Self-portrait by Pechstein auctioned for over 3 million
The painting "Self-Portrait, Reclining" by Max Pechstein has been auctioned for 3.2 million euros following confusion over its provenance. All bidders at the auction on Friday evening came from Germany and Switzerland, according to the Lempertz auction house. According to the auction house, the work by Pechstein (1881-1955) is the painter's most important self-portrait and will now go to a German private collection. The estimated price for the colorful oil painting, created in 1909, was 1.5 million to 2 million euros, according to the catalog.
The expressionist work was originally part of the collection of the Jewish doctor Walter Blank (1892-1938) in Cologne, who sold it in 1936. In the same year, he emigrated to Antwerp with his two sons.
The painting was to be auctioned at Kunsthaus Lempertz on June 6 of this year. According to the auction house, the provenance had been extensively researched beforehand and it had been ruled out that it was looted art.
On the day of the auction, one of the Blank family's heirs had the work entered into the "Lost Art" database. This documents cultural assets that were confiscated from those persecuted by the Nazi dictatorship between 1933 and 1945 or for which such a loss cannot be ruled out.
Registered bidders, including a museum, were unsettled by the "Lost Art" entry. The painting was withdrawn from the summer auction. However, the legal examination of the work and its provenance has shown that it is not looted art, according to Lempertz. The work was therefore now one of the main works in the fall auction. It is no longer among the more than 160 Pechstein works in the "Lost Art" database.
The withdrawn self-portrait by Pechstein, originally linked to the Blank family's collection, ultimately sold at the fall auction after being cleared of being looted art. This significant artwork, now valued at over 3 million euros, will join an esteemed private art collection.
Despite initial reservations caused by its appearance in the "Lost Art" database, the high-profile auction featured a variety of art pieces, including the auctioned Pechstein self-portrait.
Source: www.dpa.com
