Christie’s Paris achieved a total of €7.5 million on 28 May for a group of 20th-century European works from the Helga and Edzard Reuter Collection, far exceeding its high estimate. Every lot sold, delivering a white glove result, with some 220 participants competing for 49 lots.
A highlight of the evening, Relief Planétaire Terre (Marseille, Aix) by Yves Klein, estimated at €600,000 to €800,000, sold for €1,613,000, more than double its high estimate. The IKB pigment and plaster work dates from 1961.
Several works by German artists performed strongly. Weißes Feld by Günther Uecker also doubled its high estimate, selling for €403,200. Rauchbild No.3 by Otto Piene sold for €277,200, far above its €70,000 high estimate, and Gerhard von Graevenitz’s reflektierende Y-Lamellen auf weiss achieved €63,000 against a €10,000 estimate.
Italian works totalled more than €2 million. Concetto spaziale by Lucio Fontana fetched over €1 million; Piero Manzoni’s Achrome sold for €352,800; Superficie Nera No. 3 by Enrico Castellani realised €289,800; and Francesco Lo Savio’s Metallo con articolazioni sold for €201,600. The final lot, Blaue Komposition by Rupprecht Geiger, achieved €170,100 against an estimate of €30,000 to €50,000.
The entire €7.5 million raised will be donated to the Helga und Edzard Reuter Stiftung, founded by the couple in Berlin in 1995 to foster intercultural dialogue and social cohesion. Beyond the 28 May auction, additional works from the Reuter Collection will feature in Christie’s Contemporary Art sales in October and in the 20/21 Century Art online sale in November.
(Press Release)
