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LUCIO FONTANA
New Baroque
IMPERIAL-ROYAL
Habsburg ’s Heirlooms
OLD MASTERS
The Collection Motais de Narbonne
SACRED FLUTE
A R a r i t y o f Tr i b a l A r t
m yD o r o t h e u m : I n t e r v i e w
CHUCK
C
L
O
S
E
Portraitist and Collector
Staircase of Palais Dorotheum Vienna
VIEW
3
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H a v i n g s e e n m o r e t h a n 3 0 0 y e a r s o f h i s t o r y,
Dorotheum obviously has a strong commitment to
tradition. But we are also – as this photo of our
interior main staircase indicates – highly passionate about contemporary art and design. Hence, the
spectrum of artists and designers featured in this
issue of „Dorotheum myART MAGAZINE“ covers a
wide range – from Antonio Joli, Emil Jakob Schindler
and Hans Makart over kinetic art protagonists such
as Dadamaino to Carl Auböck and Lucio Fontana.
R e a d a l s o t h i s i s s u e’s „ M y D o ro t h e u m“ i n te r v i e w f o r
a glimpse into internationally renowned US painter
C h u c k C l o s e’s o t h e r „ c a re e r “ a s a f i c i o n a d o a n d
collector of old master paintings. He embodies
perfectly the kind of contemporary artistic innovation that points into the future from a firm footing
in history and tradition. He painted computer pixels before they had even been defined by name –
and turns to antique mosaic techniques or his
Dorotheum-acquired art collection for inspiration.
Visit us at the Dorotheum, or at dorotheum.com!
M arti n B ö h m
Managing Partner, Dorotheum
Photo Gerhard Wasserbauer
E D I T OR I A L
Pa l ais
D o r o t heu m
Coverphoto
Henning Kaiser
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LUCIO FONTANA
New Baroque
IMPERIAL-ROYAL
Habsburg ’s Heirlooms
OLD MASTERS
The Collection Motais de Narbonne
www.dorotheum.com
SACRED FLUTE
A R a r i t y o f Tr i b a l A r t
Imprint
Dorotheum myART MAGAZINE, March 2014. Third issue. Palais Dorotheum, Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna
© Dorotheum GmbH & Co KG, DPR no. 0105104, FN 213974 v / Commercial Register Vienna, VAT ID: ATU 52613505
Concept, editing: Doris Krumpl, Michaela Strebl-Pühringer, Eva Müller-Soyer, Marie-Sophie Brendinger, Theresa Pichler
Graphic design: Studio Corsaro, Creative Director Miriam Wanzenböck, Art Direction Daniel Corsaro, Bernd Ganser
Copy-editing: scriptophil
Photography: Tibor Rauch, Stefan Ruiz, Christian Sarramon, Gerhard Wasserbauer
Printing: Gutenberg Druck
Printing errors and omissions excepted.
m yD o r o t h e u m : I n t e r v i e w
CHUCK
C
LOSE
Portraitist and Collector
I n ha l t
AUCTION
FAVOURITE
06 S C H I N D L E R
Personal Paradise
40 P R E C I O U S S T O N E S
10 F O N T A N A
44 I M P E R I A L H O U S E
New Baroque
14 A U B Ö C K
Simply Cult
N o t J u s t f o r Ts a r s a n d M o g u l s
Imperial Souvenirs
CHOICE
18 K I N E T I C A R T
48 M y C hoice
More Than a Movement
22 T R I B A L A R T
An early Rarity from New Guinea
DOROTHEUM
26 C H U C K C L O S E
Head Hunter
AUCTION HOUSE
32 E X P E R T P ortraits
M o d e r n Ta l k i n g
38 L U D W I G S T O R F F
T h e D o rot h e u m’s S p e c i a l i s t s P re s e n t
CITY
58 B R U S S E L S
62 T H O M A S L E Y S E N
Passion for Rubens
64 C I T Y T I P S
Dorotheum International
COLLECTION
66 M O T A I S D E N A R B O N N E
Life with the Old Masters
Silver-Expert
PASSION
71 T he P rior y of
S t D oroth y
From the Priory to the Dorotheum
76 T I P S
Dorotheum-Partners and Events
EVENTS
78 R E V I E W
Vienna Art Week 2013
STORY
80 H ohenlohe
Moments of Bliss
CONTACTS
82 D orotheum
Addresses & Auction Dates
AUCTION
P ERS O N A L
Emil Jakob Schindler
Garden in Plankenberg, 1886
Oil on canvas, 83,5 x 66,5 cm
Estimate € 120,000 – 180,000
19th-Century Paintings auction
8 April 2014
P
aradise
AUCTION
8
Emil Jakob Schindler ’s paintings ref lect the new relationship to nature that emerged in the second half of
t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y – a m i n d s e t h i s “ G a r d e n i n P l a n k e n b e r g ”,
which goes to auction on 8 April 2014, vividly demonstrates.
b y Al e x a n d e r K l e e
Growing industrialization in the 19th century had a remarkable impact on the
landscape, changing its face completely. Its effects in Vienna were striking with
the regulation of the Danube, which spelled not only the end of ship mills, but
also large swaths of the Prater meadows, a popular subject for painters. Artists
reacted to industrialization and the loss of their connection to nature with an
increased focus on natural depictions and motifs.
While colleagues like Eugen Jettel and Rudolf Ribarz relocated to France for several years to allow for more intensive study with the Barbizon school of painting
(which played a pioneering role in this regard), Emil Jakob Schindler stayed in
Austria. He soon gained followers among the new generation of young painters,
including Carl Moll, Theodor Hörmann, Marie Egner and Olga Wiesinger-Florian. Searching for a spot that would suit his particular interest in landscape, the
artist settled on Schloss Plankenberg, a castle estate near Vienna that was put
up for rent in 1884. By 1885, it was the Schindler family’s permanent residence.
The grounds included a large garden, which the painter tended himself. Describing the scene in retrospect, Carl Moll noted that: “In April, Schindler plants the
young cabbage and sows the sunflower seeds, in August he paints his vegetable
garden.” The painter used his wife and children as models for staffage figures.
Schindler’s “Garden in Plankenberg” can be regarded along the same lines as the
paintings of cottage gardens that appeared in his work starting around 1878. In
this painting, the artist has rendered the vegetable garden with cabbages, hollyhocks and sunflowers up-close and with great attention to detail. Schindler’s
depiction is neither a heroic landscape nor a conventional, representation-
Randomness of
a moment
Picture in picture:
still life with pots
and shovel
al depiction of a garden. Instead, he uses shimmering air to create the unique
atmosphere of a hot, dry summer day. A recently abandoned shovel and child
walking towards its mother convey the randomness of a moment; toppled earthenware pots and a watering tin imply a certain everydayness, along with the
unusual closeness of the vantage point, which also appears in earlier paintings
by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. The choice of subject matter – a seemingly ordinary vegetable garden – suggests the influence of French realism.
This is no composed still life, and these are no richly-colored, flowering plants.
Instead, realistically-pictured crops allude to a new definition of beauty. Fidelity
to nature and true-to-life images stand for an aesthetic ideal adopted from the
painter’s French counterparts.
But for Schindler, this aesthetic was laden with another component as well:
increasing mechanization signaled the loss of connection between man and
nature. Industry and its machines had begun to interfere with the natural world,
destroying it in the process. Man had alienated itself from nature and its seasonal
cycles. But a simple cottage garden like this one could bring man and nature back
into harmony, where they can grow and thrive together. Thus both the man-made
things – objects rendered with spatial precision – and the garden path leading
deeper into the picture stand in sharp contrast to the background, which is executed with a more painterly hand. Our eyes wander from the garden path to a
still unvegetated arch of roses, to the open sky; mother and child form a very
earthy interpretation of a Virgin Mary in the rose hedge. What’s more, the two
elements are placed in a harmonious relationship to one another. Schindler used
the golden ratio – a ratio considered especially harmonious – in positioning the
meticulously detailed foreground of the painting relative to the shadowy forest
background and to the blue sky of high summer in the countryside. This painting
shows Schindler making his personal paradise a reality.
In composing true-to-life landscapes based on a detailed knowledge and observations of nature, Emil Jakob Schindler characterizes himself as a “poetic realist” –
a description that, in this case, seems rather fitting indeed.
Dr. Alexander Klee is curator for the 19th century at
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna.
„Realisticallypictured crops
allude to a new
definition of beauty“
AUCTION
10
In his art manifestos, Lucio Fontana called for the
end of all static art genres. He punctured the canvas,
transgressing the two-dimensionality of the surface and
radically breaking with the tradition of pictorial illusion. In representing movement and space he took a
cue from the Baroque, an influence clearly seen in two
of his “Concetti Spaziali” from the Pietre and the
Barocchi cycles, which will be auctioned off
a t t h e D o ro t h e u m t h i s M a y.
B Y M A R I A C R I S T I N A C O R S I N I , PA T R I C I A P Á L F F Y,
ALESSANDRO RIZZI
NEW
AUCTION
11
BAROQUE
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, 1957 Oil,
glitter, holes on canvas, 100 x 81 cm
Estimate € 700,000 – 1.000,000
Contemporary Art auction I, 20 May 2014
AUCTION
12
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, Attesa (68 T 77),
1968 Acrylics on canvas, yellow,
73,5 x 60 cm
Price realised € 1,071,389
Lucio Fontana on the Baroque:
“The physics of that period
reveal for the first time
the nature of dynamics. It
is established that movement
is an essential condition
of matter as a beginning
of the conception of
t h e u n i v e r s e .” 4
Lucio Fontana’s pierced buchi and slashed tagli
he described his work as neither painting nor sculp-
canvasses made art history: puncturing the can-
ture, but “forms, color, sound through spaces”.
vas as a means of overcoming the boundaries of
classical panel painting is a key strategy for many
The artist continued to develop the concept of
artists, especially those working in the 1960s. Fon-
buchi in later years, using a number of different
tana’s work was vital for this development: in 1949,
materials and experimenting with it in various
for the first time, he pierced the canvas to create
directions.
what he called buchi, or holes. “Mine is a different dimension. The ‘hole’ is this dimension. I say
Fontana started the Pietre, or stones cycle between
‘dimension’ because I cannot think what other word
1952 and 1956. Among these is the black “Concet-
to use. I make a hole in the canvas in order to leave
to Spaziale” from 1955 which is to come under the
behind me the old pictorial formulae, the painting
hammer at the Dorotheum this May. Its lavish-
and the traditional view of art – and I escape sym-
ly applied, pastose paint, stones and bits of glass
bolically, but also materially, from the prison of the
heighten the three-dimensionality and play of light
flat surface.”
on the surface, while the light and colour shim-
1
mering through the holes create a sense of depth.
The buchi transform the light streaming through
“When I began using the stones,” Fontana once said,
them into a sculptural element, abandon the pictori-
“I wanted to see if I could move forward … I thought
al illusion that had been taken for granted since the
that with the stones, the light would flow better –
Renaissance and incorporate real space and the sur-
that it would create more the effect of movement.”2
rounding void into the artwork. Instead of “painting”
The swirling arrangement of buchi and pietre and
pictures in the traditional sense, Fontana now creat-
sparkling glass stones set against the black surface
ed what he called “Concetti Spaziali” (“Spatial Con-
recall galaxies and starry night skies stretching out
cepts”). In his “Technical Manifesto of Spatialism”
into infinite space.
AUCTION
13
The opulence and dynamism of the materials and
testament to his engagement with the European
forms in Pietre became even more pronounced and
tradition of art. As early as 1946, in his “Manifes-
characteristic in a later cycle produced between
to Blanco” (“White Manifesto”), Fontana alluded to
1954 and 1957, which Fontana titled Barocchi. One
Futurism by declaring the concept of speed to be
work from 1957 – which will also be auctioned in
an essential constant in human life, and something
May – serves as a prime example: its lively com-
he felt should find expression in a zeitgeist-driv-
position with a bold brushwork and radiant glow
en, four-dimensional art. It was in the spirit of
shows elements of Art Informel; the surface is
the Baroque that he spotted early artistic attempts
dominated by contrasts, with glittering particles
along these lines. Fontana’s intensive study of the
of sand scattered over the thick layer of paint deep
Baroque was also key to his development of “Spa-
holes that cause the surface to glow even bright-
tialism”: “The baroque has guided us in this direc-
er. The audacious paint structure and sensational
tion, in all its as yet unsurpassed grandeur, where
distribution of light intensify the feeling of spatial
the plastic form is inseparable from the notion of
infinity and show the work to be one of the artist’s
time, the images appear to abandon the plane and
masterpieces. Its dynamism arises not least from
continue into space the movements they suggest.”3
the yellow patches, which structure the painting
and whose outlines of shapes suggest movement.
Whether we look at his early sculptures, his animated Ambienti, his expansive early light installations,
Like no other cycle, the Barocchi demonstrate
or even his Pietri and Barocchi with their elusive,
Fontana’s fascination with the aesthetics of the
moving gestures: in searching for an art befitting
Baroque, a constant point of reference for the art-
the space age, Fontana looked to the Baroque for
ist throughout his career. They are an impressive
clues as to how to represent movement.
Maria Cristina Corsini, Patricia Pálffy and
Alessandro Rizzi are the Dorotheum’s experts
for modern and contemporary art.
Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, 1955 Holes,
glass stones, black acrylic, 50 x 40 cm
Estimate € 550,000 – 750,000
Contemporary Art auction I, 20 May 2014
From the last interview with Lucio Fontana, conducted
by Tomma so Trini on 19 July 1968
2
Lucio Fontana, 1967, cited in: Lucio Fontana
exhibition catalogue, London 1999, p. 17
3
Lucio Fontana, Manifesto Blanco, 1946
4
Lucio Fontana, Manifesto tecnico dello Spazialismo, 1947
Erzielter Preis € 625
1
AUCTION
14
Simply
Cult
Carl Auböck, 1952, in front of the workshop, Bernardgasse 24 in Vienna’s 7th district.
Obviously, the name plate was designed by Auböck himself.
Photo: Yoiji Okamoto
AUCTION
15
A shiny classic:
72-piece silverware for 12 people,
Model 2060. Design: Carl Auböck,
Austria 1956.
Price realised € 4,500
“Simple in appearance and easy to produce” – that was
the ambition of C arl Auböck’s designs, according to his
own instructions. The multi-faceted artist – one of
Austria’s most illustrious sons – c aused an international
sensation with his designs and remains somewhat of a
c u l t p h e n o m e n o n t o t h i s d a y. T h e d e v e l o p m e n t i n p r i c e s
for Auböck’s functional-futuristic design pieces has been
determined not least by his prominent place in the
Dorotheum’s design auctions.
By Gerti Draxler
A wooden disc from the base of a tree trunk, three legs attached, that’s all:
“Tree Trunk Table” by Carl Auböck – produced in innumerable versions, each
individualized through the use of material – is probably the most beloved
collector’s item by the Bauhaus-influenced Austrian designer.
Yet the Auböck legacy goes far beyond his iconic table. Carl Auböck, once an art
student at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and a pupil of Johannes Itten at
Bauhaus, captured the aesthetic philosophy of the 1950s, but with a unique and
highly personal style that caused an outright sensation, especially in the US. Carl
Auböck (1900–1957) was awarded four gold medals at the 1954 Milan Triennale,
an event that marked a highlight in his career.
