Results NRC Art below €5.000 & The Hans Kemna Collection

e were very pleased to see the enthusiastic response to our new auction, focused on affordable and accessible pieces with estimates below €5.000, as well as the tremendous success of the Hans Kemna Collection. After lively viewing days, which were well attended by photography enthusiasts, design collectors from all over the country, and friends and acquaintances of Hans Kemna (1940-2024), the auction achieved an impressive sell-through rate of 100%.

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Gerrit Rietveld, A set of four Zig-Zag chairs, 1932/ c. 1971.

Realised €34.621

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In the days leading up to the auction, we saw numerous bids for the collection of the renowned casting director, but also on the evening itself an exciting online bidding war led to extraordinary results. The most notable was the set of four Zigzag chairs by Gerrit Rietveld (€34.621) commissioned by Kemna at the atelier of Gerard van de Groenekan around 1971.

From the selection of photographs by German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, Spitting on dick (€9.721 incl. costs) and Damon, shower, head up (€11.018) fetched the highest prices. There was also great interest in works by Viviane Sassen, Erwin Olaf, Paul Blanca, Daan van Golden, Ulay, Helen van Meene and Rineke Dijkstra. Most works achieved prices within or well above the valuation. With 100% sell-through rate, the sale totalled at €289.172, which made it exceptionally successful.

Art below €5.000 was also enthusiastically received with a sell-through rate of 96%. Unquestionable highlights from this auction were three works by the American artist William Leavitt which sold for prices significantly higher than expected (lot 12 - €10.370, lot 14 - €5.703 & lot 15 - €5.963). Other artists from across the ocean also achieved wonderful results with Charlie Roberts’ large works on paper selling for €3.370 and €1.555, a few charming small scale works by Walasse Ting selling for €2.074 each (lot 114 and 113) and a drawing of a cat reaching the price of €3.111.

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Surprisingly good results were also reached by paintings of German artist - Thoralf Knobloch (lot 6 - €2.592 & lot 7 - €5.185), whose work sporadically appears at auction. The last pieces from the Rinsema collection also achieved fantastic prices. Charley Toorop's lithograph Fabrieksvrouw, Parijs sold for €3.370, and a woodcut by Jan Mankes went for €2.852.

Given the success of this auction, Adams is already planning another edition of art below €5.000 for September 2025.