The Tercentenary: A Superlative Year - Record auction results in the Dorotheum's jubilee year
Guido Cagnacci, € 1,400.000
Egon Schiele, € 720.000
Yayoi Kusama, € 996.000
Piero Manzoni, € 1,112.000
Eugen von Blaas, € 684.000
Vortexx Chandelier, € 139.100
2007 was a truly superlative year for the Dorotheum: In the three-hundredth year since the foundation of one of the world's oldest and largest auction houses, the Dorotheum's tercentenary auctions were rewarded by excellent sales and world record results. The total turnover of € 123 million (as of 13. 12. 2007) exceeded the earlier record of the previous year by more that € 30 million.
The Dorotheum, therefore, has plenty of reasons to celebrate. The successful internationalisation of the auction house itself, the high quality of the tercentenary auctions, as well as the continuously growing interest in art in general, have all contributed to this year's success. Owning contemporary art and design and buying it at auction has become part of a certain lifestyle, and the average age of buyers is noticeably lower than it once was.
More and more international
In general, the Dorotheum increasingly attracts international bidders and buyers to its auctions, in particular clients from Italy, Switzerland, and Great Britain. It is also interesting to note that many Russian customers seem mainly inclined to 'buy back' objects originally coming from Russia. This tendency is particularly pronounced in the medal category, but also applies to porcelain, 19th century painting, and silver.
The contemporary beat
Contemporary art, a category the management has lavished special attention on, has shown the greatest increase. Two paintings of international calibre made it among the internal top-ten: Piero Manzoni's „Achrome“ with a gross sales price of € 1,110 million and Yayoi Kusama's dot painting „No White O.X.“ which was sold to a Swiss buyer for just under a million Euro. Contemporary design likewise scored very highly at the Dorotheum's two design auctions, the most successful in the auction house's history and accompanied by great international acclaim. Zaha Hadid's and Patrick Schumacher's futuristic chandelier „Vortexx“ achieved the single highest price with 139.100 Euro, closely followed by Hani Rashid's prototype LQ chandelier (€ 138.400).
World record breaking Lucretia
This year's most valuable painting belongs to the senior auction category of Old Masters: An Italian collector paid a stunning € 1,4 million for the masterly composition „Lucrezia“ by Guido Cagnacci – a new world record sale for this particular artist. Melchior de Hondecoeter made people listen up with his Concert of Bird („Vogelkonzert“) which sold for an excellent 670.000 Euro.
Brilliant
Another two of the top sales were brought in by the painter Eugen von Blaas, especially sought-after in the USA. At the auction of 19th century painting his In Idle Conversation („Die Plauderei“) greatly exceeded expectations with 684.000 Euro, as did the Two Venetian Ladies („Zwei Venezianerinnen“, € 479.000), a scene of almost photographic brilliance. Works by Friedrich Gauermann or Olga Wisinger-Florian also achieved top prices in this category. The German painter Oswald Achenbach met a very favourable reception with his Summer Evening on the Bay of Naples, selling for 204.000 Euro, and so did Carl Spitzweg with the Grain farmer of Uffing („Kornbauer von Uffing“, € 116.000 Euro).
Nude and button
Egon Schiele, an international superstar and modern art classic, once again starred at the Dorotheum: His „Golden haired woman reclining on a blue cushion (Wally Neuzil)“ of 1913 climbed to 720.000 Euro.
The Dorotheum can also proudly claim to have sold the world's most expensive button; measuring 2,5 x 2,5 cm and designed by Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte ("Vienna Workshops"), the gem evidently delighted a collector who bought it at the art nouveau auction for 55.200 Euro.
A stellar event
In the collectible category of historical scientific instruments, pride of place went to a Ptolemaic armillary sphere – a table-top planetarium - by Christian Carl Schindler which was sold to a British bidder for sensational 306.000 Euro at the close of a heated bidding contest. A 1871 library globe from Berlin rose to the more than respectable sum of 96.000 Euro.
Highly decorated
Not least thanks to an excellent private collection which was featured at the auctions of medals and decorations these two events broke every past record. Among the numerous items bringing in world record prices were a rare solid gold regimental badge of the 14th Yamburg Ulans of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (€ 145.000), a military badge of the Sibirian Cossacks (€ 122.000), and an St Andrew medal (€ 96.000). Once again, the Dorotheum was able to demonstrate its internationally pre-eminent position in this category.
Tercentennial
The Dorotheum celebrated its tercentenary in appropriate style, both at the splendid Palais Dorotheum, with a reception inaugurated by Austrian President Heinz Fischer, as well as at the numerous representations abroad, all of which have contributed so significantly to the firm's success. The branch office in Düsseldorf, for example, only this year moved to new, twice as spacious premises.
In addition, the "Brandstätter Verlag" published an illustrated volume on the Dorotheum, „Die ersten 300 Jahre“ ( The First 300 Years) with essays by Daniela Gregori and photographs by Cathrine Stukhard.
An artist's look into the future
International outlook and calibre continue to be of utmost importance to the Dorotheum, as does its commitment to contemporary art. Aside from its activities related to the Art Week Vienna and the co-operation with the MUMOK, this fact is also reflected by an ongoing series of artistic interventions at the Palais Dorotheum with the title „Through the Artist’s Eye“. To date, five internationally renowned artists have offered their own artistic interpretations on the splendid Palais building: Lynne Cohen, Peter Kogler, Heike Weber, Erwin Wurm, and Esther Stocker. The series will be continued in the years to come.
Press Office: Mag. Doris Krumpl, Tel +43 1/515 60-406, doris.krumpl@dorotheum.at