Even early on in the House of Auböck, US-buyers recognized something
extraordinary in his designs. In the 1950s, items from the Auböck workshop – both
by Auböck and his Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated son – were
sold at the posh department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s.
The “New York Times” described Auböck, who cut a unique figure due to his
combination of industrial design, biomorphic forms and high quality craftsmanship,
as a “full-blown cult hero”. Auböck has maintained a faithful following over
In the upcoming Dorotheum Design auction in June:
Carl Auböck’s rare wall mirror Model 38, Vienna, around 1950.
the years, and his dedicated group of international collectors – the Auböck
enthusiasts who keep returning to Dorotheum’s design auctions for their next
fix – is unmistakably growing.
The Auböck workshop, which was founded as a girdler and chiselling business in
the 19th century in Vienna’s 7th district, is still active. It is now run by the fifth
generation of Auböcks, all of whom have been named Carl. In Dorotheum’s
“Austrian Design” catalogue from February 2012, the workshop recapitulated their
philosophy in connection with the sale of a rare version of the “Tree Trunk Table”:
“During the late 1940s, several objet-trouvé designs marked the development
of the Werkstätte Carl Auböck, such as the so-called ‘Simplerl’ and the ‘Weitling
Stand’ (a weitling being a large bowl), and last but not least, the very successful
‘Tree-Trunk Tables’. The intention behind these innovative ideas for products
was the transmutation of everyday objects for different purposes. In the case of
the table, it is the sculptural use of an unprocessed wooden element as a table in
the modern apartment – a natural and lively piece of furniture that has not been
civilized through polishing within an otherwise fundamentally rational interior.
For the regular ‘Tree Trunk Tables’, the slabs were cut off from the side of a walnut
trunk, with the base of one of the branches supplying the oval or elongated elliptical
form. Each model was different, reaching lengths of up to 200 centimeters. The
three flaring legs are made of brass and can be demounted. The tubes terminate
in rubber cap feet. Encouraged by the success of the tree-trunk tables, Auböck
created Model No. 117 as a further development. It was only realized in very small
numbers and is extremely rare today.”
In 2012, the Dorotheum sold a version of Model 117 – previously owned by
Burgtheater actress Judith Holzmeister – for the price of 7,500 euros. Prices
paid for the three-legged “Tree Table” have continued to climb over the decades.
Silverware designed by Carl Auböck in the 1950s is also experiencing strong
demand, as are his numerous lamp designs. One of these deserves special
mention: the so-called “Umkehrlampe” or inversion lamp, which is easily converted
from ceiling to reading lamp. The shape of the lamp’s cast iron base is identical
to the shape of the shade, as one sees with Model 4105, one of which the Dorotheum sold for 5,000 euros in 2013. An early and rare copy of the “Umkehrlampe”,
“Living and uncivilized furniture”:
Tree Trunk Table,.
with a brass socket and red silk shade, fetched a selling price of 3,750 euros at a
2010 auction.
AUCTION
17
Auböck’s silverware is regularly on offer at Dorotheum auctions. A set of the
72-piece Model 2060 silverware from 1956, for example, went under the hammer
for 4,000 euros in May 2013. The Model 2060 set was awarded the “Diplôme
d’honneur” and a gold medal at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958.
The upcoming Dorotheum design auction in June will feature a very special item
for Auböck lovers to look forward to: a very rare wall mirror, Model 38, from 1950.
The designer’s followers appreciate, more than anything, the minimalism and
austerity of Carl Auböck’s designs, which go hand in hand with the highest degree
of functionality. It’s no coincidence that his designs are especially admired in
Japan. While Auböck’s universal reputation as a notable “all-around artist and
designer” is partly thanks to his roots in the famed Wiener Werkstätte and the
undisputed genius of Josef Hoffmann, he raised it to a whole new level.
Gerti Draxler, design expert, studied art history and initiated the
Dorotheum design auctions in 1996.
Practical and pretty: “Umkehrlampe”
(“inversion lamp”), height 102.5 cm.
Price realised € 5,000
Austrian design at its best: rare Tree Trunk Table,
Model 117, 71 x 170 x 52 cm, Vienna 1951/52.
Price realised in 2012 € 7,500
More
than
Everything twists and turns: Kinetic art
challenges the eye. And the eye just begs to
be deceived – in the most positive sense of
the word. Kinetic art is generating ever more
interest among collectors.
By Maria Christina Corsini
a n d P e t r a Sc h ä p e r s
AUCTION
19
Art philosophy as title: “Oggetto ottico-dinamico“
(“Optically Dynamic Object“) by Dadamaino.
Price realised € 134,500
a
movement
AUCTION
20
Visual tour de force: Dorotheum wall hung with kinetic art works. From top left to bottom right: Alberto Biasi, Marina Apollonio, Edoardo Landi,
Alberto Biasi, Toni Costa, Manfredo Massironi, Mario Ballocco, Ludwig Wilding, Martha Boto.
Dadamaino: „I have always
l o a t h e d m a t t e r,
Deception of the senses can be a pleasant indulgence:
20th century, but when the term is used today, it’s
Vibrating splashes of color, rotating disks and
usually with reference to art works from the
shimmering plays of light appear to transform
1960s and 1970s, works that introduced objective
static images to surfaces buzzing with motion and
scientific phenomena to the world of art as a
life. Kinesis, „movement“ in Greek, is the unifying
counter-movement of sorts to the gestural “art
label that best captures and defines the essence of
informel” current of the time. Fascinated by the
kinetic art. The definition includes art works, that
laws of physics to which light and visual appearance
are brought to life by movement – from movement
abide, a generation of artists devoted itself to the
suggested by tricks played on the slow eye by
studies of visual phenomena and the principles of
way of light-effects and surface-stimuli, to actual
perception. ZERO in Germany, the group centered
movement generated by wind power, electrical- og
around Piero Manzoni and the Azimuth Gallery in
mechanical engines and contraptions. Alexander
Milan or the Parisian Groupe de Recherche d’Art
Calders’ wind chimes and the art machines by Jean
Visuel (GRAV) all pursued a fresh beginning, a new
Tinguely are prominent examples of the latter.
start from zero, so to speak.
Marchel Duchamp, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and
The boundaries between kinetic art, the Op-Art
Russian avant-garde artists such as Naum Gabo
of for example Victor Vasarely and the various
already adapted elements of what would later
LSD-inspired psychedelic art are blurred, and the
be known as kinetic art at the beginning of the
effects applied to the individual works diverse.
AUCTION
21
Victor Vasarely
Törke-positif, 1956/64
Tempera on wood panel
67 x 58 cm
Estimate € 30,000 – 40,000
Contemporary Art auction I
20 May 2014
Ludwig Wilding
S3 D3, 1962
Plastic strings fixed to a
whitewashed frame
marker on strips of paper
101 x 66 cm
Estimate € 40,000 – 50,000
Contemporary Art auction I
20 May 2014
Adolf Luther
Spherical Concave
Mirror Object
Five round mirrors on
black wood panel in a case of
acrylic glass
223 x 45 x 6–16 cm
Estimate € 35,000 – 45,000
Contemporary Art auction I
20 May 2014
Ludwig Wilding for example created movement by
contemporary art auction. The picture represents
use of silk screen prints and transparent sheets – as
kinetic art at its very finest. At a first glance, it
seen in his work „Stereoskopisches Bild PSR 40/7“,
appears to be a painted canvas, but in reality the
which was auctioned off by Dorotheum in November
small black and yellow squares and rectangles have
2013 – or tight chords and paper strips as in „S3 D3,
been threaded onto fine strings and rise off of the
1962“, which was sold at an auction in May.
background surface. The still somewhat undervalued
artist’s optically dynamic piece, which she created in
Mirror surfaces, such as the concave mirror by
1961/62, achieved a selling price of 134,500 euros.
Adolf Luther, or electrical light sources were
integrated into the art works: The images or canvases
A number of other less significant examples of
were, in other words, robbed of every trace of
the Italian kinetic art movement sold well at
natural materiality. „I have always loathed matter,
Dorotheum auctions in 2013, among them works by
I always sought the intangible,“ said for example
Martha Boto, Marina Apollonio, Edoardo Landi and
Italian artist Eduarda Maino. Dadamaino, as she
Grazia Varisco. Kinetic art is about „Dinamico
was usually called, was a member of the Milanese
visuale“, or the visually dynamic, and as the
avant-garde around Azimuth Gallery and a lifelong
recent spike in interest clearly demontrates, the
close friend of Piero Manzoni. One of her works,
prominent representatives of this innovative era
„Ogetto Ottico-dinamico“, a square black and yel-
in contemporary art history are still very capable
low picture placed at a 45 degrees angle, was among
of making waves in the market place.
the top items at Dorotheum’s November 2013
Maria Cristina Corsini, Dorotheum Rome, and Petra
Maria Schäpers, Dorotheum Düsseldorf, are modern
und contemporary art experts at the auction house.
I always
s o u g h t t h e i n t a n g i b l e .“
The prime piece at the Dorotheum’s auction of
“ Tr i b a l A r t ” o n 2 4 M a r c h 2 0 1 4 i s t h e o l d a n d v e r y
rare figural flute stopper of a “Sacred Flute” of the
Biwat people of New Guinea. This “icon of Oceanic
art” was collected in 1904 by the German
adventurer and merchant Franz Emil Hellwig.
BY ERWIN MEL CHARDT
AN EARLY
RARITY FROM
NEW GUINEA
Franz Emil Hellwig (1854–1929), a merchant from Halle an der Saale, first
travelled to what was then German New Guinea in 1895. Today part of Papua New Guinea, from 1885 to 1914 the north-east of the island was initially a
protectorate of a German colonial society and later a regular colony of the
German Empire. An employee of Deutsche Handels- und PlantagenGesellschaft, in the period until his return to Halle in 1898 Hellwig built up a
collection of more than 1,700 Papua objects which he eventually sold for the
sum of 5,500 marks to the Städtisches Museum für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe
in his native city, today known as Landeskunstmuseum Stiftung Moritzburg.
Those pieces are no longer in existence.
In 1899 Hellwig once again travelled to German New Guinea, and a short time
later took on the management of the first hotel in Herbertshöhe, the capital
of the colony at the time. The “Fürst Bismarck”, in a town today known as
Kokopo, belonged to the legendary Samoan-American businesswoman “Queen
Emma” (Emma Forsayth-Coe), with whom Hellwig soon fell out. In 1902, this
time commissioned by the Hamburg trading company Hernsheim, Hellwig
recommenced his activity as collector and researcher – and apparently did
so with great success: in 1905 Georg Thilenias, the director of Hamburg’s
Völkerkundemuseum, acquired for his house more than 3,000 South Seas
objects for the sum of 20,000 marks, which had been bought by Hellwig for
the Hernsheim company. Franz Emil Hellwig retained for himself only a small
number of the objects he had collected, including this anthropomorphic flute
stopper from the Biwat people, which he is known to have collected in 1904,
the year he returned to Germany. It comes from the Yuat River, from the lower
Sepik, or from one of the islands off the north-east coast of New Guinea.
Flute stopper, or “WUSEAR”
New Guinea, 19th century
Wood, height 52 cm
Estimate € 160,000 – 200,000
Tribal Art auction, 24 March 2014
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Iatmul men on the middle Sepik River still play „sacred flutes“ today.
Franz Emil Hellwig (1854-1929)
In: C. Kaufmann u. O. Wick, Nukuoro, Sculptures
from Micronesia, München 2013, S.58.
“The Biwat manner of portraying the human figure is the most powerful and
aggressive of all the art styles of New Guinea”, notes Anthony J. P. Meyer in
describing one such “flute stopper” in his book Oceanic Art. And indeed the
rare figures fitted to the top of “sacred flutes” belonging to the Biwat people,
formerly known as the “Mundugumor” or “Mundugomor”, are regarded by
experts and collectors as “icons of Oceanic art”. Known as “wusear”, these
pieces are about half a metre tall, made from a hard, heavy wood and carved
in the typical Biwat style. The oversized, elongated head does not rest on the
neck but “hangs” in front of the chest of the relatively short male figure that
stands with his legs apart. They eyes are set in a profiled surround of white shell
material, the ears pierced twice and the septum of the nose is pierced as well. In
the figure to be auctioned, of the former heavy beard fixed in eleven holes only
five “braids” of woven human hair have survived.
A wusear stands on a short, round end-piece that was fitted like a stopper
into the top of a sacred flute. Also known as “aiyang”, these flutes played an
important role in the initiation rites of young Biwat men. However, these long
bamboo tubes were not flutes in the sense of our modern musical instruments,
but were more like megaphones or resonance bodies for adult players: by using
their fingers to alter the size of the blow hole at the side they could modulate
and disguise their voices.
The figure attached to the flute “spoke” through this voice, which made the
stopper the most important part of a sacred flute. The wusear, each of which
belonged to a certain clan and was honoured and “fed” by them, acquired
a special significance: the figure represents the son of the mother crocodile
spirit Asin. According to the Biwat, the young men are swallowed during their
initiation by Asin and spat out again as adults. Therefore to complete their
initiation numerous small short cuts (scarification tattooing) were made in
the skin of all the initiates to make them look as if they had been bitten by a
AUCTION
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crocodile. After 1930 the Biwat abandoned this initiation ceremony, although
in 1932 the American ethnologist Margaret Mead still had the opportunity to
witness and document one of the last of these rituals at the Yuat River.
“With only a few exceptions the so-called Mundugumor figures first
arrived in museums and private collections towards the end of the 1920s and
in the 1930s”, Waldemar Stöhr, the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum’s curator for
this field, wrote in 1987 about a very similar flute figure from the Clausmeyer
Collection which is kept in this Cologne museum. Hellwig’s wusear, which
was acquired as early as 1904, must therefore be among the early and rare
exceptions referred to by Stöhr.
Franz Emil Hellwig, the collector of “our” flute figure, later returned one
more time to New Guinea. From 1908 to 1910 he took part as a collector and
photographer in the well-known Hamburg South Seas expedition on board
the steamship Peiho. Before his departure in 1908 he had apparently given the
wusear to his nephew August Hellwig as a gift. When the latter died in a train
accident in 1912, Ottoline (or Ottilie) Hartmann, née Hellwig, from Cuxhaven
inherited the valuable piece. Through her daughter the Hellwig wusear came to
two Belgian collections and from there to the Dorotheum in Vienna – exactly
110 years after Franz Emil Hellwig had first collected it in New Guinea.
The very old, deep and in part darkly shiny patina, an old collection label
with the inscription “Mundugomor, anno 1904”, which – as can be seen in old
photos – once hung behind on the handle of the wusear, the barely legible white
inventory inscription “F. E. H. 1904” on the right-hand leg of the figure and
other references and comparable pieces (for example in the Rautentrauch-Joest
Museum in Cologne or Hamburg’s Völkerkundemuseum) all strongly
suggest that the wusear was already old when Franz Emil Hellwig acquired it in
1904. Therefore dating this Biwat piece as “19th century” appears to us entirely
legitimate. Truly a museum piece!
Erwin Melchardt has been lecturing on the subject of extra-European art at the
University of Applied Arts Vienna; he is an accredited and sworn expert, cultural
journalist, and the Dorotheum’s expert on tribal art.
