The Dorotheum auction of contemporary art on 24th November 2011 was off to a highly successful start with the sale of one of its top lots, Ilya Kabakov's allusive painting „At the University 1972“ dating to 2002. A telephone bidder put up Euro 754.800 for this idealised vision of Russian art history by a painter who had emigrated to the USA in 1987. Exhibited at the Cleveland Museum in 2004, Ilya Kabakov's canvas combines elements of Socialist Realism with the avant-garde repertoire of Suprematism, Impressionism, and Expressionism.

The auction's comprehensive international selection was received with enthusiasm by a crowd of art collectors from all over the globe. An impassioned, gesticular,1961 painting by Emilio Vedova was sold for excellent 444.300 Euro, a 3,6 m wide picture/object by Jannis Kounellis went to 283.300 Euro, while Enrico Castellani's reductive „Superficie bianca“ („White Surface“) reached 283.300 Euro. Bidding for Robert Indiana's famous single-word poem „Love“, sprayed onto a fragment of the Berlin Wall after its fall, eventually climbed to 151.470 Euro.

Austrian art likewise celebrated a number of successful sales. Max Weiler's „Throne“ from the cycle „Als alle Dinge in tiefem Schweigen lagen…“ partly inspired by Chinese calligraphy found a buyer for 128.050 Euro, Arnulf Rainer's „Rheinkreuz“ and an early overpainting dating to 1961 saw bidding go up to 114.180 and 73.500 Euro, respectively. A Diwan by Franz West from the series „12 Diwane“ was sold for 36.900 Euro.

Highlights of Modern Art
Great expectations at the Dorotheum modern art auction on 23rd November 2011. Filled to capacity, the auction hall witnessed exciting bidding duels between those present and bidders participating via phone. Joan Miró's „Sobreteixim sac 2“ of 1973, a textile piece using sackcloth, became one of the auction's most successful lots, likewise Paula Modersohn-Becker's Girl with Goat, and Giorgio Morandi's „Paesaggio", dating to 1931.

Design and Art Nouveau
„Sit-Sat“ a seat object by Massimiliano Fuksas & Doriana Mandrelli, brought in 67.400 Euro, making it one of the main highlights of the Dorotheum design auction, second only to Zaha Hadid's „Woush“ settee. Objects by Jean Prouvé continue to be highly sought-after, as was, on this occasion, his plain „Gueridon bas“, designed around 1945.
Top lot at this autumn's art nouveau auction was an ensemble by polymath artist Josef Hoffmann, a seven-part seat set No. 675, dating to 1910 and made by Kohn, which sold for excellent 29.580 Euro. Other objects subject to considerable appreciation included a pendant and chain by Hans Bolek and an „Ophelia“ bronze bust by Maurice Bouval, designed in 1900.

Euro 110.760 for a Dove from Moscow
Precious metals guaranteed the excellent outcome of the Dorotheum silver auction on 21st November 2011: weighing 438g and with a wingspan of 30.5 cm, a sculpted gold dove from Moscow found a new owner for 110.760 Euro. The piece bears the date stamp 1811 and was most probably commissioned by an important member of the Romanov circle.

Sensational Sale of Katharina Schratt Brooch
At the jewellery auction on 21st November 2011, a diamond- and ruby studded brooch formerly belonging to the Viennese actress Katharina Schratt, closest confidante of Emperor Franz Joseph, was sold to a telephone bidder for remarkable 202.800 Euro. Based on two existing design drawings dating to 1890-95, this superbly crafted piece was made by the Imperial and Royal Court Jeweller Köchert.