(openPR) - Hamburg, 31 October 2007 (kk) - When she bought a sofa bed last year at a flea market for € 150, she didn’t know how lucky she was. When the Berlin student drew out the bed tray for the first time at home, she discovered a painting in it that was sold at auction by Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg on Saturday, 27 October, for € 19 200*.
Surprised at this unusual discovery, the young woman looked over the picture and found the name of Adam Elsheimer on the back. After a quick glance online, she sought professional help and turned to the NDR television programme “Lieb & Teuer”, a German version of “Antiques Road Show” that appraises flea market finds and antiques brought in by viewers. Paintings expert Barbara Guarnieri, who is also in charge of the Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century division at Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg, got to work on research. Thanks to information provided by Dr. Rüdiger Klessmann, it was soon clear that the painting was not by Adam Elsheimer, an important early German Baroque painter, but was instead the work of a member of the circle of the Venetian artist Carlo Saraceni and was entitled “Die Vorbereitung zur Flucht nach Ägypten” [“Preparation for the Flight into Egypt”], dating from 1605/10. On the television programme, the picture was estimated at € 6000 - 7000.
The Berlin student decided to sell the oil painting on slate, measuring 26 x 39 cm, at the Ketterer Kunst auction of Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century. Carrying an estimate of € 5000-7000, the work nearly quadrupled it. The student is delighted that her original investment of € 150 paid off so handsomely: The return on it was approximately 130 times the original modest outlay.
For more information on that auction, see the separate press release “A Master-stroke: Highest Hammer Price for Preller d.J.” Lots unsold at the Ketterer Kunst auction held at 1 Meßberg, Hamburg, on 27 October 2007 can still be acquired at post-auction sales until 27 November 2007. Auction result lists are available: please call +49-(0)40-374961-0. More information also online at www.kettererkunst.com.
Enquiries: Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century / Marine Art:
Ketterer Kunst
Prinzregentenstraße 61
81675 München
Harald Weinhold
phone: 089-55244-146 (Fax: -166)
E-mail:: h.weinhold@kettererkunst.de
Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books. While our Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alphons Palais is responsible for the two traditional annual auctions of Modern Art & Post War, the Meßberghof in Hamburg is the venue for two traditional auctions a year, each based on the following fields: Old Masters and 19th-Century Art /Marine Art and Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints as well as Modern Art & Post War, with a focus on works on paper. In addition, exhibitions, special and benefit auctions for charity as well as live auctions online are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.
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