Franz Hellwig (2nd from left)
aboard the steamer “Peiho”,
setting sail for the South Seas
expedition in 1908, in: Berliner
Protokolle, no. 59, October 2002.
DOROTHEUM
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CHUCK
Head
DOROTHEUM
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DOROTHEUM
Hunter
Photo Stefan Ruiz
CLOSE
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KCUHC
Star artist Chuck Close:
myDorotheum – a discussion with one
of c o n te m p o ra r y a r t ’s m o s t fa m o u s
and innovative portrait painters on
his love of the Dutch Masters, the
magic of painting, and what computer
pixels and mosaics have in common.
By Doris Krumpl and
Maria Cristina Paoluzzi
Could you explain why the Portrait of a Gentle-
man by Van Dyck which you bought at the Dorotheum is your favourite piece in your collection?
It’s really a magnificent painting; it embodies
everything I like in art. I think it’s perfect.
W h a t d o yo u m e a n b y p e r f e c t ?
A compelling image, one that makes you immediately care about the subject, and which is also
exquisitely painted.
S o yo u a r e c h i e f l y a t t r a c t e d t o t h e g a z e a n d
D o r o t h e u m my A RT M AG A Z I N E :
t h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e p e r s o n yo u a r e l o o k i n g
C a n we ge n e ra l l y s ay t h a t yo u c o l l e c t f a c e s ?
a t . T h i s i s o n e o f t h e t h i n g s yo u a c h i e ve i n
Chuck Close: Right. I buy faces from all periods,
yo u r o w n p a i n t i n g s . W h a t a r e yo u r c r i t e r i a f o r
but recently more of the Old Masters.
liking a particular painting, what are
Yo u ’ ve b e e n to Ro m e s e ve ra l t i m e s …
I lived in Vienna! I was there in ‘64 and ‘65.
At a t i m e w h e n ( t h e t h e n o b s c u r e) V i e n n e s e
yo u r f a vo u r i t e a r t i s t s ?
Vermeer has been my favourite painter for my
whole life, even before seeing Van Gogh, and he
always stayed with me. I’ve just bought a De Hooch.
A c t i o n i s m wa s b o r n . D i d yo u s e e s o m e t h i n g o f
De Kooning is my favourite 20th century artist.
that as student?
When I was in college I saw a Van Gogh retrospec-
I was studying at the Akademie der Bildenden
tive, and I love Dutch artists from every period.
Künste, and I saw people like Arnulf Rainer, but
Actionism wasn’t that prominent. I went to the
Albertina a lot. And I saw these incredible faces by
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt in the Belvedere.
A r e t h e r e p a r a l l e l s b e t w e e n h o w yo u c h o o s e
t h e w o r k s yo u b u y a n d c h o o s i n g t h e s u b j e c t s
f o r yo u r o w n p a i n t i n g s ?
It’s all part of my vision. It’s the same pair of eyes
B ac k to Rome which is a cra dle of Baro q ue c ul -
that looks at the Old Masters and at my models,
ture. Have you been inf lu enced by any B aro q ue
and they’ll always find a bridge between the two.
ar tists? Is Ba roqu e a r t impor t a nt to yo u? Af te r
al l , you collec t a lot of 1 7th centu r y ar t .
I think Rome is more a sculptural city. I studied
Italian art, and I have Italian paintings, but also
Dutch and Flemish ones.
Yo u o n c e s a i d t h a t O l d M a s t e r s ‘ w e r e t h e m o s t
p o w e r f u l ’. W h y t h e f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h t h e m ?
C a n yo u d e s c r i b e t h e i r p o w e r ?
I think I’ve been misquoted. Contemporary art is the
most overvalued, Old Master paintings are the most
undervalued. So I am able to buy Old Masters. And
that’s amazing to me: I can buy the ones I studied
once in college. So it brings my life full circle.
DOROTHEUM
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CLOSE
The favourite work in Chuck Close’s collection:
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (attributed): Por trait of a Gentleman.
“It’s really a magnif icent painting , it embodies
e v e r y t h i n g I l i k e i n a r t . I t h i n k i t ’ s p e r f e c t .”
T h a t a n t i c i p a te s o u r n ex t q u e s t i o n w h i c h i s t o
e d u s w i t h c o m p u t e r p i x e l s b e f o r e a n yo n e h a d
a s k h o w yo u r c o l l e c t i o n o f O l d M a s te r p a i n t -
a notion of what they were?
i n g s i m p a c t s o n yo u r o w n a r t i s t i c c r e a t i v i t y ?
No. Actually the first computer pictures were called
I have a collection that covers about 60,000 years
“The Chuck Close project”. They knew what I was doing.
of art history: I have Egyptian art, I have a sculptural portrait of Hadrian … so every period of art is
interesting to me.
A n d d o yo u f i n d i t s h o c k i n g t h a t yo u p r e s e n t -
Yo u r f a t h e r w a s a n i n ve n t o r ; i n a w a y yo u a r e
a n i n ve n t o r t o o .
Yes, and my mother was a piano player. We were
very poor, but I was exposed to culture.
DOROTHEUM
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KCUHC
Yo u ex p l a i n e d o n c e t h a t yo u c o m p a r e c r e a t i n g
It was a self-portrait for sure…
yo u r a r t to t h e p r o c e s s o f c o m p o s i n g a s y m -
Exactly, one with very dramatic brushstrokes, falling
p h o ny, l i ke a m u s i c i a n .
apart into pieces. And I think I have a lot in common
Two of my best friends are Philipp Glass and Paul
with archaic mosaics. When I was in Rome I visited
Simon. And all three of us like to talk about pro-
the ancient catacombs and archeological sites. When
cess, and their work is complemental and layered,
you look at mosaics what you’re seeing is a record
just like my work. So there are a lot of connections.
of their making – you can see the choices that the
P o l l o c k , Wa r h o l , R a u s c h e n b e r g ; e a c h h a s h a d
a g r e a t i m p a c t o n yo u r wo r k . Lo o k i n g b a c k ,
w h a t wa s t h e p e r s o n o r e ve n t t h a t p l a ye d a
ke y r o l e i n yo u r a r t i s t i c l i f e ?
I think it was the Van Gogh retrospective I saw when
mosaic artist made – and it’s a totally contemporary experience for me. It’s like I’m looking over the
shoulder of the artist as they are making the floor.
So I want people to look at my paintings in the same
way, and to try and figure out how I made them.
I was in college. I once took part at an exhibition in
Th at re m i n d s m e of yo u s ayi n g th at , i f yo u
London, in the National Portrait Gallery, and a work
we re n’ t a p ai n te r, yo u’d b e a m ag i c i an . B ut o n e
of mine was hung next to my favourite Van Gogh
wh e re eve r yo n e k n ows h ow th e tr i c k s an d i l l u-
painting, the one on the cover of the catalogue. That
s i o n s wo r k - an d are s ti l l fas c i n ate d . A n d th e
really was a thrill!
p e r fo r m an c e i ts e l f wo ul d al ways b e a s ur p r i s e,
eve n th o ug h yo u k n ow h ow th e tr i c k wo r k s .
Magic is artificial - but you end up with an illusion. Painting is the most magical of all mediums
Chuck Close
because it makes space where there is none, and it
Born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940, Chuck Close is one
transcends physical reality. So you look at the can-
of Americ a’s most inf luential ar tists. Since the 1960s,
vas and you see an image. If that’s not magic, then I
he has painted portraits by meticulously copying photo-
don’t know what is.
graphic stills of people onto vast canvases grid by grid,
thus taking the genre of portrait painting to the next
level of evolution. By his own account, what inspired
him to paint the “Heads” was the fact that this style of
painting had been pronounced dead by big shots like
the art critic Clement Greenberg. Hyperrealistic yet
highly ar tif icial, Chuck Close’s paintings feature in
the most famous collections across the globe. It was a
Jackson Pollock show that made him choose the life of
R a u s c h e n b e r g i n N e w Yo r k C i t y, w h e r e C l o s e h a s l i v e d
s i n c e 1 9 6 7. T h e a r t i s t w a s l e f t p a r t l y p a r a l y s e d b y a
stroke in 1988, but has continued to paint.
Photo: private
an artist, as well as the work of Andy Warhol and Robert
Chuck Close and lecturer Maria Cristina Paoluzzi with the „Sassi“
of Matera, Italy, journey Trustees of the American Academy.
DOROTHEUM
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CLOSE
Photo Bryan Bedder / AFP / picturedesk.com
A n d b e c a u s e o f t h i s , p a i n t i n g c a n n e ve r d i e ,
There are a lot of conceptual artists around,
d o n’ t yo u t h i n k ?
b u t yo u , r i g h t f r o m t h e s t a r t , h a ve a l w a y s
It takes a beating but keeps on going. There is vir-
b e e n a r e a l ‘ w o r ke r ’.
tually no greater magic than painting in art.
Every great artistic idea comes through work. As I
W h a t a r e yo u wo r k i n g o n r i g h t n o w ?
I’m working on paintings that actually look much
like mosaics.
W h e n w i l l we ge t t h e c h a n c e to s e e t h e m ?
In a couple of years.
often say, ‘inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of
us just show up and get to work’.
Art historian Maria Cristina Paoluzzi is the director of
the Dorotheum Rome. She has met Chuck Close several
times during his journeys to Italy and is the artist’s
advisor for Old Masters. Doris Krumpl, former art
journalist, is the spokesperson for the Dorotheum.
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AUCTION HOUSE
MODERN
TALKING
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COMTESSE
HONORINE D’URSEL
BRANCH MANAGER OF
DOROTHEUM BRUSSELS
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She has a very special place in her heart for Vienna
and is happy to work for a Viennese enterprise in
Belgium – and what is more, for a company with a
history of more then 300 years. As representative
she meets fascinating people and has constant
opportunities to discover beautiful objects.
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ALESSANDRO RIZZI
EXPERT FOR
MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
Alessandro Rizzi studied history of art in Parma
and worked in galleries and auction houses, also
a s a r t c o n s u l t a n t . To d a y h e i s i n c h a r g e o f t h e
D o ro t h e u m’s g re a t r a n g e o f I t a l i a n a r t . H e e s p e cially remembers an auction in November 2013,
when a yellow Fontana picture went under the
hammer for a fantastic price. He also had to fight
vehemently for a black Castellani, which he succeeded in winning for the Dorotheum. More than
20 telephone bidders heated up the suspense of
an auction that ended up with a superlative result .
MARIA CHRISTINA CORSINI
EXPERT FOR MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
After her studies in scenography and some experiences
in various Roman galleries, she worked for the publishing
house Bolaff i, collaborating on all of its public ations for the
art market . From 1980 she star ted her c areer in auctioneering , specialising in modern and contemporar y ar t . She c an
boast of long years of experience in the ar t industr y and is in
charge of the Italian market from her headquar ters in Rome.
Among the Italian artists, her favourite is Giacomo Balla,
whose work she loves and has studied thoroughly.
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PETRA SCHÄPERS
BRANCH MANAGER OF
DOROTHEUM DÜSSELDORF
EXPERT FOR MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
M a n a g i n g t h e D o ro t h e u m’s D ü s s e l d o r f b r a n c h , P e t ra Schäpers is an expert in modern and contempor a r y a r t w h o i s re n o w n e d a n d w e l l - c o n n e c t e d i n
t h e R h i n e l a n d , t h e R u h r re g i o n , a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y.
S h e to o k a P h D i n a r t h i s t o r y a n d e m b a r k e d o n a
c a re e r w i t h a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l g a l l e r i s t a n d a n a u c t i o n h o u s e , g r a d u a l l y m o v i n g h e r f o c u s f ro m t h e
O l d M a s te r s t o t h e “ M o d e r n s ”. S h e f o u n d e d a b r a n c h
o f f i c e f o r t h e D o ro t h e u m i n D ü s s e l d o r f, a c h i e v i n g
to p a u c t i o n p r i c e s f o r w o r k s b y M a x E r n s t , G ü n t h e r
U e c ke r, G e o r g B a s e l i t z , I l ya K a b a k o v a n d o t h e r s , a n d
making a signif icant contribution to expanding the
D o ro t h e u m’s i n t e r n a t i o n a l p re s e n c e .
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EVA KÖNIGSEDER
EXPERT FOR
PHOTOGRAPHY
After studying at the University of Applied
Arts she began her career as assistant in
the sector of modern and contemporary
art . In 1996 Eva Königseder suggested
h o l d i n g s e p a r a t e a u c t i o n s o f p h o t o g r a p h y,
which are meanwhile a f ixed date in the
D o r o t h e u m’s a n n u a l a u c t i o n c a l e n d a r !
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ELKE KÖNIGSEDER
EXPERT FOR AUSTRIAN AND
EAST EUROPEAN CLASSIC MODERN
AND CONTEMPORARY ART
S h e c a m e , s h e s t a y e d , wa s l oya l to h e r w o r k p l a c e – a n d
h a s s i n c e d e ve l o p e d t h e b r a n c h a n d m a r ke d u p n u m e r o u s a u c t i o n s u c c e s s e s : a f te r h e r s t u d i e s a t t h e A c a d e m y o f A p p l i e d A r t s , i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 7 0 s E l ke Kö n i g s e d e r
j o i n e d t h e D o ro t h e u m’s a r t d e p a r t m e n t . T h e e x p e r t f o r
c l a s s i c a l m o d e r n i s m a n d c o n te m p o r a r y a r t re m e m b e r s i n p a r t i c u l a r t h e a u c t i o n o f G u s t a v K l i m t ’s p a i n t i n g “A p p ro a c h i n g T h u n d e r s to r m” ( T h e L a r g e P o p l a r I I ) ,
which is now in the Leopold Collection.
PAT R I C I A PÁ L F F Y
EXPERT FOR
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
Born in the USA , she was brought up in France and
Belgium and was conversant with international art
from the very beginning: after studying art histor y, P a t r i c i a P á l f f y d i r e c t e d g a l l e r i e s i n B r u s s e l s a n d
M u n i c h b e f o r e d e v e l o p i n g t h e D o r o t h e u m ’s b r a n c h o f
International Modern and Contemporary Art into one
of the leading departments in the house. She succ e s s f u l l y h a n d l e d s a l e s o f w o r k s b y K a p o o r, K u s a m a ,
and Manzoni.
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KRISTINA MERET JUEN
E X P E R T A S S I S TA N T F O R
I N T E R N AT I O N A L M O D E R N
AND CONTEMPORARY ART
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The art historian loves the international f lair of
h e r j o b . “ I e s p e c i a l l y re m e m b e r t h e s u s p e n s e t h a t
held people spellbound in the auction hall during
t h e b i d d i n g f o r M a r i o S c h i f a n o’s ‘ I n c i d e n t e’.” A n d ,
i n t h e e n d , t h e d i p t y c h wa s s o l d i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3
f o r a w o r l d re c o rd p r i c e .
INA RÜCKEMANN
I N T E R N AT I O N A L C L I E N T
SERVICE LONDON
For over five years she has lived in London: Ina Rückemann did her MA in Art
B u s i n e s s a t t h e S o t h e b y ’s I n s t i t u t e o f
Art, gathered experience in auction
houses and is now thrilled to work for
the Dorotheum supporting customers
for modern and contemporary art in
the international art centre of London.
And they certainly appreciate this. An
e n t h u s i a s t i c c o l l e c t o r w r i t e s : “ Yo u m a k e
me feel conf ident that I can buy more
things from Dorotheum and feel happy
knowing that there is someone in Lond o n w h o c a n h e l p m e .”
