent motif of the 1960s and 1970s (lot 55, € 80/120,000).

All three paintings by Norbert Bisky were sold, whereby Lempertz equalled the artist’s previous record price of € 126,000 with ‘Neozon’, painted in 2020 (lot 85, € 80/90,000). Andy Warhol saw a result of € 126,000 for the colour lino print ‘Mick Jagger’ – signed by the artist and musician.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 0221/92 57 29–30.

Edgar Abs
Press and public relations
Cologne, June 2022