2018 continued to be an exceptionally successful year for Dorotheum, the leading auction house in the German-speaking Europe, with hammer prices exceeding one million euros.

Paintings put under the hammer for More than a Million
Causing an international sensation, the dramatic depiction of the Roman heroine ‘Lucretia’, one of the rare Old Master paintings by the important Renaissance female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, was sold for 1.9 million euros. The October sale saw another result worth more than a million: a bidder offered 1.425 million euros for Sir Anthony van Dyck’s ‘Portrait of a Noblewoman with a Parrot’.
 
Dorotheum proved to be strong in the domain of Post-War and Contemporary Art, especially when it came to the German and Italian post-war avant-gardes. Examples included Günther Uecker’s nail picture ‘Field’ (€ 491,000) and a fluorescent pink concetto spaziale entitled ‘Attesa’ (€ 552,000) by Lucio Fontana. 295,800 euros was a world record for the painting ‘Integrazione Ovale’ by the Italian artist Carla Accardi. Together with Artemisia Gentileschi, two women thus figure in the list of top prices.
 
There was a brisk demand for 19th-Century Paintings and Modern and Contemporary Art. Works by John William Godward, Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Olga Wisinger-Florian, Fernando Botero, Henri Matisse, and Bernard Buffet, as well as by the contemporaries Jesus Rafael Soto, Philip Guston, and Emilio Vedova realised outstanding prices.
 
Top Results for Antiques and Jewellery 
In the Tribal Art auction, a 180-centimetre-tall Uli figure from the famous Monzino Collection was sold for 1.425 million euros. Meanwhile, a table, which was a unique object by the sculptor Giacomo Manzu, realised 271,400 euros in the Design First sale. The same price was offered for a fire-gilt bronze figure of a Buddha from the Ming dynasty. A ring set with diamonds weighing seven carats altogether (€ 210,400) and a diadem commissioned from Köchert by Empress Sisi’s daughter Marie-Valerie for the wedding of her own daughter Hedwig (€ 186,000) ensured resplendent results in the Jewellery section.
 
Record for Classic Motor Vehicles
Last but not least, 2018 was a jubilee year for Classic Motor Vehicles. The sum of 5 million euros alone was realised in the sale of thirteen Mercedes-Benz cars from the Wiesenthal Collection, held in the magnificent venue of the Austrian National Library. A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL climbed to 15 million euros, and a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster realised 1.1 million euros. Sales rates of around 95 per cent prevailed in both of the regular auctions in Vienna and Salzburg, and also the Scootermania sale turned out to be a showstopper.
 
International Appearance
Dorotheum showed international commitment to its numerous sponsorship activities. Particular highlights included its cooperation in the exhibition of Damien Hirst’s ‘Colour Space Paintings’ at Houghton Hall, United Kingdom, and its support of the important Franz West retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

List of Top-Lots 2018