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FRANZ FREIHERR
VON RASSLER
BRANCH MANAGER OF
DOROTHEUM MUNICH
Th e exp e r i e nc e d a r t c o ns u l t a n t a nd fo r m e r i nte rn a ti o n a l s a l e s re pre s e n t a t i ve of a to p N e w Yo r k
ga l l er y h a s m a n a ge d t h e M u n i c h he a d q u a r te r s of
th e Do rot h e u m fo r te n ye a rs no w. M o d e r n a nd c o n temp o rar y a r t a re hi s s p e c i a l f i e l d ; h i s favo u r i te
a u c ti o n w o r k s i n c l u d e i s a v i e w of Wa s s e r b u rg by
Ja wl en sk y a n d w o r k s by Yve s K l e i n a n d B a s e l i t z .
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STEPHANIE KUMHOFER
E X P E R T A S S I S TA N T F O R
AUSTRIAN MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
T h e a r t h i s t o r y g r a d u a t e l o v e s t h e va r i e t y, t h e d i v e r s i t y, t h e
cooperation “with friendly colleagues” – and of course the
thrills when prices unexpectedly shoot up to the heights
at an auction!
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R A FA E L SC H WA R Z
I N T E R N AT I O N A L C L I E N T S E R V I C E ,
T E L A V I V R E P R E S E N TAT I V E , C L I E N T
SERVICE FOR SWITZERLAND
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C O N S TA N Z E W E R N E R
H E A D O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
CLIENT SERVICE
She head s the Interna ti o n a l C l i en t S er vi c e, c o o rdi n a te s
t he London branch and co - su p p o r ts i n ter n a ti o n a l co l l ec tors of modern and co n temp o ra r y a r t . Up o n co mp l eti n g
he r studies in Vienna s h e wen t o n to wo r k i n It a l y, Fra n c e
a nd G ermany until, at l a st , sh e fo u n d h er p a ssi o n fo r th e
m odernists w hile worki n g fo r a l ea di n g V i en n ese ga l l er y.
H e r favourite sentence? S h e h ea r s i t ti me a n d ti me a ga i n
from clients who for yea r s h ave p u rch a sed fro m a b ro a d
a nd then v is it her for th e f i r st ti me i n th e Do roth eu m: “ I
ha d no id ea how incre di b l y b ea u ti fu l i t i s h ere! ”
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ELISABETH HIRSCHMANN-HUEMER
EXPERT FOR
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY
PRINTS
A f t e r g ra d u a t i n g i n s t u d i e s i n a r t h i s to r y a n d e c o n o m i c s , s h e m o v e d
t o C a l i f o r n i a f o r a ye a r. A s a n a u c t i o n e e r E l i s a b e t h H i r s c h m a n n - H u e mer finds bidding skirmishes exciting, as an expert she loves designi n g c a t a l o g u e s – a n d to p re s u l t s s u c h a s a s i l k s c re e n c o l o u r p r i n t
by G e r h a rd R i c h te r, a u c t i o n e d f o r a l m o s t d o u b l e t h e e x p e c t e d p r i c e .
“ W h a t I l o v e a b o u t t h e D o ro t h e u m i s t h a t V i e n n a
i s re a l l y i n t e r n a t i o n a l h e re ! ” T h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
s p e c i a l i s t w i t h a g re a t d e a l o f e x p e r i e n c e a b ro a d
s u p p o r t s p u rc h a s e r s a n d c o l l e c t o r s o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l
modern and contemporary art worldwide and is also
a n a u c t i o n e e r. T h e m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g o b j e c t o f h i s
c a re e r f o r h i m a s a n a u c t i o n e e r wa s a w o r k b y A n i s h
K a p o o r. I t wa s s o l d a t t h e D o ro t h e u m f o r a h i g h e r p r i c e t h a n a v e r y s i m i l a r w o r k a u c t i o n e d ro u n d
about the same time in London!
AUCTION HOUSE
38
EXPERT PORTRAIT
SIL
VER
AUCTION HOUSE
39
F i n e s i l v e r, a l s o u s e d a s a n a t t r a c t i v e t a b l e d e c o r a t i o n ,
is popular with more than just collectors; rarities of
early European silversmithing from the Renaissance to
the Baroque draw top prices at auction. Highlights of
the Dorotheum silver auctions include – depending on
t h e a u c t i o n l o c a t i o n – V i e n n e s e a n d R u s s i a n s i l v e r, f o r
which there is considerable demand.
Under the guidance of expert Georg Ludwigstorff, the silver division of the Dorotheum
has developed into an international strongpoint of the auction house, with excellent
sales quotas and many top results. Especially in-demand pieces include those that
show a particular, important provenance, such as items once owned by the Russian
Imperial Family, for example.
Historian and art historian Georg Ludwigstorff is also a specialist in the subject
of provenance: he heads not only the Orders and Decorations Auctions at the
Dorotheum but also the annual auctioning of items from the House of Habsburg.
He is not the first Ludwigstorff to have close ties to the Dorotheum: one of his
ancestors was Johann Rudolph Baron of Ludwigstorff, a close advisor of Kaiser Joseph
I who penned the founding charter of the newly-established Dorotheum in 1707.
FAVOURITE
NOT JUST
FOR
A. E. Köchert, Fuchsia brooch,
brilliants and diamonds total
ca. 20.8 ct, rubies total ca. 8.50 ct
1890 – 1895
Price realised € 202,800
TSARS
AND
MOGULS
FAVOURITE
41
Brilliant bracelet with
untreated sapphires total
ca. 36 ct and brilliants total
ca. 14.5 ct, around 1900
Price realised € 46,660
Already popular in antiquity and highly prized
since the Middle Ages, rubies and sapphires enjoy
an undiminished enthusiasm from jewellery
lovers and collectors alike.
BY ASTRID FIALKA-HERICS
FAVOURITE
42
Three-string necklace of cultured
pearls, white-gold socket clasp with
brilliants total ca. 1,90 ct, diamonds total
ca. 0.90 ct and faceted ruby ca. 2.20 ct
Estimate € 15,000 – 20,000
Jewellery auction, 21 May 2014
excellence. No wonder even the ancients considered
it among the world’s most precious stones! Pliny the
Elder described the ruby’s strength and hardness in
his “Naturae Historarium”, and its supposed effects
have been the stuff of countless tales and legends. In
Burma, now Myanmar, where the ruby was likely
mined as early as the Bronze Age, people believed
that the stone provided invincibility; in India,
absolute security.
Deep blue, moving red tones all the way to an intense
Maharajas and moguls were as inclined to polish the
orange – such is the color richness and variety of
red stones into jewels as Russian and British rulers.
treasures derived from deep within the earth. For
But tread carefully here! Not everything thought
centuries, rubies and sapphires have been sought
to be rubies were the genuine article: the so-called
after and processed into precious gems. From India
“Black Prince’s Ruby” that adorns the British Imperial
to Britain, they adorn the crown jewels and inspire
State Crown, for example, turned out to be a red
excellence from contemporary jewellery designers
garnet. A 414.3 ct. basalt ruby also found its way
around the world.
into the crown jewels of Catherine the Great. The
alternate term for garnet is misleading and is
Both sapphire and ruby are color variations of the
therefore no longer allowed today.
mineral corundum, where the hue is a manifestation
of aluminum oxide. Corundum has an impressive
Major ruby deposits are located around Mogok
hardness: with a hardness factor of 9 (Mohs scale),
in Myanmar, but also in Thailand, Sri Lanka and
it is considered one of the hardest stones after the
Mozambique. A few years ago, deposits discovered
diamond. The different color varieties, a product of
near the village of Winza in Tanzania yielded a
mother nature, range from yellow to blue and red to
number of promising, high quality stones.
pink shades.
Besides red corundum, there are – depending on
Red corundum are called rubies. Their name
the natural chromophoric substances – also blue,
stems from the Latin ruber, or “red”. The coloring
yellow, pink or orange color varieties. They are con-
substance is chrome, the color nuances of the
sidered sapphires. Though originally all blue stones
brownish shades come from iron. With its color –
of this kind were called sapphires, scientists in 1800
which stands for passion, eroticism and love – the
noted that only the sapphire belongs to the corundum
ruby has come to symbo ize the joy of living par
group – as does the ruby.
Diamond-ruby bracelet in white gold, baguette-cut diamonds
and brilliants total ca. 12.50 ct, Estimate € 13,000 – 16,000
Jewellery auction, 21 May 2014
Sapphires from India and Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,
were already well-known in antiquity and beautified
fine jewellery as early as 100 BC. The sapphire has also
always been considered a healing stone and attributed
magical powers. In the Middle Ages, the abbess
Hildegard of Bingen claimed to be able to cure
foolishness with a sapphire.
Sapphire necklace 32.34 ct,
baguette- and Asscher-cut
diamonds and brilliants
total ca. 44.40 ct,
Price realised € 145,300
Like the ruby, the sapphire is still one of the most
sought-after colored stones. Its color varieties are
particularly inspiring for jewelers. Cornflower blue
stones fetch top prices at international auction, as
do the yellow or pinkish varieties. A rare version
is the padparadscha, which takes its name from
the Sanskrit word for the color of a lotus blossom:
the pink to orange-colored stone is among the
rarest and most expensive sapphires. Until the end
of the 19th century, any padparadscha found had
Ladies’ ring with untreated
sapphire ca. 4.10 ct, white gold
with brilliants total ca. 2.50 ct
Estimate € 24,000 – 30,000
Jewellery auction, 21 May 2014
to be delivered to the ruler, as only he was entitled
to own such a stone. Deposits can still be found in
Sri Lanka, but also in Vietnam and Tanzania, while
significant blue sapphire deposits have been located
in India, Madagascar and Thailand.
Unlike diamonds, whose quality can be determined
accordingly. The cut is generally less important in
using the four Cs – for color, carat, clarity, and
terms of pricing – form design is up to the cutter’s
cut – there are no classification rules for rubies
imagination. Rubies and sapphires are “kings” of the
and sapphires, though color-rich, clear stones
gemstones in any case!
are naturally more eye-catching and are priced
Astrid Fialka-Herics is Jewellery expert, trained
goldsmith and Head of the Watch and
Jewellery department.
Padparadscha sapphire
ring in white gold 6.51 ct
Price realised € 24,700
FAVOURITE
44
100 years after the assassination of Sarajevo –
w h i c h , t o d a y, i s re g a rd e d a s t h e t r i g g e r o f W W I –
memorabilia from the Imperial House of
Habsburg still draw the crowds, which include
not only nostalgic monarchists, but also
rational business people.
B Y M A R I E -T H É R È S E H A R T I G
Whatever one’s opinion of the Habsburg Monarchy – the fact is that Austria’s
imperial past has always sold well. Whether the romantic clichés surrounding
Sisi and Franz Joseph, flanked by Count Andrássy and Katharina Schratt, or the
great tragedies of the Imperial House in Mayerling and Sarajevo … they all have
never ceased to be a source of public interest.
Thus it is no wonder that the Dorotheum’s imperial auctions have enjoyed
great popularity at all times, and still do today. Once a year since 1992, imperial
(although frequently “merely” aristocratic) memorabilia have been brought here
to be auctioned. “The selling rate of our annual auction is more than 90 percent,”
says Dorotheum expert Georg Ludwigstorff, “and this isn’t affected in the slightest by economic crises.” Why? Because first-class objects are nearly always purchased by institutions and thus vanish from the market for good. When supply is
low and demand stays at least the same, prices rise automatically.
In fact, owing to a tight budget, museums are actually losing out more and more
to potent private collectors, for instance the Viennese gastronomy entrepreneur
Mario Plachutta, who has been collecting Imperial House memorabilia since
2006 and in the meantime owns the largest collection in the world – worth several million euros – with around 2,000 exhibits.
Of course the value of an object in the memorabilia sector isn’t essentially defined
by objective quality, its material, or the executing artist personalities. Even more
important here than in other art market sectors is the provenance. A small silver
spoon once held by an illustrious hand seems to endow someone who wasn’t born
with such a utensil in his mouth with a touch of noblesse oblige – hence it costs a
multiple sum of what it would without its origins.
Tr a g i c t o p t r i o
Consequently, the value of the provenance is measured according to the rank and
fame of the previous owner. The Austrian bestsellers are therefore – not surprisingly – the tragic trio Empress Elisabeth, Emperor Franz Joseph and Crown
Prince Rudolf. On the hundredth anniversary of the murder of the crown prince
FAVOURITE
45
IMPERIAL
S OU V E N I R S
Franz Xaver Winterhalter, workshop
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, ca. 1860
oil on canvas, 80 x 64 cm
price realised € 88,880
Deathbeds of Franz Ferdinand, successor to the throne,
and his wife Sophie Hohenberg
Price realised €44,800
Emperor Franz Joseph, curl of hair
Price realised € 13,720
and his spouse in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, which triggered the First World War,
Crown Prince Rudolf
Personal child’s writing set
around 1865
Price realised € 32,000
the spotlight now lands on Archduke Franz Ferdinand, along with his spouse
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
Only last year the Dorotheum auctioned a unique historic piece linked to the
assassination in Sarajevo: the blood-stained silk cover laid on the death bed –
actually the death divan – of the crown prince was auctioned off for 9,375 euros.
The cover was left in the estate of Oskar Potiorek, Feldzeugmeister and Imperial
Royal Governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was in his official residence that Archduke Franz Ferdinand died from the gunshot wound in his neck.
The Museum of Military History in Vienna had already purchased by auction the
deathbeds of the crown prince and his spouse in 1996 for 616,000 Austrian schillings (about 44,800 euros). In the museum, the assassination has a gallery all to
itself which, among other things, displays the blood-stained clothing of the archduke, the assassin’s pistol, and the Gräf & Stift automobile in which the crown
prince and princess drove through Sarajevo.
Bizarre collectibles
Whoever thinks that trading souvenirs of illustrious personages is a modern fad
is completely off-track. Even in his day, Eugen Ketterl, personal valet of Emperor Franz Joseph, was keen to have and successful in acquiring the rare privilege of selling discharged objects from the imperial household, thus legitimately
supplementing his salary. Ketterl’s estate included for instance a white lock of
Franz Joseph’s hair, which came under the hammer in the Dorotheum in 2012 for
FAVOURITE
47
13,720 euros. As a comparison: Ludwigstorff remembers, “Ten years ago we auctioned a similar imperial lock for about 1,000 euros.” Incidentally, the estimate
value of the lock of 2012 was set at the modest sum of 400 to 600 euros.
Articles of clothing worn by their majesties themselves have always been in great
demand. Body-to-body contact with the Imperial House, so to speak. Dyed-in-thewool collectors jump for joy to spend more than 6,000 euros on Emperor Franz
Joseph’s riding underpants from the year 1894; after all, the red embroidered
monogram “FJ” proves that the plain-weave cotton undergarment is really genuine.
“Personal objects once owned by the Habsburg family form the core of any proper
collection related to the Imperial House”, states Dorotheum expert Ludwigstorff.
