PRESS RELEASE
Auction of masterpieces
on
10th May 2011 from 18.00
A selection of 144 masterpieces of the highest quality – pictures from the 19th century, classic modernism, contemporary art, Jugendstil (art nouveau) objectsand antiques will be auctioned on 10th May at Palais Kinsky.
These works of art and arts-and-crafts objects have been valued at somewhere between 5 and 9 million Euros.
19th Century Paintings
The splendid watercolour “Die Schmöllerlgasse im vierten Wiener Gemeindebezirk mit der Villa von Friedrich Jakob Gsell” (valuation price € 50,000 – 100,000) by Rudolf von Alt is one of the pieces on offer. The wool merchant Gsell owned 300 watercolours by Alt. The collection was so famous that it was written about in the highest possible terms in the 1869 edition of Meyer’s Art Lexicon.
In 1998 im Kinsky Art Auctions had occasion to offer a version of the “Sonntagmorgens” by Albin Egger-Lienz. “Antrag”, another name by which the same painting from 1896 is known, was auctioned for
€ 200,000. This time it is entered with a valuation price of € 100,000 to
€ 200,000.
One year before his death (1895) Theodor von Hörmann travelled to Italy, primarily to deal with his ailing health. This trip resulted in the large-scale “Blick auf den Ätna bei Sonnenuntergang”
(€ 50,000 – 100,000) which is expected to be very successful at the auction.
Classical Modernism
The route to modernism started with impressionism, with artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The disaffection of the impressionists with traditional painting styles and the constraints imposed on them by the academies led to artistic experiments with light. Renoir’s “Nature Morte” (€ 150,000 – 300,000) is one of the highlights of the auction.
Albin Egger-Lienz’ “Contadina III” (€ 150,000 – 250,000) is no less significant, of course. Although Egger always insisted that it was forms and not peasants that he painted, his sensitivity and empathy with their harsh lives and the irreversibility of their existence is most keenly felt in this painting.
The proof that Austrian painting from the period between the world wars was not limited to “expressionism” is evident from the piece “Bewegung” by Erika Giovanna Klien (€ 150,000 – 250,000). Kineticism is currently being celebrated at the Belvedere. And this is one of the most exciting works created by this artist.
An additional highlight of this extraordinary range of items on offer is the “Blick auf Rapallo” by Oskar Kokoschka (€ 150,000 – 250,000). Kokoschka, who was born in Pöchlarn, is generally claimed by Austrians to be “one of their own”. Considering what he suffered there, one might say this is really rather debatable: he left Vienna’s impertinence behind in 1919, finally fleeing it in 1934 prior to the Nazis arriving.
Contemporary Art
“The stone is ancient and full of secrets, and despite all the abuse it suffered, all the desecration it was subjected to, its magical radiance remains untouched.” This was noted by Fritz Wotruba after he returned from exile in Switzerland, and he could just as well have been saying that about himself. His “Doppelfigur” (€ 150,000 – 300,000) was created in 1949 and 1950 and heralds the artistic transition in his work.
Some years later Friedensreich Hundertwasser painted “Gras der Erde Regen des Himmels” (€ 80,000 – 150,000) and proclaims his credo that beauty has a function, sine qua non, for all that is life and all that exists.
In the USA, Maria Lassnig’s body awareness paintings were still being thought of as “strange” and “morbid” – today, however, she is celebrated throughout the world for her extraordinary contribution to contemporary painting. Her “Competition 2” is valued at
€ 150,000 – 250,000.
Antonio Saura, one of Spain’s most significant painters alongside Pablo Picasso and Dali, will be represented at the auction with his “Porträt imaginaire de Philippe II” (€ 150,000 – 250,000). The templates for his pictures were clearly not that important to him as subject matters, instead they were more of a prop so that he would not lose himself uncontrollably while in the process of painting.
Jugendstil
Before the Wiener Werkstätte was even founded, Josef Hoffmann designed a set of cutlery (€ 80,000 – 150,000) consisting of 87 pieces which was then executed by the Alexander Sturm company in 1902. It is similar to the set of silverware designed and executed by the same company, Alexander Sturm, in 1906 for Lydia Wittgenstein.
It was in the same year, 1906, that Josef Hoffmann and Carl Otto Czeschka designed a card table for the Hochreith hunting lodge (€ 90,000 – 150,000). The hunting lodge belonged to Karl Wittgenstein, an industrial magnate and patron of the arts – who also happened to be the father of Ludwig Wittgenstein. He commissioned the Wiener Werkstätte to design the dining room of his hunting lodge at the Hochreith estate. In addition to Hoffmann and Czeschka, Koloman Moser and Richard and Elena Luksch were also involved in the commission. After viewing the room, Wärndorfer wrote that “its beauty is beyond compare”.
Antiques
A Venetian Gothic stone well basin
(€ 30,000 – 60,000) from Castle Puchberg beautifies the antiques section – and it is more than likely that it will shortly beautify the noble home of an art lover. With its fantastical depictions of animal and plant life, all of which have a connection with water as a source of all life, this rare piece has a particular allure.
Another piece which is especially charming is a lady’s convertible secretaire. This extraordinarily delicately executed piece of furniture
(€ 20,000 – 40,000) is easily transformed from a writing table to a bureau by means of a winder. Although it was made in Vienna at the beginning of the 19th century, it comes from the private collection of a home in Southern Germany.
84th Art Auction Meisterwerke Auktion on 10th May from 18.00
Tuesday, 10th May 2011, starting at 18.00
Vernissage on Wednesday, 4th May 2011, 18.00–20.00
18.30: Talk by Mag. Carl Aigner,
Director Landesmuseum Niederösterreich, St. Pölten
I paint forms, not peasants. Albin Egger-Lienz
Viewing 5th – 10th May 2011, Mon–Fri 10.00–18.00, Sat 10.00–17.00, Sun 11.00–16.00
Please do not hesitate to contact me for any additional information or to place orders for photographs: Iris J. Gradenegger, Tel. +43 1 5324200-11,
E-mail: gradenegger@imkinsky.com
Catalogue orders: +43 1 5324200 or office@imkinsky.com
Online catalogue: www.imkinsky.com
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