Dead Hares and Playful Cats

Hamburg, 13 September 2007, (kk) - Adriaen van Utrecht’s “Küchenstillleben mit erlegtem Wild und Gemüse” [“Kitchen Still Life with Game and Vegetables”] is, at an estimate of € 40 000-60 000, as things look at the moment, the most important work to be sold at the Ketterer Kunst auction of Old Masters & Art of the 19th Century / Marine Art in Hamburg on 27 October 2007. Dating from the latter half of the 1640s, the painting is similar to a version in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich dated to 1648.
The Flemish animal and still life painter Adriaen van Utrecht worked by choice with a sombre palette, a predilection that places him close to Jan Fyt. Also typical of van Utrecht’s style is his extremely sculptural handling. The dead hare at the centre of the work seems to be looking the viewer directly in the eye.
Compared to the van Utrecht, Julius II Adam’s “Katzenfamilie” [“A Family of Cats”: 1890], although executed with no less artistry, seems playful indeed. Just as in the van Utrecht still life, an incredible fondness for detail is apparent. Apart from the pleasing cats, a fly and the carpet fringe attest to the artist’s consummate skill. Julius II Adam came from a celebrated Munich family of animal painters and his mastery of his metier is honoured with the epithet “The Cat Raphael”. Measuring 31.2 x 45 cm, the work carries an estimate of € 18 000-24 000.
Franz von Defregger’s “Portr舩 Franz von Lenbach” [“Portrait of Franz von Lenbach”] in oils carries a slightly higher estimate at € 20 000-30 000, the same as that for “Ansicht von Wolfsegg” [“View of Wolfsegg”], which Johann Georg von Dillis executed in 1788 in watercolour, India ink and pencil. Von Dillis was one of the first German artists to realize the potential of watercolor as an art medium in its own right. Measuring 26.3 x 36.6 cm, the picture is compelling for the fresh impression of nature which the artist - in this, too, ahead of his time - captured by working directly from nature.
A whisked pencil drawing “Dame mit Hut” [“Lady Wearing a Hat”] by Adolph von Menzel, which carries an estimate of € 18 000-24 000, will go under the hammer along with a Jan van Huysum watercolour “Arkadische Landschaft” [“Arcadian Landscape”: estimate: € 12 000-14 000), a “M臈chen aus Chioggia” [“Girl from Chioggia”] by Eugen von Blaas (estimate: € 10 000-12 000) as well as works by Anthonie Braakmann, Emil Brack, Christian Ludwig Bokelmann, Philipp Hieronymus Brinkmann, Rudolf Höckner, Rocco Marconi, Willy Moralt, Carl Morgenstern, Harmensz. Rembrandt van Rijn, Augustin Alexandre Thierriat, Wilhelm Trübner and Heinrich von Zügel.
In the Marine Art division, important names include Hugo Schnars-Alquist, whose 1920 “Vollschiff auf bewegter See” [“Ship on a Stormy Sea”] enters the race at € 5000-6000, Hans Bohrdt, Julius Gregersen and Johannes Holst.

Enquiries for Art of the 20th/21st Centuries:
Ketterer Kunst
Meßberg 1
20095 Hamburg
Barbara Guarnieri phone: 040-374961-28 (Fax: -16)
Ruth Tenschert phone: 040-374961-22 (Fax: -16)
E-Mail: infohamburg@kettererkunst.de
www.kettererkunst.de

Press enquiries:
Ketterer Kunst
Prinzregentenstraße 61
81675 München
Michaela Derra
phone: 089-55244-152 (Fax: -166)
E-mail: m.derra@kettererkunst.de

Pre-sale viewings of selected works have been scheduled for the following dates and times:
11-12 October, 11 am-7 pm
13-14 October, 11 am-4 pm
at Ketterer Kunst, 70 Fasanenstrasse, Berlin

16-18 October, 11 am-5 pm
at Ketterer Kunst, 61 Prinzregentenstrasse, Munich

All works will be shown:
20-24 October, 11 am-5 pm except Sunday
25 October, by appointment
at Ketterer Kunst, 1 Meßberg, Hamburg

The auction begins:
27 October 2007 at 10 am, Ketterer Kunst, 1 Meßberg, Hamburg

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.

This release was published on openPR.