Festive anniversary auction at Lempertz

With the auction ‘50 Lots – My Choice’, Lempertz celebrates an anniversary that is rarely achieved in the art world: Henrik Hanstein has been managing the company and the auctions at Lempertz for 50 years. A successful auction season lends the occasion the glamour it deserves, not least with an outstanding diamond ring.

The saleroom was packed when Henrik Hanstein opened his anniversary auction, ‘50 Lots – My Choice,’ on the evening of 4th December. Numerous associates, art lovers and, above all, collectors hoping to acquire one or more of the 50 lots curated by Henrik Hanstein attended this special evening event. The innovative approach of pairing modern and contemporary art with Old Masters set this auction apart from all others in the auction house's history, spanning over two hundred years.

Alongside the auctioneer himself, an extraordinary work by Ewald Mataré - also with a remarkable history - took centre stage in front of the grand audience. The bronze sculpture is not only the largest of the artist's famous animal bronzes ever to come up for auction, it is also one of a kind. This work is further enhanced by its eventful history: Ewald Mataré created the ‘Stehende Kuh’ (Standing Cow) in 1938 as a commission from the successful lawyer Dr Udo Rusker, who also played an important role in Berlin's cultural life until 1933. When the National Socialists seised power, Rusker and his Jewish wife Dora withdrew from Berlin, initially to an estate on Lake Constance. Rusker commissioned Mataré to create the ‘Stehende Kuh’ as a figure for a fountain on this estate. The bronze was delivered in January 1939, but the Rusker couple emigrated to Chile in March. They took the 80-kilogram bronze figure with them. It was only brought back from Chile for this auction. Interest in this unique and outstanding piece was overwhelming. After a thrilling bidding war, the highest price ever achieved at auction for a work by Ewald Mataré was reached at €352,000. The extraordinary object will now go to a German private collection.

The sale also featured several paintings from the Modern era. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's 1936 work ‘Erzgebirgshäuser’ (Houses in the Ore Mountains) offers a particularly powerful and dramatic view of his homeland, which he often used as a motif. The piece features stark colour contrasts, and the intensity of feeling in the work can surely be linked to circumstances in his personal life at the time of painting. The successful bidder paid €302,000 for this expressive piece.

Pablo Picasso's ‘Nus’ also attracted considerable attention. The theme of abstract nudes is particularly prominent in his later oeuvre. This exceptionally well-preserved work on paper attracted significant international interest and sold for €352,000, well exceeding its estimate. 

The same applied to Heinrich Campendonk's watercolour ‘Pferde’ (Horses) from 1914. This work features motifs typical of the artist, who at the time of its creation found his subjects in the rural surroundings of an artists' community in Sindelsdorf in Bavaria. In addition, this particular sheet, formed from a separately glued down sheet of paper and with recognisable preliminary sketches, also provides an insight into his creative process. With a result of €151,000, the piece sold to the successful bidder well above its estimate of €80,000.

Oskar Schlemmer's large wall-mounted sculpture ‘Homo’, also estimated at €80,000, was raised to a final result of €163,000. Despite its imposing size, this work impressively illustrates Schlemmer's pursuit of the weightless and delicate, using wire as his material. The original example of this work was commissioned by the physician Dr Erich Rabe. However, the version of the design now sold at Lempertz came directly to the auction in Cologne from Oskar Schlemmer’s estate in Sehringen-Badenweiler. 

Among the Contemporary artists featured in the ‘50 Lots’ collection, Andy Warhol stands out as an exceptional creative talent whose work elevates another: Ludwig van Beethoven is portrayed in a complete four-part series based on a painting by Josef Karl Stieler. Andy Warhol was inspired to create this work by the 160th anniversary of the death of this composer, whose fame remains unbroken to this day, two years before the 200th anniversary of his death. The result of €277,000 for this work bears witness to his enduring popularity.

'Study to Homage to the Square: Victorian', a work by Josef Albers from the early phase of his iconic Homage to the Square series, originally belonged to the collection of the writer Eugen Gomringer. The composition, rendered in warm, atmospheric colours, fetched €378,000.