MWith flushed cheeks, Charlotte Berend-Corinth raises her glass; Facing the smoking companion at table, she seems to want to toast the beautiful evening in a small group. Apparently, her husband Lovis Corinth took third place at the table, whose painting “Under the Chandelier” gives the impression that he had just put down his knife and fork for a moment and pushed back the chair to capture a moment that the painter’s eye saw as a true festival of lights darbot: The candle flames of the chandelier make the metal shimmer, are reflected by the gold-framed mirror on the wall and are reinforced by two candelabra. Glasses and carafes sparkle, the wine glows red in them, the plates also shine, as does Mrs. Charlotte’s bracelets and the nose of the other person. It’s Robert Richter, an artist friend.
When Neumeister calls up almost a thousand lots of old and new art, handicrafts, antiques and jewelery on March 29 and 30, the atmospheric evening scene that Corinth painted in 1905 will also be offered with an estimate of 220,000 to 280,000 euros. When the picture was auctioned at Neumeister in 1991, Senior Rudolf Neumeister was still at the desk. In 1958 he took over the auction house Adolf Weinmüller, which later got his name and has been managed by his daughter Katrin Stoll since 2008.
For the 65th anniversary, the credo of the house remains to uphold older art epochs. But it was accompanied by innovations: in addition to the expanded program to include post-war art and contemporaries, themed auctions on design and vintage fashion came into play. Instead of catalogues, which are now available online, Neumeister sends out magazines that effectively stage pieces and tell stories.
Objects from aristocratic houses are always good for this. Marketed in “Noble Sales”, the modest bundle from the attic gets a little “crown shine” and everyone, says Katrin Stoll, gets the chance “to acquire a piece of great history with a comparatively small investment”. Are you thinking of nine ashtrays for between 100 and 120 euros? After all, they come from ducal-Württemberg ownership. As was the case for the “Hidden Treasures” special auction a year ago, the 60 boxes in which inventory from Duke Ferdinand’s Carlsruhe Castle in Upper Silesia had been saved to the West before it burned down when the Red Army invaded in 1945 were dug deep into.
This time, a magnificent silver terrine with présentoire from the 19th century (estimate 40,000 to 60,000 euros) is one of the highlights among lots of silver, porcelain, pictures, suitcases, hats and furniture. There are also pieces from Saxon, Rhenish, Bavarian or Baden nobility. When Marie-Antoinette zu Fürstenberg married Count Johann von Schönborn-Wiesentheid in 1977, her father gave her a diadem with turquoise and diamonds, for which 45,000 to 55,000 euros would have to be invested. Outside the noble chapter, but certainly worthy of it, are two pieces of furniture from the 18th century by Pierre Roussel: a chest of drawers showing landscape marquetry with temple architecture (60,000/80,000) and a chiffonière with chinoiseries (30,000/50,000). Both accompany expert reports from the Röbbig art dealership.
The modern section contains a watercolor of the Staffelalp created around 1918 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who gave it to his doctor, Ludwig Spengler. Estimated at 60,000 to 80,000 euros, it is on the same price level as Emil Nolde’s watercolour-like view of the evening sea with a steamer. Gerhard Richter was also looking at the sea, a fluffy ball of clouds hovering over it when he took the picture for an offset print from 1971 (edition 150; 12,000/15,000). Richter’s photograph of the legendary gallerist Heiner Friedrich is a one-off from the 1970s at 30,000 to 35,000 euros.
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