Nevertheless, it’s imperative to be able to verify beyond any doubt the provenance
of these objects through documents or certificates, embroidered monograms or
such. “A great aunt’s declaration that a handkerchief is once supposed to have
belonged to Empress Elisabeth isn’t sufficient.” Although fakes tend to be rare
among memorabilia from the Imperial House, it occasionally happens that
monograms, for example, are engraved at a later date to ascribe the objects to a
prominent previous owner and thus upgrade their value. Ludwigstorff immediately soothes the perturbed reader: “The expert can see this straight away.”
Once more this year, the Imperial Court Memorabilia & Historical Objects Auction on 30 April (start: 4 pm) promises many interesting lots. Among the highlights is a set of His Majesty’s riding underwear, handkerchiefs and imperial
cigars, also sculptures and portraits of the imperial couple.
Marie-Thérèse Hartig is a journalist in Vienna focusing on the art market
and industry. She writes for “Der Standard”, “Gewinn” and “Trend”.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria –
Personal Fan, ca. 1884
Mother-of-pearl and bone frame, lace sheet
with embroidered decoration, gold engraved
monogram „E“
Price realised € 23,480
CHOICE
MY Choice
Dorotheum’s exper ts on their favourite lots
in upcoming auctions.
Historical
Sc e n e r y
For centuries the Roman Forum, once the thriving
centre of political, economic, cultural and religious
life in the capital of a global empire, had been given
over to decay; the historic sites were overgrown
with vegetation and goats and cows lived among the
ruins, which were also being used as a quarry. The
Roman Forum had become a place truly worthy of
its new name, Campo Vaccino – “cow pasture”.
It was only in the 18th century that the place became
important again, driven by a renewed interest in the
ancient world. Excavations were undertaken, and
whatever was deemed valuable was documented.
Antonio Joli captured the image of the neglected
Campo Vaccino. Joli, who trained in the workshops
of the Galli da Bibbiena family and was an
internationally-experienced set painter, guides the
gaze as a theatre backdrop would – deep in between
dilapidated temples and the remains of splendorous
government buildings.
Mark MacDonnell, expert Old Master Paintings
Antonio Joli
Rome, A View of the Campo Vaccino
Oil on canvas, 120 x 170 cm
Estimate € 200,000 – 300,000
Old Master Paintings auction
9 April 2014
CHOICE
50
Giuseppe de Gobbis (1772-1783)
Il Parlatorio delle Monache
(The Nuns’ Parlour)
Oil on canvas, 82 x 114.2 cm
Estimate € 40,000 – 60,000
Old Master Paintings auction,
9 April 2014
SE C RE C IES
Although Giuseppe de Gobbis (Venice 1772–1783)
was employed by a number of religious fraternities
in Venice, it is secular scenes such as the present
work that contributed to his success. His scenes of
Venetian everyday life are both lively and humorous.
This particular scene shows the “Parlatorio delle
Monache” (Nuns’ Parlour) in San Zaccaria on the
day in which friends and family could visit the
novices, shown here crowding excitedly behind the
grated windows. As in the case of the ridotto, many
visitors wore masks and this led to it becoming an
obvious location for conspiratorial plots and illicit
amorous encounters. This fuelled the imagination
of 18th-century Venice: Longhi, Guardi and the
Tiepolo all painted numerous scenes of ridotti, and
both Casanova and Goldoni’s writings were inspired
by these surroundings. The present painting was
once owned by Rudolf Nureyev.
Mark MacDonnell, expert Old Master Paintings
Studio of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the
Infant John the Baptist Oil on canvas, 221 x 152 cm
Estimate € 400,000 – 600,000
Old Master Paintings auction, 9 April 2014
CHOICE
51
Embriachi Workshop
Late Gothic wedding coffer
from North Italy, around 1420
Wood, bone, horn, silk inlay
22.5 x 13.5 x 19 cm
Estimate € 7,000 – 12,000
Works of Art auction
9 – 10 April 2014
Console table
from the Berlin Palace
around 1900
100 x 175 x 105 cm
Estimate € 45,000 – 60,000
Works of Art auction
9 – 10 April 2014
Frans Snyders
Still Life of Fruit in a Basket, Game, Vegetables, and a Squirrel
Oil on canvas, 76 x 121 cm
Estimate € 200,000 – 300,000
Old Master Paintings auction, 9 April 2014
Solemnities
It would be nice to see a bird of paradise more often
in a Dorotheum coin auction – but it is quite simply
a “rare bird”. In May, a 10 New-Guinean-marks gold
coin minted in 1895 in Berlin will be up for auction.
It was issued not by the German Empire as colonial
power but the New Guinea Company, which
Frederick III, Patent of Nobility
for the Lords of Pernwerth
Wiener Neustadt,
19 Dec 1465
Estimate € 5,000 – 8,000
Autographs auction
2 June 2014
administered the protectorate of German New Guinea.
The company minted 2,000 of these coins with the
magnificent bird designed by Otto Schultz, of which
only a small, unknown number still exist today.
The starting bid for this rare coin will be 15,000 euros.
Michael Beckers, expert Coins and Medals
B i r d Of
Pa r a d i s e
The imperial register lists only 85 documents of
ennoblement during the 53 years of Frederick
III’s (1415–1493) reign. Far fewer have survived in
the original. This patent of nobility issued in 1465
for the Lords of Pernwerth of Tyrol is the oldest
Patent of Nobility to have been offered for sale at the
Dorotheum in the last 30 years.
German New Guinea gold
10 New-Guinean marks, 1895
Design by Emil Weigand / Otto Schultz
Starting bid € 15,000
Coins, Medals and Paper Money
auction, 26 – 27 May 2014
Andreas Löbbecke, expert Autographs
Constantin Kryschitskij, The Lake, 1892, Oil on canvas, 51 x 81 cm
Estimate € 70,000 – 90,000
19th-Century Paintings auction, 8 April 2014
Meissner Porcelain
Böttger teapot with lid, around 1710
Red-brown Böttger stoneware, height 13.5 cm
Estimate € 30,000 – 40,000
Works of Art auction, 10 April 2014
Hans Makart (Salzburg 1840 – Vienna 1884)
A portrait of the singer Emilie Tagliana
around 1875
Oil on panel, 104.6 x 66.8 cm
Estimate € 60,000 – 80,000
19th-Century Paintings Auction
8 April 2014
A VOICE OF
S I LV E R
Challenging and self-possessed, the Italian singer
Emilia Tagliana gazes out from Hans Markart’s 1875
painting. She has every reason to be: born in 1854
Patek Philippe
Ref. 1518 Perpetual Calendar
Chronograph, First series
Wristwatch, around 1942/43
Yellow gold, Reference 1518
Case number 631489
Estimate € 160,000 – 240,000
Watches auction 23 May 2014
in Milan, from 1873 to 1878 she was employed at
the Vienna State Opera, delivering 136 acclaimed
performances from the famous stage. In 1876 the
“Deutsche Rundschau” journal praised Tagliana for
her “voice of silver”.
Dimitra Reimüller, expert 19th-Century Painting
A diamond pendant
Fancy Deep, Brownish Yellow
Natural Color, 16.79 ct
€ 170,000 – 240,000
Jewellery auction, 21 April 2014
A diamond pendant
Fancy Intense Yellow
Natural Color
11.24 ct, € 200,000 – 340,000
Jewellery auction, 21 April 2014
CHOICE
54
Egon Schiele
Seated Girl, 1908
Watercolour, gouache, pencil on paper,
31.7 x 22.5 cm
Estimate € 120,000 – 160,000
Modern Art auction, 22 May 2014
Half-Naked
Gustav Klimt
Girl’s head in three-quarter profile
around 1916
Pencil on paper, 55.8 x 37 cm
Estimate € 35,000 – 45,000
Modern Art auction, 22 May 2014
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Nude Bather Seated by the Sea
around 1890
Pastel on laid paper, 29.5 x 43.5 cm
Estimate € 150,000 – 200,000
Modern Art auction, 22 May 2014
Michael Powolny
Mädchen mit Rosen, around 1910
Wiener Keramik, white porcelain,
polychrome and gold-painted
height 29 cm
Estimate € 10,000 – 15,000
Art Nouveau auction, 20 May 2014
CHOICE
55
Enrico Castellani
Superficie grigia, 1991
Acrylic on structured
canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Estimate
€ 180,000 – 280,000
Contemporary Art auction I
20 May 2014
F U LL Y A B STRA C T
Enrico Castellani reduced artistic media to a painting’s most basic elements – canvas, frame, nails and
acrylic paints – using strategically placed nails on
both sides of the canvas to pull the fabric in and
pull it taut. He describes his object-like paintings
as “tela estroflessa” – textured canvas. With his
complex, rigorous structures, Castellani explores
the infinite possibilities of formal and rhythmic
variation between negative and positive, convex
and concave, light and shadow.
Patricia Pálffy, expert Contemporary Art
Paolo Scheggi (Florence 1940–1971 Rome)
Untitled, 1965
Acrylic on three superimposed canvasses
120 x 80.5 x 5 cm
Estimate € 90,000 – 120,000
Contemporary Art auction I, 20 May 2014
CHOICE
56
Xaver Sedelmeier
framechair, 2012
Estimate € 4,000 – 6,000
Design auction, 5 June 2014
Framed
Xaver Sedelmeier’s “framechair” (2012) is linear,
direct, open and authentic. The execution and
material are minimalistic, the design is reduced
to a graphic sketch or primeval notion of a chair.
The seat offered to observers to sit in is unsettling in
its fragility. Unlike Sedelmeier’s famous “No Chair”
(2009) and “Paravent Chair” (2012), however,
this specimen does not deny its function. It invites
observers to interact boldly with it and surprises
them with its extremely comfortable sitting position.
“framechair” is part of the 2012 series “framechairs”,
which comprises a total of three works.
Gerti Draxler, expert Design
Elizabeth Garouste
Buffet, 2000
Lacquered wood, wrought iron
100 x 120 x 60 cm
Estimate € 17,000 – 19,000
Design auction, 5 June 2014
Robert Longo
Untitled, from the series: Men in the Cities
1998, Lithograph, no. 14 of 15, 117 x 77 cm
Starting bid € 3,600
Modern and Contemporary Prints auction
4 June 2014
CHOICE
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Ecc e n t r i c
Like a choreographer, Robert Longo (*1953 New
York) arranges photographic scenes that are reminiscent of Cindy Sherman’s “Film Stills”. For “Men
in the Cities” friends of the artist adopted eccentric poses, which Longo recorded in photographs,
drawings and lithographs. The subjects appear puppet-like, their movements frozen. The wild, almost
unnatural gestures are enhanced by the black and
white contrast. Longo’s works revolve around the
tragedies of human existence, conveying a fascinatingly melancholy atmosphere.
Elisabeth Hirschmann-Huemer, expert
Modern and Contemporary Prints
Robert Longo
Untitled, from the series: Men in the Cities
1994, Lithograph, no. 16 of 30, 116 x 76 cm
Starting bid € 3,600
Modern and Contemporary Prints Auction
4 June 2014
Agostino Bonalumi
Bianco, 1978
Structured canvas, tempera, 130 x 100 cm
Estimate € 80,000 – 120,000
Contemporary Art auction I, 20 May 2014
CITY
BRUSSELS
Belgium’s best-kept secret and
one of Europe’s great , underrated capitals has a few secrets
of its own. Here is a short list
of the things and places that
sweeten our lives.
BY HONORINE D’URSEL
& W I L F R I E D VA N G A V E R
SABLON Offices for the Brussels branch of Dorotheum (1)
are nestled within the ancient, discreetly grand
de Lannoy city palace. Located on rue aux Laines
(“Wool Street”), the road was once home not only to
the affluent courtiers of Emperor Charles V and the
Habsburg governors, but also the city gallows. The
latter, more ominous presence was one reason the
1
renowned anatomist and court physician Andreas
Vesalius lived close by.
A monument to the Counts Egmont and Horn at the
The art and antique dealers are joined by a smattering of fashionable
Petit Sablon reminds us how even the mighty can fall
restaurants including Au Vieux Saint Martin, an establishment that
when they press their luck.
believes in good food on the plates and high art on the walls. This
Sablon has also emerged as a hotspot for the fantastic up-market
The Grand Sablon is a mixed district. The area is
chocolatiers behind Belgium’s most delicious export; sample the
traditionally known for its elegant antique shops
delights of such world-class chocolate producers as Neuhaus, Godiva,
including Jadis et Naguère and Costermans, one of
Marcolini, Wittamer, or even Patrick Roger (8), a relative newcom-
Brussels’ most respectable antique dealers which sells fine
er whose stunning window features chocolate sculptures of barbaric
18th-century furniture from a stately 18th-century home.
monumentality and superlative, addictive (if fattening refinement.
B
CITY
60
MUSEUM QUARTER The royal fine arts museums house the
much-touted Fin-de-Siècle Museum and Gillion Crowet Collection.
2
A shining ode to the heyday of good living, when King Leopold II’s
kingdom became an international power, though at a high price,
the collection showcases art and artifacts crafted from the newest
materials at Belgian artists’ disposal and the exciting novel techniques that pioneered Jugendstil, Symbolism and Pointillism –
and in fact nearly every “ism” that would delight art-lovers for ages
to come.
A different part of the building boasts three floors devoted
solely to the genius Belgian Surrealist René Magritte (6),
while other floors will feature early 20th-century art, completing the
turn-of-the-century theme.
Jutting from the right of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts is the
Musical Instrument Museum (2+5), a fantastic structure featuring
4 stories of one of the wildest, “noodliest”, most whiplash-inducing
Art Nouveau facades in town, crowned by a rooftop eatery overlooking the historic city.
Turn the corner and you’ll find the Leopoldine Royal Palace
3
(4), the William of Orange Academy Palace and the Parliament
congregated around the neoclassicist Brussels Park. Visitors looking
for grand staterooms and shining parquet-floors are welcome to
visit the palace in the summer, when the royal residence opens its
doors to the public.
DOWNTOWN Wind your way through the medieval streets bursting
with shops, pitta bars and waffle eateries to the superb Grand Place,
4
with its gothic city hall and magnificent guild headquarters.
For a quick drink or some star-gazing (if you’re lucky) look no furAlmost connected to it by the glazed Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
ther than L’Archiduc. The 1950s glass-and-chrome piano bar man-
shopping arcade is the veritable À la Mort Subite cafe brasserie (3),
aged to survive the 20th century unscathed, complete with the orig-
where no visitor should miss the chance to sample sour Gueuze
inal interior, red roses on the piano and a pianist playing away.
and sweet Kriek, the local Brussels brew best enjoyed over a simple
lunch of bread, cottage cheese and radishes or beef stewed in the
OUTSIDE THE RING European institutions have some overwhelming
same beer.
administrative architecture here, much of it strategically placed
near the (perfectly round) Schuman Square. It is meant
The Brussels Stock Exchange, which is bisected by Leopold II’s
to impress, and impress it does. A massive, postmodernist
prestigious boulevards, brings us near the trendy rue Antoine
Parliament building echoes and dwarfs the lines and volumes
Dansaert. This formerly derelict and bohemian area was catapulted
of the nearby Brussels-Luxembourg railway station. The
to gentrification by the opening of Stijl, a major selling and
neighborhood around the station withered away during its
promoting point for Belgian fashion greats including Dries Van
construction, but has now re-emerged as favorite watering hole
Nooten, Raf Simons and Ann Demeulemeester.
for the tens of thousands of MPs and officials who run Europe.
