Strong results and a world record on 16 & 17 December

Modern Art

The third day of the auction proved the enduring strength of classical modernism. It began with drawings by Gustav Klimt, including a "Floating nude with outstretched arms", which achieved 115,500 EUR.

As usual, pictures of Alfons Walde were hotly contested.  An early still life from 1913 found a new owner for 99,000 EUR, while a typical winter motif such as the "Farmer Mother" went for 223,500 EUR.

Definitely worth mentioning is another Tyrolean, Oskar Mulley,who is enjoying increasing popularity. His "Mountain Village" from the 1930s climbed to 68,000 EUR.

As always, Werner Berg drew a lot of attention. A "Hut in Winter" went to a bidder for 160,000 EUR. His woodcuts, which mostly exceeded their upper estimate, were also very popular.

Contemporary Art

The last day of the auction began with a bang – the works of the artist Martha Jungwirth set new world records. Not only was one painting able to almost double its previous best price at auctions, but three pictures broke through their upper estimates by far. For the most expensive (untitled) work from 2011, the hammer fell at 197,000 EUR. A small work on cardboard also aroused great interest and brought in 20,000 EUR. This points to the great increase in value of the artist during the last year, which  is being successfully placed internationally by her gallery Ropac.

Rudolf Polanszky easily holds his high price levels of the last auctions. Two large, untitled paintings  by the artist from 2003 and 2005 respectively each brought in EUR 79,500.

In the second part of the extensive auction, a bidding war for Ernst Fuchs 'Cinderella' created a great buzz. The picture was sold for 158,000 EUR.

Like numerous paintings by the artist VOKA, it belonged to the Stronach Collection. VOKA’s works  also enjoyed great popularity. One example is a large-scale "horse race", which achieved 50,500 EUR. (Alexandra Markl)