the box Max Beckmann ‘Yellow-pink self-portrait’ will be auctioned in Berlin on December 1 and a price of between 20 and 30 million euros is expected. The Grisebach house takes 23 million for granted, the highest estimate for a work of art ever sold in Germany, and the highest estimate for the artist worldwide.
It is a work carried out in 1943, during the exile of the painter in Holland escaping from war, a beautiful rendering by the artist that lacks the somber intensity of many of his other self-portraits. With his arms fully crossed and his gaze looking past the viewer, he appears to be almost in a meditative state.
for quappi
Beckmann gave the painting to his wife Quappi. The painting has remained in private hands uninterruptedly and is, in fact, the last self-portrait of the author that does not belong to a state collection. That is one of the reasons why it is expected to reach such a high price. In addition, it is “a masterpiece of international rank: no comparable work of art has been offered on the German auction market since 1945,” according to the house. Grisebachwhich also suggests that “the auction of this work regenerates debate on the need for culture and the power of art to document human existence in times of social upheaval.”
If we take the sales of other self-portraits by the artist, which are among his most valued works, as indications, it seems possible that the Grisebach house will achieve its goal. In 2001, ‘Self-Portrait with Trumpet‘ (Self-Portrait with Trumpet), painted in 1938, sold for $22.5 million at Sotheby’s New York, more than double the previous estimate. That was quite an achievement compared to the $16.8 million earned by ‘Self-Portrait with Crystal Ball’ (Self-Portrait with Mason Jar), 1936, also sold at Sotheby’s in 2005, barely surpassing its high estimate of $15 million.
Beckmann’s portraits of other sitters have sold in recent years for several million dollars, which roughly corresponds to expectations. In October 2021, for example, ‘Portrait of a Turk‘ (1926) sold for $2.7 million at Sotheby’s New York, hitting the mid-range of its estimate.
These considerable sums reflect Beckmann’s position as one of the foremost artists of the early 20th century, associated both with the movements of the german expressionism as with the new objectivity. Other self-portraits of his are in world-class collections such as those of MoMA, the Albertina in Vienna, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
german market
However, it should also be noted that the works that are auctioned in Germany are generally sold through independent regional houses and rarely attract bids of more than one million. The German secondary market has been growing in recent years, a surprising trend when compared to the post-pandemic downturn in other markets, attributed to Brexit making Europe a far more desirable option than the UK, for both buyers and sellers, as well as the growing class of young and global collectors from Germany.
Grisebach’s summer sales included a handful of seven-figure price tags, including ‘Russisches Ballet’ (1909), by fellow German expressionist Max Pechsteinwhich was sold for 2.4 million euros, and ‘Grauer Strand’, by Beckmann, which was bought for 1.8 million euros.
The record for the highest winning bid at an auction in Germany was already set by Beckmann in Grisebach in 2018, with 5.5 million euros for ‘Female head in blue and grey‘, also known as ‘The Egyptian’, establishing the artist as the country’s aftermarket superstar. She now intends to repeat the operation with the last self-portrait, which has been shown to open mouths in New York, between November 5 and 10, before the sale in Berlin.