Page 68 - Studio International - July 1966

Art prices current

by George Savage
The Helena Rubinstein Sale for instance, would have done far better to have tapestries woven by the Beauvais factory (which
The dispersal of the Helena Rubinstein collection taken quality as a guide in buying Renoirs rather was once the property of the kings of France
took place at New York's PARKE-BERNET GALLERIES than quantity, and it is not surprising that the Pot a numbering many distinguished artists among its
in April, the total for modern paintings, drawings, tabac, for instance, which was painted about 1915, designers) from cartoons by Picasso and Rouault.
and sculpture sold during the three days being brought only $3,000 or that a group of fish on a The first, Inspiration, a typical Picasso executed
$1,645,745. The first day's sale on 20 April consis- plate (Poisson, 9 x 16 in.), with which the sale- about 1935 and measuring 193 x 168 cm.,
ted of 75 lots totalling $1,445,200, of which thirteen room struggled manfully to the extent of illustrat- brought $19,000; the second, by Rouault, Les
lots realized $751,000, the remaining 62 account- ing it in colour, made $4,750. Even the jeune fille fleurs du mal of 1930, a head apparently based on a
ing for the balance. au corsage rouge, an uninspired repetition of the first century Romano-Egyptian sarcophagus por-
The amount, of course, seems quite impressive, Renoir formula more ambitious than the other trait, realized $10,500; a third, a Tête de clown
but a critical analysis of the figures suggests, quite two, painted about 1914 and coming from Paul of the same date, also by Rouault, 94 x 61 cm.,
rightly, a collection more notable for size than Guillaume, realized only $13,000. A poorish made $9,000. The Beauvais price for tapestry
quality. There were a number of works which were sketch by Sisley in pastel, 11 1/2 x 15 3/4 in., made woven in the old style is about $700 a square
good of their kind without being outstanding, but $7,000, and would have struggled to make $700 metre, which is a useful yardstick by which the
much of the remainder was nondescript, and the with a less distinguished name attached to it. The added value of a cartoon by someone like Picasso
story that Mme Rubinstein walked through the magic name of Degas largely accounted for the may be measured.
streets of Paris carrying $30,000 to finance $31,000 for a pastel of 1900, 28 x 15 in., of Deux Parke-Bernet deserve to be congratulated on the
impulse-buying was quite believable. Difficult danseuses, les bras lea's. excellent result achieved for their client. No matter
though it may be for some to believe in this day Mme Rubinstein was an aficionado of Dali, with how eminent the sale-room, prices will nearly
and age of lowered critical standards, every artist three enormous square murals in her apartment always reflect the quality of what is offered, and
has at least his share of off-days. Among the measuring around 100 inches. The sale-room took although buyers will sometimes pay more than
enthusiasts who blind themselves to this elementary the unusual course of putting them up, first as seems wise for fine quality objects, the second-rate
fact Mme Rubinstein must be numbered, but my individual lots and then as a set of three, the will usually meet the fate it deserves. Prices for
earlier remark in these pages, that the sale-room highest total determining the successful buyer. some of the important lots are noted opposite.
is the most realistic test of quality, was amply The three made $6,950 between them.
proved by some of the prices. Mme Rubinstein, A remarkable feature of the sale was the three

