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Market news: Wilhelm Lehmbruck sculptures priced up to 1.25 million dollars
The first UK exhibition of work by the German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck opens at the Michael Werner Gallery this week.
One of the strengths of the European Fine Art Fair is the way it appeals to collectors with a wide range of interests. Last week, for instance, the Arnoldi-Livie gallery from Munich was exhibiting a rare tempera painting of a seated nude by the sculptor Constantin Brancusi. While drawings for sculptures by the artist do occasionally appear at auction, only three or four paintings have been auctioned in 60 years. The tempera, still in its original Brancusi frame, was made in about 1928 and depicts a young girl who danced for the artist in his studio. Priced at around 420,000 euros, it sold to the commodities hedge fund manager Christian Levett.
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George Bailey, a former managing director of Sotheby’s Europe and recently its chairman of business development, has some business development ideas of his own. Although still a consultant to Sotheby’s, he has launched The Auction Room, an online auction house for jewellery, watches, silver, stamps, Chinese works of art and Middle Eastern Contemporary art. Sales will start in June.
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The last time that the German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919), had an exhibition in London was in 1957 at the Tate Gallery. On Thursday, the first UK exhibition since then opens at the Michael Werner Gallery in Upper Brook Street, W1. “There is still a lot about the kind of materials he used, and the variations and repetitions that occur in his work, that is not widely understood,” says Gordon Veneklasen, a director of the gallery.
Because his work is rare, the gallery has relied on a number of loans from private collections (example pictured below). However, some works will be for sale priced from $200,000 dollars to $1.25 million.
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An 8in blue-and-white Chinese vase that was estimated to sell for £10,000 at Tennant’s auctioneers in Yorkshire last week sold for £950,000 to a buyer from Hong Kong. Made for the Emperor Qianlong in around 1730, it was acquired by a British diplomat, Sir Francis Stronge, in Peking in 1879 and was passed down to his grandson, who was, no doubt, pleasantly surprised by the news.
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An exhibition of paintings by the Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies, who died last year aged 88, has almost sold out at the Timothy Taylor Gallery in London. The paintings have come from the artist’s estate and are priced at between 90,000 euros and 420,000 euros.