Despite the lockdown in Austria, Dorotheum’s Modern Art sale on 30 November 2021 was one of the best in the history of the auction house to date, with an excellent sale rate of 85 percent and numerous international participants. And this despite the fact that the exhibition was accessible only virtually, and participation in the auction was only possible by telephone and live bidding. Together with the June auction, 2021 has proved to be the most successful year ever for the Modern Art department at Dorotheum.
After reaching the world record price of 965,300 euros for a painting by Alfons Walde at the June 2021 sale, Dorotheum has achieved another top price for this artist. The Tyrolean motif “Wilder Kaiser with Farmhouse in Winter” far exceeded expectations when it went to a telephone bidder for 790,500 euros, after a bidding battle lasting several minutes. The painting came from a Czech private collection.
Works of French modernism were also highly sought after. Bids for two stylistically very different village views by André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck reached 315,500 and 165,500 euros, respectively. The title lot of the auction catalogue, Fernand Léger’s work on paper “L’anniversaire” (The Birthday), found a new owner for 315,500 euros.
Other top lots include Max Ernst’s deep blue abstract painting from 1961 (€ 294,454) and the allegorical self-portrait “L'atelier” by the Italian Renato Guttuso (1975, € 140,500).
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