Erich Heckel leagues, he joined the New Secession, seceding Some current prices for the work of Erich Heckel:
The importance of the contribution of the group from it soon afterwards. From 1915 until 1918 he
of artists known as the Brücke School to modern served with the Red Cross, and during this period Brunnen in Rom (Fountain in Rome) 1909 DM 6,000
German art was immense. The group was active met James Ensor (whose portrait he painted in 161 x 131 in. Watercolour. Signed and dated.
between 1905 and 1913, and its principal members 1930) and Max Beckmann. Haus mit Turm (House with tower) 1908 DM 6,000
were Kirchner, Heckel, and Schmidt-Rotluff, who His work was included among the thousand or so 14* x 18* in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, dated.
were later joined by Nolde and Pechstein. Prices oil-paintings and the almost four thousand water-
for Kirchner's work were discussed in March; colours, drawings, and graphic art which were Badende am Stein (Bather seated on a rock) 1911 DM 4,000
Erich Heckel, despite the prominent part he burned in March 1939 in the courtyard of the 13 x 11 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
played in the formation of the Brücke, is still not Berlin fire-station in the Kopenicke Strasse. No Krankes Mädchen (Sick girl) 1911 DM 3,000
well known outside Germany, and his work rarely fewer than 729 of his works had been removed 131 x 171 in. Black crayon. Signed and dated.
appears in the sale-rooms. The prices appended, from German museums in 1937. Männerkopf-Selbstbildnis (Self-portrait) 1911 DM 3,500
therefore, are not without interest, although they He spent the years between 1940 and 1942 in the 19* x 131 in. Pen-drawing. Signed, titled, and dated.
are only for minor works. Those for major works Salzkammergut and in Kärnten, and in January
Strasse mit Fahnen (Street with flags) 1914 DM 6,500
must await a sale-room appearance. 1944 his Berlin studio in the Emser Strasse was 17 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and
The Brücke, founded in Munich, was associated destroyed, with much of his work.
in its later phases with the Blaue Reiter school of Between the wars he had spent a great deal of dated. On the reverse, a child's portrait.
Kandinsky, Marc, and Macke, which was founded time in travelling widely in Europe—Germany, Gent (Ghent) 1916 DM 6,500
in 1911, also in Munich. Of the two, the Brücke France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark— 9f x 131 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
artists were perhaps the more strongly natural and staying for long periods in the German countryside, Kirche in Flandern 1915 DM 2,500
the less abstract, and at first they drew inspiration and in 1949 he was awarded a professorship at the 13 x 20 in. Drawing in soft pencil. Titled, signed,
from the work of the Neo-Impressionists, an Akademie der Bildenen Künste in Karlsruhe. and dated.
exhibition of whose work was held in Munich in Although scarcely a year has passed in Germany Steile Küste, Flensburg (Precipitous coast) 1923 DM 6,000
1904, although their debt to the vogue for primitive or Switzerland without an exhibition of his work 19* x 254 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
art, then in its early stages, is fairly obvious. The somewhere or another since he first exhibited with
DM 3,500
influence of Gothic art of the late fifteenth century Fritz Gurlitt in Berlin in 1913, his work has rarely Fränzi liegend (Franzi reclining) 1910
is also perceptible, especially in the occasional use been seen abroad. Exhibitions have been held in Colour woodcut, printed in red and black. Hand-
of the characteristic pointed forms. New York (one in 1930 and another in 1954), and printed, titled, signed, and dated.
Kirchner was undoubtedly the leading spirit of in Boston in 1951. He is, however, very well Der Rhein bei Säckingen 1925 DM 6,000
the group, although the style of all the Brücke represented in German public galleries, notably in 204 x 241 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
artists has more than a little in common. Their Essen's Folkwang Museum and in the Walraf Landschaft bei Nimes 1926 DM 5,500
first exhibition, held in 1905, passed more or less Richartz Museum at Cologne, where his portrait 20 x 24 in. Watercolour. Signed and dated.
unnoticed, although the second, in the following of James Ensor may be found. His later work is
DM
year, was ill-received and severely attacked. largely confined to colourful landscapes and views An der Rhone bei Lyon 1926 5,500
Erich Heckel was born in 1883 and studied archi- of cities. 21 1/4 x 24 3/8 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed and dated.
tecture at the Dresden Technische Hochschule, In relation to his importance he could, perhaps, Biarritz 1929 6,000
DM
where he met Kirchner and Fritz Bleyl— Schmidt- be described as a neglected painter outside his own 211 x 271 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
Rotluff he had known since 1901. Together the country, but the increasing interest at present Nordseelandschaft (North Sea landscape) 1930 DM 6,000
four men founded the Brücke. In his early work being taken in twentieth-century German painting 21 3/4 x 27 1/4 in. Watercolour. Titled, signed, and dated.
Heckel was much influenced by Kirchner, but later both here and in the United States, and especially
turned for inspiration to the Fauves. in the Expressionist school, suggests that at current Zwei Akte (Two nudes) 1927 DM 4,000
The group was joined by Max Pechstein and prices his work is relatively inexpensive and, like 24 x 191 in. Red-brown crayon. Titled, signed, dated.
Emil Nolde in 1906, and in 1910 Heckel moved to that of most of his contemporaries, a considerable
Berlin where, in company with his Brücke col- appreciation can be expected in the future.