The main highlight of the auction in Modern Art did not disappoint: Sergius Pauser's masterpiece of the “Neue Sachlichkeit” titled "Child with Toy" from 1926, brought in 55,000 (72,600 with buyers premium) Euros after a bidding war. This represents a new world record for this artist at an auction and confirms the growing interest of the art market in this art movement.
The animal painter Norbertine Bresslern-Roth is also enjoying unbroken popularity: her painting "City in Africa" from 1928, created after a trip to Tripoli, earned 150,000 (197,000) Euros.
The Kinsky was equally pleased by the auction of 15 paintings by the Polish painter Wojciech von Kossak, which enjoyed great popularity. The majority of them were horse motifs, one of them, "Girls and Cuassier" was worth 9000 (11,550) Euros to a bidder.
Ernst Fuchs’ ballerina charmed several bidders, the hammer fell eventually at 45,000 (58,000) Euros. In general, the works of members of the group of phantastic realists were in high demand. All works by Wolfangang Hutter, Arik Brauer and Karl Hodina were sold. The latter achieved 6000 (8000) Euros with his work "Eremit 1"; this is the second most expensive oil painting ever auctioned by this artist.
The auction house also achieved a record with the sculpture “Samba dancer” by Oskar Höfinger. The 40,000 (53,000) Euros it was sold at is the highest prize ever won for a sculpture by this artist and confirms the previous record from 2017, which equals to the same amount.
Markus Prachensky enjoys unbroken popularity – his work "Campania Shuffle" from 1993 earned 34,000 (45,000) Euros. There is also as usual much interest generated by works by Herbert Brandl: an untitled, large-scale painting went for the same price.
Also very popular are works by the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig, who is a household name by now. A number of early drawings from private collection brought strong prices, for instance a double self-portrait, which was auctioned for 22,000 (29,500) Euros.
Arnulf Rainer, too, is still a guarantor for bidding battles – and this time it was often the online bidders who were able to carry them off. A series of his etchings once again proved the enduring fascination of this artist's work. The most expensive work in this series brought 3,500 (5000) Euros, doubling its upper estimate.
The Kinsky also set a record for a painting by Lassnig student Guido Katol: his "Schmelzwasser" from 2014 was sold for 22,000 (29,500) Euros.
(Alexandra Markl)