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Artnet Top Ten
7/18/03

Several top museums have mounted big shows of Expressionism for the summer. At MoMA QNS is "Max Beckmann" (June 26-Sept. 29, 2003), with a complementary selection of Expressionist works from the Museum of Modern Art on view at the Neue Galerie in Manhattan (June 27-Sept. 15, 2003). Over in London, the Royal Academy of Arts is presenting "Kirchner: Expressionism and the City, Dresden and Berlin 1905-1918" (June 18-Sept. 21, 2003), while the Fondation Beyeler in Basel greeted the spring with an extensive survey show dubbed "Expressiv!" (Mar. 30-Aug. 10, 2003).

A listing of the top prices paid for Expressionist paintings at auction follows. Keep in mind that major figurative works by these artists entered private and public collections well before the modern auction era, which skews the index a bit.

       
 
     
 
1.
Max Beckmann
Self-Portrait with Horn
1938
oil on canvas, ca. 43 x 40 in.
$22,555,750
(est. $7,000,000-$10,000,000)
Sotheby's New York
May 10, 2001 		 
     
 
2.
Egon Schiele
Krumauer Landschaft (Stadt und Fluss) (+ Kärntner Landschaft, unfinished, verso)
1916
oil and chalk on canvas with tempera, ca. 44 x 56 in.
£12,661,600 ($21,244,300)
(est. £5,000,000-£7,000,000)
Sotheby's London
June 23, 2003 		 
     
 
3.
Wassily Kandinsky
Fugue
1914
oil on canvas, 51 x 51 in.
$20,900,000
(est. $10,000,000-$15,000,000)
Sotheby's New York
May 17, 1990 		 
     
 
4.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Akte in der Sonne, Moritzburg
ca. 1910
oil on canvas, ca. 39 x 47 in.
£3,526,650 ($5,247,991)
(est. £2,000,000-£3,000,000)
Sotheby's London
June 24, 2002 		 
     
 
5.
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Die Lesende
1911
oil on canvas, ca. 30 x 34 in.
$3,600,000
(est. $1,800,000-$2,500,000)
Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg New York
Nov. 5, 2001 		 
     
 
6.
Alexej von Jawlensky
Junges Mädchen mit den Grünen Augen
ca. 1910
oil on board, ca. 21 x 20 in.
$3,309,500
(est. $1,200,000-$1,600,000)
Christie's New York
Nov. 6, 2002 		 
     
 
7.
Emil Nolde
Blumengarten
1922
oil on burlap, ca. 29 x 35 in.
£2,151,650 ($3,201,860)
(est. £1,000,000-£1,500,000)
Christie's London
June 25, 2002 		 
     
 
8.
Oskar Kokoschka
Dresden, Neustadt 1
1919
oil on canvas, 32 x ca. 44 in.
$2,970,000
($800,000-$1,000,000)
Sotheby's New York
May 9, 1989 		 
     
 
9.
George Grosz
Wild West
1916
oil on canvas, ca. 57 x 37 in.
£1,431,500 ($2,237,420)
(est. £500,000-£700,000)
Christie's London
Oct. 9, 1996 		 
     
 
10.
Otto Mueller
Gypsies at the Campfire (+ Zwei Junge weibliche Akte, ca. 1920, verso)
ca. 1927
distemper on burlap, ca. 63 x 44 in.
£1,101,500 ($1,781,790)
£600,000-£800,000
Christie's London
Oct. 9, 1997