Preview 125th Art Auction – Impressionist & Modern Art

return to overview

IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART – 30 November & 1 December 2018

The jubilee auction presents a veritable who’s who of art after 1900, but it kicks off with one of Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller’s loveliest paintings “Children Playing with Dolls” from 1864. It is a prominent and convincing statement that modernism began already in the 19th century.

Four prominent drawings by Egon SCHIELE and eight by Gustav KLIMT from different work periods and from old private collections, as well as the mysterious gazes of Werner BERG’s gamblers, Norbertine BRESSLERN-ROTH’s enchanting worlds of animals, and an unusually light-hearted composition by Wilhelm THÖNY demonstrate the timeless expressive power of Viennese and Austrian modernism. Viennese Art Nouveau at its best is represented by a major work from the very rare oeuvre of the underrated painter Leopold BLAUENSTEINER, whose portrait of his wife was prominently displayed at the 1909 Internationale Kunstschau of the Vienna Secession.

Just how surreal our existence can be interpreted is demonstrated by works such as the fantastical nocturnal woodland scenery by Franz SEDLACEK, Albert BIRKLE’s eerie “Leipziger Straße in Berlin” or by the “Mountain of Crystal” by MAN RAY. The first farmer from Albin EGGER-LIENZ’s famous “Dance of Death” reveals the existential element of life with no more than one colour, while Rudolf WACKER expresses his speechlessness in his time of political turmoil with the mere symbol of a rustic jug. The offerings are rounded out by watercolours and gouaches by George Grosz, August Macke, Fernand Léger and others.