Ketterer Kunst Hamburg's 256th auction Old and New Masters will take place on 23 May 2001 at Neuer Wall 40 from 10:00 am. It will be followed from around 2:00 pm by the auction Maritime Art. After the large success of the first auction of maritime painting in September 2000 the scope of the subjects on offer was extended. The forthcoming sale with more than 200 lots will be presented in a separate catalogue and is characterised by variety and quality of the works. The approximately 900 lots of the auction Old and New Masters concentrate above all on new masters and the decorative art section.
Karl Spitzweg's Vision, the highlight among the New Masters, is estimated at DM 120,000 – 130,000. The Munich painter depicts the impressive moment of the apparition of an angel with an effective lighting. A hermit in his lonesome forest cave is awe-struck by this impressive scene. The painting is one of a series of hermit paintings which the artist produced in several variations.
Adolf von Menzel’s Specht in den Zweigen (Woodpecker among the branches) is from a private collection in southern Germany. The gouache with the small black and red bird is beautifully painted. Dated 1860/70 in Hugo von Tschudi’s catalogue raisonné, the work was probably painted within the context of 44 other animal paintings the artist made between 1863 and 1883 for a Kinderalbum (Children’s’ Album). It is estimated at DM 20,000 – 25,000.
A small rarity is Edmund Tetzner’s Liebesbrief (Love Letter) of 1872. The Weimar artist portrayed the girl, magnificently dressed in the style of Historicism, at the intimate and extremely exciting moment of secretly reading a love letter in an impressive manner. The rare work is estimated moderately at DM 5,000 – 7,000.
In the section Old Masters enthusiastic collectors will be interested in the painting Bildnis eines Jünglings mit Violine (Portrait of a Boy with a Violin) by the school of Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio. The half-figure portrait is unusual in medieval art in Italy and, after Giorgione, was only used again by Caravaggio and his school. The master himself showed a preference for this type of portrait. The oil painting is estimated at DM 15,000 – 17,000.
Very interesting is also the section Decorative Graphic Art, which contains around 500 lots, including numerous vedutas of Italy, maps of the world, as well as a large number of maps and views of America and Asia. The most interesting work here is the single page print America from the Lafreri Atlas. This atlas was published by Hendrik von Schoel in Rome in 1609. The extremely rare map is expected to fetch DM 60,000 – 70,000.
Other highlights can be found in the section Northern German Artists. The section includes Theodor Kuchel’s Övelgönne an der Elbe (Övelgönne on the Elbe River), a depiction of the shipyard of the ship-builder Johann Peter Nicolaus in Övelgönne, is up for sale for an estimated DM 9,000 – 10,000.
Thomas Herbst’s Landschaft mit Weidenbäumen am Bach (Landscape with Willow Trees at a Stream) should be similarly interesting. The painting by the Hamburg artist shows an impressive sense of space and almost transparent brushstrokes. It is estimated at DM 11,000 – 12,000.
A highlight of the auction Maritime Art is Hugo Schnars-Alquist’s Yacht vor einem deutschen Hafen (Yacht outside a German harbour). This work by one of the best painters of this genre in the 19th and 20th century could find a new owner for an estimated DM 14,000 – 16,000.
Carl Emil Baagoe’s Dänische Handelsflotte (Danish Trade Fleet) is estimated at DM 7,000 – 7,500. The central motif of the oil painting of 1879 is a square sail passing Kronborg Palace near Helsingborg with its sails lit up by the son. Baagoe’s work is an accurate representation in very fine shades of colour.
Much attention should also be paid to Charles Napier Hemy’s Schiffe an der Mole (Ships at the Jetty). The oil painting was probably painted around 1900, during a period in which Hemy concentrated on the world of fishing. In 1881 he furnished a boat as a studio and followed fishermen out to sea in order to make realistic sketches. This work reflects above all Hemy’s sense for colour effects. It is estimated at DM 3,000 – 3,500.
The Preview of all the works in the two auctions will take place from 9 – 11 May and from 14 – 18 May from 11:00 – 17:00 as well as on 20 May from 10:00 – 16:00 at Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg, Neuer Wall 40. On 19, 21 and 22 May the works can also be seen by appointment. Both colour catalogues can be acquired by subscription (four auctions per year) for DM 75. The catalogue Old and New Masters can also be bought separately for DM 30 under +49-40-374961-0. The catalogue Maritime Art is available for DM 15.
Since its foundation in 1954 Ketterer Kunst has established itself as one of the most important auction houses. While the two annual auctions at the original domicile in the Carolinenpalais in Munich concentrate on Art of the XXth Century, the Hamburg rooms sell modern art on paper four times a year. Apart from two further auctions of Valuable Books, two sales of Old and New Masters as well as two sales of Maritime Art in Hamburg Ketterer Kunst also entered the Berlin art market in 1997 with the auction Contemporary Art after 1945. Ketterer Kunst is therefore the only auction house to offer its customers thirteen auctions at three locations in Germany.
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