CITY
61
7
6
Contemporary art lovers should not miss the Brussels Centre
for Contemporary Art (“Wiels”) (7+9), a treasure housed in the
8
massive former brewery (with some original fixtures and
containers still in place) by modernist prewar architect Adrian
Blomme. Instead of showing a permanent collection, it features
special exhibitions by artists such as Franz Erhard Walter, Akram
Zaatari, Robert Heinecken, Allen Ruppersley, Rosella Biscotti
and Ana Torfs.
For a last shot at the shops, head over to Smets, a fashion retailer
that combines the pleasures of trying on nifty clothes and being
surrounded by some of the dandiest designer furniture in town.
9
2 © Ricardo de la Riva, www.visitbrussels.be
3 © Brasserie À la Mort Subite
4 © Jean-Pol Lejeune, www.visitbrussels.be
5 © Marcel Vanhulst, www.visitbrussels.be
6 © Catherine Dardenne, www.visitbrussels.be
7+9 © www.wiels.org
8 © Patrick Roger
BRU S S E L S
Photo Patrick Roger
5
PA S S I O N
FOR RUBENS
T ho m a s Leysen is one of Belg iu m’s m o st
re no w n ed C apt ains of Indu str y. Born to a
t ra d i t i on of hard work at a hig h level , h e
qu i c kl y rose to prominence in the co un tr y ’s
i ndu s t r i al and f inancial s ectors , becomin g ,
a m o n g other thing s, Chairman of the Fe d e ra t i o n of Enterpris es in Belg iu m, Ch a irma n
of U m i c ore and Chairman of K BC Bank .
H e i s a l so an av id collector and overse e s
s eve ra l cu ltu ral org anizations .
a very fine collection of our own, along with some
major paintings of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Antwerp, since the latter has temporarily closed
for renovation. Our museum welcomes more than
30,000 visitors every year. So there are three areas of
my life, and they do actually intersect: first there is
the world of business, which I described above, then
comes my involvement in the public sphere, like the
King Baudouin Foundation, the Rubenianum and the
Rubens House and, last but not least, there are my
activities as a collector.
H o w d o yo u c o m b i n e yo u r p r o f e s s i o n a l l i f e
Where do the various worlds intersect?
w i t h yo u r p a s s i o n f o r a r t ?
To give an example: I work closely with KBC Bank
I am Chairman of three very different companies:
to manage the Rockox House and its collection. This
Umicore is a big player in the market of advanced
mansion was once the city residence of a 17th century
materials; Corelio is a foremost Belgian newspaper
mayor of Antwerp and a good friend of Rubens. It
group and KBC is the premiere Belgian bank in the
houses a collection of 16th- and 17th century art
(fast-changing) Belgian financial landscape. These
and furniture. The exhibits happen to be from a
chairmanships allow for greater freedom in the planning
period that I like a lot. My wife uses to joke that
of my own agenda compared to the time when I
I have taken on the chairmanship of the Rockox
was involved in day-to-day management as a CEO.
House, and that the chairmanship of a bank is only
It presents opportunities for involvement in artistic
an accessory of that.
and cultural projects that mean a great deal to me:
the King Baudouin Foundation, the Rubenianum
presidency and finally the magnificent Rockox House.
This private museum, which belongs to KBC, houses
How does KBC Bank define its cultural
p o l i c y a n d h o w i s i t e vo l v i n g ?
We feel it is important for the community that a major
bank like KBC maintains a constant supporting
role in the art world. In addition to the Rockox
House, we also have a very fine collection of 19thand 20th century Belgian art. KBC also remains the
proud owner of a fabulous city mansion on Grand
Place in Brussels, which was restored with the help
of Axel Vervoordt, a renowned Belgian interior
designer. Though we organize numerous temporary exhibitions throughout the year in our own
museum, we also sponsor one major exhibition per
Photos KBC Group
year organized in another Belgian museum, such
Rockoxhuis in Antwerp
as the Jordaens exhibition in 2012 and the Michiel
Coxcie show in 2013. This commitment to the art
world also constitutes a complement to our private
banking activities.
CITY
63
Thomas Leysen
A s P r e s i d e n t o f t h e Ru b e n i a n u m , c o u l d yo u
I look forward to the moment when I can finally
ex p l a i n t h i s i n s t i t u t i o n ?
repatriate my collection, which is currently (for lack
The Rubenianum is a renowned research and
of space) dispersed across museums over the world.
documentation center dedicated to 16th- and 17th
Once the restoration is complete, I will be able to
century Flemish art; its activities can be com-
live with my collection.
pared to the RKD in the Netherlands. In addition
to research, the Rubenianum is working on a
publication called the Corpus Rubenianum, a catalogue
of Rubens’ complete works. This is an extremely
ambitious project – all the more so since the last
attempt at a comprehensive catalogue of these works
was undertaken by Max Rooses around 1900. So, with
all the new knowledge in our hands, Rubenianum
decided that a new catalogue was long overdue.
Some 30 volumes have been completed to date, with
30 more to be finished by 2020. This is the greatest
project the world of art history has ever dedicated
to a single artist. In order to assure the funding
of this project, around 50 collectors, art dealers
and auction houses (such as Dorotheum) chipped in to
help us raise the 2.5 million Euro needed.
Yo u h a v e b e e n a c o l l e c t o r f o r m a n y y e a r s
n o w. D i d y o u a l w a y s c o l l e c t O l d M a s t e r
paintings and why?
I essentially collect Old Master paintings and drawings.
That is what I prefer, though I remain open to other
forms of art and I do buy some contemporary or
antique art once in a while. My primary passion, and
the art subject in which I am most knowledgeable,
is 16th- and 17th century Flemish art, a period that
also fascinates me from a historical point of view.
The choice may be influenced by the fact that I am
currently in the process of carefully restoring a 17th
century home in Antwerp, where I hope to live once
the work is complete.
W h a t a r e yo u r a m b i t i o n s f o r yo u r c o l l e c t i o n ?
I s t h e r e a p a r t i c u l a r a r t i s t o r p a i n t i n g yo u
w o u l d a b s o l u t e l y l o ve t o s e e i n i t ?
The first owner of the house which I am restoring
was a patrician called Rutger van Marselaer, whose
family included aldermen and mayors of Brussels
and so on. I have fortunately already been able to
obtain a portrait of other previous owners of the
house, but an inventory of this van Marselaer’s
possessions at his death mentions a portrait of
him by Anthony van Dyck. Sadly, this painting has
remained elusive until now. I would love to find it
and if possible add it to my collection, so it can hang
in the sitter’s house again.
I a s s u m e yo u h a ve m e t c o l l e c t o r s i n o t h e r
c o u n t r i e s . H o w d o yo u p e r c e i ve t h e w a y a
Belgian collects as opposed to a collector
from abroad?
I think the difference in the way people collect has less
to do with nationality than with personal sensibilities.
Most collectors in Belgium tend to favor contemporary
art. There also happens to be a great interest in tribal
art, and interest in collecting Old Master paintings
seems to have greatly diminished. There are still some
very fine family-owned private collections in Belgium,
but fewer and fewer active collectors. This is fine by
me, from a rather selfish perspective, since it reduces
competition…
I n te r v i e w b y H o n o r i n e d ’ U r s e l
CITY
64
Düsseldorf
London
Mailand
Quadriennale
2014
Next
Generation
Milan
F u r n i t u r e Fa i r
Photos: Ralph Richter
© Kunstsammlung NRW
© Vista at The Trafalgar Hotel,
London
Armani/Bamboo Bar,
© Emaar Properties PJSC, 2005
The waiting finally comes to an end
From June 26th to September 21st
Visitors to the Salone Internazionale del
when, after four years of abstinence,
the National Portrait Gallery will
Mobile furniture fair from 8 to 13 April
Düsseldorf ’s
festival
be showcasing a selection of works
2014, held at the exhibition grounds
of fine arts is back from 5 April to 10
Quadriennale
submitted for what is arguably the
in Rho near Milan for the 53rd time,
August 2014. Titled “Beyond Tomor-
most
in
don’t want to miss out on the events of
row”, the programme once again
portrait painting, the BP Portrait
Fuorisalone Designweek, which will be
features the city’s leading museums
Award 2014. The award is open to
taking place and enlivening the city-
and art institutions, with highlights
portraitists all over the world. Last
scape at the same time.
including the exhibition “Beneath the
year, almost 2,000 artists from 78
Ground. From Kafka to Kippenberg-
countries submitted their works,
In fact the Salone Internazionale del
er” at the K21 art collection. Artists
with more than 285,000 visitors to
Mobile is nothing short of a design
like Roni Horn, Max Ernst, Mike Kel-
the exhibition of portraits picked by
hub, both Italian and international, as
prestigious
competition
ley, Gregor Schneider, Bruce Nauman
the jury. This year once again it will
experts and enthusiasts from around
and Thomas Schütte will be fathom-
be interesting to see the innovative,
the globe come to Milan to keep up with
ing utopian and dystopian aspects of
multi-cultural approaches made to
the latest trends. Here, design lovers
the subterranean realm, and the artis-
the traditional genre of portraiture
and anyone interested in interior and
tic (and other) potentials of entrances
across the globe.
exterior decoration can marvel at the
and transitions into the abyss.
wide range of novelties in the realm
After the exhibition, why not relax
of design, presented by international
A change of perspective may also
over a cool drink and a stunning view
exhibitors.
be expected from Olafur Eliasson’s
of Trafalgar Square on the rooftop
installation “Space for felt” at K20,
terrace of the Vista Bar, located only
After the exhibition, why not have a
specially designed for Kunstsammlu-
a stone’s throw from the National
drink in the relaxed atmosphere of the
ng Nordrhein-Westfalen. You might
Portrait Gallery!
Armani Hotel’s own Armani/Bamboo
be in for a surprise!
Bar (Via Manzoni 31, seventh floor)
with some fine music in the background
and a stunning view over the city’s rooftops and terraces.
www.quadriennale-duesseldorf.de
w w w. k u n s t s a m m l u n g . d e
w w w. n p g . o r g . u k
w w w. t h e t r a f a l g a r. c o m /
vista-homepage
w w w. c o s m i t . i t
w w w. f u o r i s a l o n e . i t
w w w. m i l a n . a r m a n i h o t e l s . c o m
Petra Schäpers
Head of Dorotheum Düsseldorf
Damian Brenninkmeyer
Director of Dorotheum London
Angelica Cicogna Mozzoni
Branch Manager of Dorotheum Milan
CITY
65
Paris
Beijing
Moments of
R e l i sh
A r t & D u ck
© Alain Gelberger Parisian train stations are not exact-
by the painter, illustrator and writ-
The Ullens Center for Contempo-
ly famous for their cuisine. The leg-
er Hippolyte Romain. Inspired by
rary Art (UCCA) was founded by the
endary Train Bleu at Gare de Lyon,
fashion, theatre and Chinese cul-
collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens in
which opened on the occasion of the
ture, the artist receives his guests
2007 as a non-profit organisation.
1900 Paris International Exhibition,
in his flat, where Chinese and
It aims to promote local contempo-
is an exception to the rule. There
18th-century furniture creates an
rary artists and foster international
is now another culinary hotspot at
overwhelming atmosphere of har-
exchange. The current exhibition “Ji
Gare Saint Lazare, where Norman-
mony. Hippolyte Romain produces
Dachun. Without a Home” will be on
dy-bound trains depart: the Lazare.
light, Asian-style dishes, for exam-
until 11th of May 2014. The painter
Opened by chef Eric Frechon, who
ple Chinese cabbage and Weiss-
Ji Dachun (b. 1968) is known for his
previously held three Michelin stars
wurst sautéed on ginger, and serves
surrealist, satirical critique of contem-
at Le Bristol, the brasserie offers
them on an artfully laid table. He
porary China.
typical French delicacies in a lovely
then garnishes them with gripping
atmosphere. On Sundays, guests of
stories about the paintings on the
1949 – The Hidden City is a former
the Lazar – or should we call them
walls. Ideal for a dinner à deux.
industrial suburb of Beijing that was
“audience”, given its chef ’s renown?
(phone: 06-14-28-09-71)
transformed into a trendy restaurant
– are highly recommended to treat
and bar district in 2008. For the best
themselves to a “Déjeuner de grand-
Musée Dapper is named after the
Peking duck in town, go to Duck de
mère” (Grandmother’s Lunch) for
Dutch writer Olfert Dapper, who
Chine (Gong Ti Bei Lu, Chaoyang Dis-
39 euros. The meal du jour is like-
in 1668 published an encyclopae-
trict, 100027 Beijing).
ly to be “Blanquette de veau” (veal
dic “Description of Africa” but had
stew), “Agneau de sept heures”
never actually left his native coun-
There’s no better way of letting the day
(lamb, cooked for seven hours), or
try. Established in Paris in 1986, the
fade away than with a cocktail at the
another palate-enticing, typically
museum is dedicated to Africa and
rooftop bar of the Emperor Hotel’s
French dish.
the West Indies. Its exhibition “Ini-
SHI restaurant, which comes with
tiates. Congo Basin” will be on until
a spectacular view of the Forbidden
early July.
City (33 Qihelou Street, Dongcheng,
“Each bit a pleasure trip” is what
you could say about dinners cooked
100006 Beijing).
w w w. u c c a . o r g . c n
w w w. l a z a r e - p a r i s . f r
w w w. d a p p e r. f r
w w w. t h e e m p e r o r. c o m . c n
Joëlle Thomas
Dorotheum’s representative in Paris
Pauline Beaufort-Spontin
Dorotheum’s representative in Beijing
PASSION
66
COLLECTION
Life with
THE O L D
Masters
H u m a n i t y, c l a s s i c c u l t i v a t i o n a n d a l o v e o f
language are dominant features of Héléna and
G u y M o t a i s d e N a r b o n n e’s o l d m a s te r s c o l l e c tion – one that rose to prominence with an
exclusive exhibition at the Louvre in 2008. But
the Parisian couple has no problem sharing
t h e i r p r i va te h o m e w i t h s o m e o f a r t h i s to r y ’s
m o s t h o r r i f y i n g m o t i f s , e i t h e r.
B Y D O RIS K R U M P L
So much for late-life relaxation: Héléna and Guy
Motais de Narbonne are both technically retired, but
their day-to-day life is as busy and active as ever. The
energetic couple spend most of their waking hours
researching, pursuing and collecting art – old master paintings, to be precise.
Tucked behind the façade of an unadorned apartment building in Paris’ wealthy 18th arrondissement, hidden from plain view, is the magnificent
old masters collection of Héléna and Guy Motais de
Narbonne. Inside, a conservation-ripe, wood-paneled elevator with glass windows and hinged doors is
like a time travel module, transporting its occupants
out of 21st-century Paris street life and into the opulent parlor life of the 19th century and before.
The Motais de Narbonne collection consists exclusively of works by Italian and French 17th- and
18th-century painters. Hung in the so-called Petersburg-hanging style, the paintings appear to cover
every last inch of wall space in the couple’s private
home. You won’t find any genre scenes among them,
though. The couple’s main interest – they make all
investment decisions together, so they say – lies in
religious and mythological motifs: “The Repentent Petrus” by Guercino, “Rest On The Flight Into
Egypt” by Jean Tassel, a painting with the same title
by Gregorio de Ferrari, and Louis de Boullogne’s
“The Triumph of Galatea”.
