Expressionism in the Streets of Berlin

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

1913. You know, it's my favorite period of art history.

In Berlin, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted street scenes. Passers-by are there, but what are they looking for? Like Munch, but with vibrant colors, he does not show anything else than their anguish. Kirchner came from Dresden. His vision of Berlin is a terrible expression of the anonymity of people in large cities. At the next generation, Giacometti had the same kind of inspiration for his bronzes.

The best known painting by Kirchner on this topic, 120 x 91 cm, is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sotheby's said in its press release that another painting, 121 x 95 cm, was sold $ 38 million in 2006.

The oil on canvas that Sotheby's sells in London on February 3 is smaller, 70 x 51 cm, but it would be the last of this 1913 series still in private hands. Sotheby's already knew it: they sold it 1.9 million pounds in 1997. That was before the craze of buyers for expressionism, characterized by spectacular auction results also recorded on Jawlensky and Marc. Now this painting is estimated 5 million pounds.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The major lots still get buyers. The result, £ 5.4 million including premium, confirms my observation on the growing enthusiasm for expressionism.

We may hope that this excellent result attracts new masterpieces on the market.