NRC #17

From Happy Marriage Portraits to the Fear of Babies

Auction Record and Strong Results

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The NRC auction of 30 and 31 May 2022 saw very strong results. An auction record was set for Jan Beutener's enchanting landscape Stilstaand water I, a balanced work that can be placed between figuration and abstraction. After a heated online bidding process, the painting sold for €19,818, ten times its low estimate. Furthermore, for Jimmy Durham's Combiline from 1998 the gavel came down at €40,704. Durham, who died in 2021, was one of the most interdisciplinary and politically active artists of the past decades, which is strongly reflected in the work. The wide selection of CoBrA works was also in high demand, including a gouache by Karel Appel from 1958 (€ 25,102) and Corneille's painting La mer est une tendre colline..., dating from 1958-1959 (€ 20,467).

The latter marks the height of Corneille's abstract development in the 1950’s. The price realised for the work Flight III by the Russian-American artist Helen Gerardia (€ 6,996), for whose work appreciation seems to be increasing, was also remarkable. Excellent prices were also achieved for editions and works on paper by big names such as Bram Bogart (€ 5,021), Ellsworth Kelly (€ 10,455) and Gerrit Benner (€ 13,212). The monumental colourful flower still life by Kees Verwey changed hands for € 18,497. There was great interest in paintings by Suze Robertson (€ 4,834 and € 10,176), who already during her lifetime was considered the female equivalent of her contemporary Vincent van Gogh, due to her subjects and manner of painting. The outstanding still life by Johan Ponsioen sold for € 6,078 and that by Willem Witsen found a new owner in the United States for € 9,225. Remarkable was the strong increase in the number of international buyers in this NRC auction.*

*All prices include costs and VAT