“We do not shy away from atrocious motifs”, says
Guy Motais de Narbonne. “Friends sometimes ask us
how we can decorate our entrance hall with Mattia
Preti’s ‘Queen Tomyris Receiving the Head of Cyrus,
King of Persia’, but the fierce revenge motif merely
reflects basic human conditions, human existence,
along with love, pain, violence, humanity, caducity
Héléna und Guy Motais de Narbonne
PASSION
68
Photos Christian Sarramon
Self portrait of Simon Vouet, bought at Dorotheum
and the search for God and a higher meaning of life.”
The couple’s top priority as collectors is quality; art-
In a painting by Pierre Mignard, Time – embodied
ists’ names play only a secondary role. “I’d prefer a
in the form of an elderly, winged and bearded man
great work by a mediocre artist any day over a weak
– clips Cupid’s wings with a pair of poultry scissors;
painting by a superstar”, says Guy Motais de Nar-
in another by Francesco Botti it exposes dishonesty
bonne, a former business manager who started col-
by violently tearing from the mask of deceit from
lecting art in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the old masters
a woman’s face. Two different versions of another
are getting harder and harder to come by, he says.
famous motif – showing a victorious David holding
The divide between the highest quality paintings
the severed head of Goliath by the hair – also found
and mediocre works is gradually becoming wider.
their way into the collection.
Héléna and Guy Motais de Narbonne have not been
able to secure any paintings by reputable French
“Sacrifice of Iphigenia” by Gabriel Francois Doy-
painter François Boucher, for example, though they
en was Héléna and Guy Motais de Narbonne’s first
do own a small oil-on-canvas study.
investment in art. When asked what drives the couple’s investment strategy, Héléna Motais explains,
Every piece of art in the apartment has its own
“paintings that ignite our imagination and aspi-
story; it was meticulously sought out and hung in
rations”. She points to her two favorite paintings.
just the right spot. “Self-Portrait” by Simon Vou-
Each of them depicts a young, rather effeminate
et, for instance, a true masterpiece that the couple
man. One of them is a clergyman, painted by an
acquired at a Dorotheum auction in 2012, has been
unknown Roman artist; he holds a book, eyes direct-
cleverly displayed in a place of honor above a large
ed upwards, in intense spiritual contact with God
mirror. It is the only self-portrait in the collection
and, so it would appear, already lost to the physi-
and is therefore a poor fit for the overall concept –
cal world. The other is a worldly Apollo painted by
but it simply had to be. The acquisition was a “coup
Charles Mellin. He is captured in a moment of deep
de coeur”, a decision of the heart, as were most of
self-reflection, quite possibly brought upon him by a
the investments made in recent decades. In the 2012
poem written on a piece of paper in his hand.
auction catalogue, Dorotheum expert Mark Mac-
teaches French to immigrant children in her spare
time. The problem of space surely does ease somewhat when you have the privilege of using none
other than the world-famous Louvre museum as
an external storage space. In 2008, the couple
even donated two of their paintings to the museum: “Return of the Lost Son”, a tondo by Domenico Maria Viani and “The Battle Between the Amazons and Greeks” by Claude Deruet. Both paintings
served to close gaps in the Louvre’s collection and
are now part of its permanent exhibition. Prior to
this, they were exhibited at the Louvre in an exclusive exhibition, along with 42 other paintings from
the Motais de Narbonne Collection. The accompanying exhibition catalogue was and continues to be
very important to the couple.
Most old master collectors are reserved where their
treasures are concerned, preferring to keep their
acquisitions to themselves. But Héléna and Guy
Art salon and living room
Motais de Narbonne are only too eager to share
their collection, not least with scholars and historians. “We have nothing to hide”, says Héléna Motais
Donnell wrote of the Caravaggio-inspired self-por-
emphatically. “We are highly conscious of the fact
trait: “With his half-open mouth and breathtaking-
that we will only own these paintings for a very lim-
ly direct gaze, the full frontal self-portrait betrays a
ited period of time.”
multitude of emotions: sadness, passion, suffering
and, quite possibly, ecstasy. Combined, they help
establish an intimate and sanguine portrait. The
result is an innovative work created with the intent
Doris Krumpl has a degree in German studies and art
history. She worked as art journalist for Austria’s daily
newspaper “Der Standard” before joining Dorotheum
as corporate spokeswoman in 2004.
to reflect an exact moment in time.”
Where do the Motais de Narbonnes find room to
hang new investments? “We always manage to find
space”, the charming lady of the house says with a
smile. She’s a retired teacher and still gratuitously
“I’d prefer a great work
by a mediocre artist any
day over a weak painting
by a superstar”
Inserat
PASSION
71
PASSION
From the
Priory
to the
Dorotheum
Groundplan St Dorothy, 18th century
Pz . 337-340 des Stiftsarchivs
Klosterneuburg
PASSION
72
The earlier chapel dedicated to
St Dorothy is first mentioned in a
document dated 27 October 1353.
Priory archives Urk. D 1353 X 27
Church of St Dorothy – 600
years of theAugustinian
C a n o n s i n D o r o t h e e r gass e
The Augustinian Priory of
St Dorothy gave the Dorotheum its
p r e s e n t n a m e . To c e l e b r a t e t h e s i x t h
centenary of its foundation, the
Dorotheum is holding an exhibition
o n i t s e v e n t f u l h i s t o r y.
The economic potency of the medieval Priory of St
Dorothy can be verified through a great deal of archival material, accounts and land registers. Striking
among them is a land registry of 1400 with a fullpage miniature of the Baptism of Christ and a Golden Bull of Emperor Frederick III.
b y K a r l H o l u ba r a n d
W o lfga n g C h r i s t i a n H u b e r
Very few who enter the Dorotheum today as customers
or vendors are aware that the institution’s name
derives from the Augustinian Priory of St Dorothy
located on this spot until 1786. Along with
Klosterneuburg, Herzogenburg and the likewise no
longer extant St Pölten Priory, St Dorothy’s was one
of the major priories of the Order of Canons in Lower
Austria; it availed of considerable economic and
artistic resources.
The priory was built in 1414 at the behest of Duke
Albrecht V (1397–1439) on the location of the earlier
chapel dedicated to St Dorothy. The funds had been
provided by the ducal chancellor Andreas Plank,
who was regarded and honoured as the actual
benefactor. An exhibition held in the Dorotheum’s
Franz Joseph Hall to celebrate the sixth centenary of this
foundationwill document the history of a priory that
is now generally forgotten.
Loy Hering (1484/85–1554), the tomb of Nicholas, Count of Salm, defender of Vienna during the first
siege of the city by the Turks; around 1530. Vienna, Votive Church (originally in the Church of St Dorothy)
PASSION
73
St Dorothy’s Priory wielded significance far beyond
sance painting, will be a central piece in the exhibition.
the limits of Vienna. To a certain degree it was
even a model monastery. The run-down prio-
The portraits of quite a number of provosts of the
ry of canons in Glatz, Silesia, and the still existing
priory and occasional canons of the Baroque period
Neustift Priory near Brixen/Bressanone in South
have been preserved. We can gain a picture of the
Tyrol were reformed from Vienna. The manu-
appearance and rich accoutrements of the church
scripts of the priory library, a good part of which
– its Baroque semblance is the work of no less an
View of the Priory of St Dorothy, 18th
century. Priory archives, Pz. 337–340
is now preserved in the Austrian National Library,
architect than Matthias Steinl – through surviving
still give us an idea of the canons’ wide-ranging
views, sketches and engravings after the altarpieces.
interests. They include numerous scientific and
The most important work of art of St Dorothy’s is the
medicinaltexts, but worthy of special mention is a
tomb of Nicholas, Count of Salm, defender of Vienna
medieval cookery book.
during the first siege of the city by the Turks in 1529,
which eventually found its way into the Votive Church.
When the priory landed in economic straits in the late
15th century, it was bailed out by the Bishop Emeritus
It is an ironic stroke of history that the last provost
of Chiemsee. Ludwig Ebmer (Ebner), who lived in
of the St Dorothy’s Priory, Ignaz Miller, was not only
the priory after 1502 and was an influential advisor
Maria Theresa’s confessor, but also an ardent advo-
to Emperor Maximilian I at the time, is justifiably
cate of Joseph II’s reforms – which did not prevent
regarded as second benefactor. His painted epitaph
the emperor from dissolving the priory immediately
from 1516, an important work of Austrian Renais-
after Miller’s death.
Master of the Legend of Sigismund,
1516, Epitaph of Bishop Ludwig
Ebmer (Ebner), Klosterneuburg
priory museum, Inv. No. GM 102
The emperor committed himself personally to
relocating the Versatz- und Fragamt (pawn and sales
office) along with its auction operations into the old
church and the dissolved priory. He also had the
church steeples razed and the interior adapted for its
new purpose. The premises were apropos regarded as
suitable for auctions and depots because the windows
opened up onto a large inner courtyard, purportedly
advantageous for security. Compared with the earlier
premises of the auction house on Annagasse, the
interior was considerably brighter, which facilitated a
reliable assessment of the objects that were brought in.
Part of the property of St Dorothy’s remained in
Klosterneuburg, including the archive and many
precious works of art which enrich the priory
museum today. Nevertheless, the great majority is
irrevocably lost: a fire in 1786 destroyed all the
“spiritual things” stored in the already dissolved
priory, and the objects of precious metals in the priory
treasury were “smashed and melted down” by
imperial command. Only a few albeit extremely
valuable ivory carvings convey a hint of the former
Exhibition “Church of St Dorothy – 600 years of
t h e A u g u s t i n i a n C a n o n s i n D o r o t h ee r g a sse ”
Duration: 26 June 2014 – 28 August 2014
Location: Palais Dorotheum, Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna, 1st floor,
Franz Joseph Hall
Opening hours: Mon – Fri 10 am – 6 pm, Sat 9 am – 5 pm
Admission is free.
glories of the priory.
Karl Holubar is director of the Klosterneuburg
monastery archives.
Wolfgang Christian Huber is freelance curator of
exhibitions and curator of the art collections of the
Klosterneuburg monastery.
Guided tours: every Wednesday at 11 am; meeting point: Franz Joseph Hall
Group tours by prior appointment; contact: Ingeborg Fiegl +43/1/515 60 449
A catalogue will accompany the exhibition
www.dorotheum.com
Painting in the land registry 102/1 in the
priory archives, which contains grounds
subject to the Priory of St Dorothy
located at the Schottentor town
gate (“In der Siechenals”) between
1400 and 1707. It shows
the Baptism of Christ.
PASSION
75
1730
The Priory of St Dorothy, engraving after
Salomon Kleiner, around 1730
Façade of the Dorotheum, 1901
T h e D o r o t h e u m ’ s P r e d e c e ss o r
b y A n d r e as L ö bb e ck e
The Dorotheum was built between 1898 and 1901 after plans by the renowned Ringstrasse architect Emil von Förster.
A remarkable earlier building had to make way for the new historicist building: the eponymous ensemble of St Dorothy’s
Church and Priory.
A view angled from the side of Dorotheergasse shows the double-tower façade built in 1705 after plans by Matthias Steindl
to front the Gothic nave, facing northwest. It was particularly striking for its central section with its characteristically
concave curve. Annexed to the narrow front of the church at the right was the cloister wing leading away from the city
centre, likewise built as part of a reconstruction phase in the early 18th century (see view of the St Dorothy Priory on p. 73).
The Dorotheum had been situated since its foundation in 1707 on Annagasse; after the dissolution of the priory in 1788, it
was relocated at the express command of Joseph II to its new, prestigious quarter and assumed its auctioning activities.
The state of the building between its adaptation in 1788 and
the erection of Förster’s new building is seen in a woodcut by
The priory building after
Gustav Zafaurek from 1884 which has so far attracted little
its conversion into an
auction house, 1787
attention. At the left edge of the picture we can detect the unadorned church façade with the curving central section framed
by double columns, as well as the annex of the former cloister
wing; it was elevated by a storey in 1848, giving the finishing
touch to the church building – meanwhile without towers – at
the height of the roof ridge.
1787
Emil von Förster drew the inspiration for his designs primarily
from the Italian Renaissance language of forms. When he built
the new Dorotheum in neo-baroque style, this may arguably be
interpreted as a deliberate reminiscence of a preceding baroque
building of major significance.
Andreas Löbbecke is an expert for Autographs.
1901
PASSION
© Albertina
76
Masterpieces
With Dürer’s
Ha r e
The World
of Faberg
é
From the co
llections of
the Mosco
Museum an
w Kremlin
d the Fersm
an Mineral
Kunsthisto
ogical Mus
risches Mus
eum
eum Vienn
Maria-There
a
sien-Platz,
1010 Vienna
, until 18 M
ay 2014
After a ten-year time-out, Dürer’s famous original “Young Hare” is finally back on display.
“The Origins of the Albertina – From Dürer to
200 masterpieces from the Albertina’s collection,
including works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt,
Rubens and Caspar David Friedrich. The show is
The Origins of the Albertina
From Dürer to Napoleon
14 March 2014 29 June 2014
Albertina, Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna
www.albertina.at
set in the context of the fascinating, chequered
biographies of the museum’s founders, Prince
Albert of Saxony and Archduchess Maria Christina:
their places of residence – Dresden, Rome, Paris, Brussels and Vienna – were the world’s leading
centres of arts and politics at the time. The exhibition provides an insight into the contemporary collectors’ and art dealers’ complex networking, the
feudal life of Europe’s aristocracy, and the political
and intellectual re-orientation under the premises
of Enlightenment.
F r a n z Ba r w i g :
Art Deco Meets
the Ancient
World
© The Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum and Heritage Site
Napoleon” is the first exhibition to showcase around
House of C. Fabergé
Egg with model of the cruiser “Memory of Azov” , 1891
Heliotrope, aquamarine, brilliants, rose-cut diamonds, gold,
ruby, platinum, silver, velvet
egg: 9,3 x 7 cm, model: h. 4 cm, l.7 cm
with the support of the Dorotheum, the Belvedere
Conversing
A b o u t Fa b e r g é
is devoting an exhibition from May 2014 to Franz
In a comprehensive exhibition open until 18 May
Barwig the Elder (1868–1931), one of the most
2014, the Kunsthistorisches Museum turns a spot-
important and successful Austrian sculptors of
light on the most important and influential Rus-
his time. Barwig’s characteristic animal sculptures
sian jeweller and goldsmith at the turn of the 19th
show him as a pioneer of Art Deco, whereas his
century: Peter Carl Fabergé. His company – one of
nudes return deliberately to a classical ideal of
the greatest of its day – served not only the Russian
form, which he interpreted in a modern way.
