International top sales marked the first half of 2023 at Dorotheum. The success of online auctions has continued unabated after the pandemic. A further expansion of digital activities remains on the agenda of the largest auction house in the German-speaking region. In early 2023, Dorotheum celebrated 20 years of its Düsseldorf office, headed by Petra Schäpers; this autumn will likewise mark the 20th anniversary of Franz Freiherr von Rassler’s representative office in Munich. After the opening of its Hamburg office in 2022, Dorotheum has strengthened its presence in Germany.

Osman Hamdi Bey’s painting “Ottoman Lady, preparing for an outing” ranks at the top of the sales charts. This depiction of a young lady in an opulent interior was sold for 1.275 million euros. It was the second million-dollar sale after 2019 for a work by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910), the leading Ottoman painter of his time. A Venetian genre painting by Eugen von Blaas achieved another top price, changing hands for 520,000 euros.

One of the rare women in the Old Masters’ world was the highlight of the spring auction. Fede Galizia’s painting “Judith with the head of Holofernes” doubled expectations, selling for 624,000 euros. This hitherto unknown work is a museum-quality, signed masterpiece that constitutes an important contribution to a rediscovery of this artist.

A lively interest - via live bidding - and an excellent sale rate also marked the Modern Art and Contemporary Art auctions. A matte black Concetto Spaziale (Spatial Concept) by Lucio Fontana garnered a stunning 875,000 euros. Alighiero Boetti’s rare four-part ballpoint work, “non parto non resto,” a poetic wordplay, fetched 650,000 euros. A canvas dealing with the colour spectrum of light by German ZERO artist Heinz Mack achieved an outstanding 452,000 euros, his “Black Mountains” 367,250 euros.

List Top-Auction Results January - June 2023