Imperial Court, but also numerous houses of
In its series “Masterpieces in Focus”, made possible
European royalty and the aristocracy, along with
various other commercial and financial magnates.
in Focus”,
“Masterpieces
Elder
the
g
FR ANZ Barwi
ie Belvedere,
er
al
G
he
sc
Österreichi
Vienna,
10
Strasse, 30
Prinz-Eugenptember 2014
16 May – 7 Se
At 7 pm on Monday, 12 May 2014, as part of the
Dorotheum series “Old Masters in Conversation”,
a panel discussion with Géza von Habsburg
and Dorotheum experts Astrid Fialka and Georg
Ludwigstorff will be held in the domed hall of the
© Belvedere, Vienna
Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Franz Barwig the Elder
Youth, 1913/1914
Oak wood, 178 x 39 x 31 cm
PASSION
77
© mumok Vienna, 2014
Giacomo Balla
Mercurio passa davanti,
al sole visto nel cannocchiale, 1914
Tempera on canvas, 138 x 99 cm
Do c u m e nt s a n d
D rama s
A hundred years after the outbreak of the First
World War, the Austrian National Library is displaying its War Collection in the exhibition “To My
Peoples! The First World War 1914–1918”. The former
©ONB
Hofbibliothek, the Court Library, began collecting
documents, writings and pictorial material already
in 1914 at the outbreak of the war. By 1918, an abundance of material had been compiled, sorted, catalogued and archived: photographs, posters, music,
soldier songs, literary texts, artistically designed
postcards from the field, children’s drawings, war
To My Peoples! The First World War
1914–1918, Austrian National Library
Josefsplatz 1, 1010 Vienna
13 March – 2 November 2014
diaries, newspapers and magazines, and other
remarkable documents that bear witness to life
and death on the front, and cast light on everyday
Cover of the exhibition catalogue
life at home and on the home front. They place the
events of the war into a historical but also private
context, give the victims a face, document the age,
explain what happened. On Thursday 12 June 2014,
the Dorotheum invites the public from 10 am to 6
The Present of Moder
nism
mumok Museum Mo
derner Kunst Stiftu
ng
Ludwig Wien, Museu
msplatz 1, 1070 Vie
nna, 14
March 2014 – 8 Febru
ary 2015
pm to an open-house day in the ceremonial hall of
the Austrian National Library.
Contemporary
Modernism
Security
a n d Pa s s i o n
f o r Sc h i e l e
& Co
This year’s presentation of the mumok collection
An Egon Schiele worth over two million euros: it is
focuses on classical modernism, along with the
one of the most valuable art objects Allianz insures
question of its current relevance and impact on sub-
in Austria. But even works by other artists, antiques,
sequent generations. In the interlacing of old and
watches and jewellery can quickly add up upon
new media, photography in particular has taken on
appraisal, creating values that go far beyond the scope
an astonishing new function. For the first time, the
of ordinary household insurance coverage. In order
collection presentation also places an emphasis
to provide comprehensive coverage, Allianz art
on Austrian artists: works on display include draw-
experts Cornelia Ellersdorfer and Brigitte Kieweg
ings by Josef Hoffmann, architectural models by
inventory and photograph the collection upon
Adolf Loos and photographs by Dora Kallmus. Other
conclusion of the insurance policy and agree on a
exhibitions at mumok include “Herbert Foundation
value for each individual art object, thereby creatin-
and mumok in Dialogue” along with a solo exhibition
gan insurance plan customised for your needs. The
featuring the work of Moyra Davey. On Sunday, 18
art insurance experts at Allianz and the experts at
May 2014, the Dorotheum will once again be wel-
the Dorotheum are happy to answer your questions
coming visitors with free admission to the mumok.
pertaining to the conservation and of preservation
Eva Badura will be giving a guided tour of the exhibi-
artworks on Thursday, 3 April, and Thursday, 15
tion to conclude the comprehensive programme.
May, at 5 pm on both days at Dorotheum.
EVENTS
78
1
PROJECTING
WORLDS
2
4
5
.viennaartweek.at
7
EVENTS
A RT &
AMUSEMENT
Initiated by the Dorotheum and hosted by Art Cluster Vienna and its
3
program partners, the VIENNA ART WEEK has become an annual
fixture in the city’s cultural life. In November 2013, in its ninth year of
existence, the festival once again attracted local and international art
lovers alike, with a total of 35,000 visitors to its 180 events. Highlights
included a spectacular launch party for the VIENNA ART WEEK at
Palais Dorotheum, Amar Kanwar’s exhibition project at TBA21 in
Vienna’s Augarten, and the opening of an exhibition by Britain’s star
artist Sarah Lucas at the Secession. Further crowd pullers were the
festival’s numerous panel discussions and its Open Studio Day, which
aroused a great deal of interest, particularly among art experts.
Art enthusiasts from all over the globe are well-advised to save the
date of VIENNA ART WEEK’s 10th anniversary edition from 17th to
23rd November 2014.
6
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Sarah Lucas, Jürgen Borchardt
Hermann Fankhauser von Wendy & Jim
Z i n Ta y l o r, N i c o l a u s S c h a f h a u s e n , S y l v i e L i s k a
E l k e K r a s n y, B e t t i n a H a b s b u r g - L o t h r i n g e n ,
M i c h a e l H u b e r, S a n a Ta m z i n i
K l a u s A l b r e c h t S c h r ö d e r, F r a n c e s c a v o n H a b s b u r g ,
Martin Böhm
J o s h u a D e c k e r, V i c t o r i a I v a n o v a , R o b e r t P u n k e n h o f e r,
U r s u l a K r i n z i n g e r, K o á n J e f f B a y s a , A l a n J o n e s
Fundraising Dinner Sarah Lucas, Secession
R a i n e r N o w a k , R o b e r t P u n k e n h o f e r, F r a n c e s c a v o n
H a b s b u r g , M a r t i n B ö h m , K l a u s A l b r e c h t S c h r ö d e r,
Andreas Mailath-Pokorny
STORY
80
Moments
of Bliss
Photo ORF
STORY
by Karl Hohenlohe
I was a blank page, literally. I lay
What he put down on paper was
were hung on the walls all over the
there, embedded in a pad, blank
drawn neither from nature nor
place, labelled with small white tags
pagesunder me, blank pages above
his imagination; his source was a
with auction dates on them. Sebastian
me; but as time went by I edged
poster lying in front of him. Now and
Herligmann freed me from the paper
nearer and nearer the top. I’ll never
then the telephone rang; the man
saying “You’re the appraiser, sir, what
forget the day I felt the first stroke of
picked up the receiver: “Sebastian
do you think …?” then fell silent.
the brush. It wasn’t actually meant
Herligmann here”, he said, then
for me but for the last page above me,
put
to
The stranger looked meditatively
but I enjoyed divining the colours in
smoke a cigarette, or have a bite to
from me to Mr Herligmann and
my mind, speculating about the con-
eat. In between he kept coming back
shook his head. Herligmann seemed
tours and conjecturing whether the
to me, scrutinised me, and I was very
to have expected this reaction. He
depiction was of a face, a bouquet
happy. But Sebastian Herligmann
wrapped me up, and the next day
of flowers, a horse or a scantily
wasn’t happy yet. He kept going
I was hanging up once more in
dressed girl.
over his work, changing a nuance
my old place. Sometimes the others
of colour here, filling in a gap there,
call me a fake, but I don’t care.
very
scratching paint off and adding it
Simple-minded prints, watercolours
torn
somewhere else.
and photographs have no idea about
Then
fast.
everything
My
happened
predecessor
was
the
phone
down,
went
violently from the pad, crumpled
the sky-high difference between a
up, and buried in a waste-paper bas-
One day I could no longer be
ket. For decades he had been wait-
distinguished
ing for this moment of bliss, had at
Herligmann, too, seemed satisfied: he
last been wrested from nothingness
nodded benignly, picked up his brush
and painted … and didn’t fit the bill.
and wrote “Alfons Walde” on me.
from
the
original.
Like a one-day butterfly just out of
the cocoon, he was now gasping out
For 22 years I hung in the room
the last breath of his brief life in a
until something strange happened
wooden waste-paper basket.
again. Sebastian Herligmann took
me off the wall, placed me on a
You can imagine how terrified I was,
table, and I disappeared into brown
especially when the man stared at
wrapping paper, restrained with a
me in silence for a long time before
simple piece of string. The bus took
he picked up the brush and started
seven hours to get to the capital city,
work, with infinite deliberation.
where I lay in a large house. Pictures
fake and a copy.
Karl Hohenlohe is anchorman,
TV producer, columnist, and editor of
the restaurant guide “Gault Millau”.
Among other shows, Hohenlohe
moderates Austria’s ORF III
programme “Was schätzen Sie?”
for collectors and art lovers.
VIEW
81
Allianz Art Privat
Werte zu versichern setzt
Vertrauen voraus.
Ob Kunst, Antiquitäten,
Schmuck oder wertvolle
Sammlungen, in Privatbesitz
oder als Teil des Firmenvermögens, wir haben individuelle Lösungen. Fragen Sie
die Kunstexperten bei der
Allianz! Sie helfen bei der
Erhaltung Ihrer Schätze.
Ihre Ansprechpartner für die
Allianz Art Privat Kunst- und
Haushaltversicherung
Mag. Cornelia Ellersdorfer
Tel.: +43 5 9009-80639
cornelia.ellersdorfer@allianz.at
Mag. Brigitte Kieweg
Tel.: +43 5 9009-88756
brigitte.kieweg@allianz.at
CONTACTS
PALAIS
D ORO T HE U M
Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Tel. +43-1-515 60-570, client.services@dorotheum.at
C l i e n t Ad v i s o r y S e r v i c e s
P r i va t e S a l e s
Mag. Constanze Werner
Tel. +43-1-515 60-366, constanze.werner@dorotheum.at
Dr. Alexandra Gräfin von Arnim
Tel. +49-89-244 434 73-0, alexandra.arnim@dorotheum.at
Art financing
Mag. Andreas Wedenig
Tel. +43-1-515 60-261, andreas.wedenig@dorotheum.at
C a t a l o gu e Sub s c r ipti o n s
Tel. +43-1-515 60-200, abo@dorotheum.at
www.dorotheum.com
Dorotheum
I N T ERNA T I ONAL
Düsseldorf
London
Dr. Petra Schäpers
Südstraße 5, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
Tel. +49-211-210 77-47, duesseldorf@dorotheum.de
Damian Brenninkmeyer
Green Park House, 15 Stratton Street
W1J 8LQ London, UK
Tel. +44-20-303 600 27
damian.brenninkmeyer@dorotheum.com
MUnIch
Franz Freiherr von Rassler
Galeriestraße 2, 80539 Munich, Germany
Tel. +49-89-244 434 73-0, muenchen@dorotheum.de
MIlan
Angelica Cicogna Mozzoni
Palazzo Amman, via Boito, 8, 20121 Milan, Italy
Tel. +39-02-303 52 41, angelica.cicogna@dorotheum.it
R o mE
Dott.ssa Maria Cristina Paoluzzi
Palazzo Colonna, Piazza SS. Apostoli, 66, 00187 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39-06-699 23 671
maria-cristina.paoluzzi@dorotheum.it
Naples
Giuseppe Imparato
Mobil +39-335-592 52 33,
giuseppe.imparato@dorotheum.it
Brussels
Comtesse Honorine d’Ursel
13, rue aux Laines, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel. +32-2-514 00 34, honorine.dursel@dorotheum.be
B ud a p e s t
Réka Kovács
OREX Palais, Andrássy ùt 64, 1062 Budapest, Hungary
Tel. +36-1-413 3742, Mobil +36-20-545 9856
kovacs.reka@orex.hu
Pa r i s
Joëlle Thomas
Mobil (Frankreich) +33-665-17 69 37
Mobil (Österreich) +43-699-10 38 86 40
joelle.thomas@dorotheum.com
B e iji n g
Pauline Beaufort-Spontin
Mobil +86-134 3988 8528
pauline.beaufort-spontin@dorotheum.com
PraGue
Dr. Mária Gálová
Ovocný trh 2, 11000 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Tel. +420-2-24 22 20-01
klient.servis@dorotheum.cz
T e l Av i v
Mag. Rafael Schwarz
Mobil (Israel) +972-54-448 39 78
Tel. (Österreich) +43-1-515 60-405
rafael.schwarz@dorotheum.com
Zagreb
Dr. Venetia Eltz Vukovarski
eltz.vukovarski@dorotheum.com
Zurich
Tel. +43-1-515 60-405
client.services@dorotheum.at
CONTACTS
83
Dorotheum
A U C T I ON D A T ES
UPCOMING AUCTIONS DOROTHEUM
Vintage Motor Vehicles and Automobilia
Tue, 18th March, 2014
Silver
Mon, 19th May, 2014
Art Nouveau, 20th-Century Arts and Crafts
Wed, 19th March, 2014
Contemporary Art Part I
Tue, 20th May, 2014
Tribal Art
Mon, 24th March, 2014
Art Nouveau, 20th Century Arts and Crafts
Tue, 20th May, 2014
Tue/Wed, 25th/26th
Jewellery
Wed, 21st May, 2014
Contemporary Art Part II
Wed, 21st May, 2014
Modern Art
Thur, 22nd May, 2014
Wrist and Pocket Watches
Fri, 23rd May, 2014
Stamps
March, 2014
19th Century Paintings
Tue, 8th April 2014
Works of Art (Furniture, Sculpture,
Wed/Thur, 9th/10th
Glass and Porcelain)
April, 2014
Old Master Paintings
Wed, 9th April, 2014
Jewellery
Thur, 10th April, 2014
Antiques (Sculpture, Clocks,
Metalwork, Faience, Folk Art)
Master Drawings, Prints before 1900,
Watercolours, Miniatures
Imperial Court Memorabilia
Historical Scientific Instruments and
Globes, Classic Cameras and Accessories
Stamps
Wed, 23rd April, 2014
Mon, 28th April, 2014
Wed, 30th April, 2014
Mon, 5th May, 2014
Wed, 7th May, 2014
Coins, Medals and Paper Money
BRUSSELS, 19th and 25th March, 2014 By appointment only: Wilfried van Gaver, Laura de Beir
Tel. 02-514 00 34
bruessel@dorotheum.be
BUDAPEST, 20th March, 2014
By appointment only: Réka Kovács
Tel. +36-1-413 37 42
kovacs.reka@orex.hu
DÜSSELDORF, 30th April, 2014
By appointment only: Cordula Lichtenberg
Tel. +49-211-210 77 47
duesseldorf@dorotheum.de
ZURICH, 27th May, 2014
By appointment only: Rafael Schwarz
Tel. +43-1-515 60-57
client.services@dorotheum.com
May, 2014
Orders and Decorations
Wed, 28th May, 2014
Musical Instruments
Wed, 28th May, 2014
Autographs
Mon, 2nd June, 2014
Asian Art
Tue, 3rd June, 2014
Photography
Tue, 3rd June, 2014
Modern and Contemporary Prints
Wed, 4th June, 2014
Design
Thur, 5th June, 2014
Antique Arms, Uniforms and Militaria
Tue, 10th June, 2014
Stamps
INTERNATIONAL VALUATION DAYS
Mon/Tue, 26th/27th
Wed/Thur, 11th/12th
June, 2014
Vintage Motor Vehicles and Automobilia
Sat, 14th June, 2014
19th Century Paintings and Watercolours
Mon, 16th June, 2014
Glass and Porcelain
Tue, 17th, 2014
Books and Decorative Prints
Wed, 18th June, 2014
Furniture
Mon, 23rd June, 2014
Old Master Paintings
Tue, 24th June, 2014
Modern and Contemporary Art
Wed, 25th June, 2014
Toys
Thur, 26th June, 2014
Sporting and Vintage Guns
Sat, 28th June, 2014
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, 1955
Holes, glass stones, black waterpaint on canvas, 50 x 40 cm
Estimate € 550,000 – 750,000
Contemporary Art auction I, 20 May 2014