SOTHEBY'S CLOSES BERLIN OFFICE Sotheby's will close its nine-year-old Berlin branch this September after previewing the sale of the Deyhle Collection of German paintings, Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The move leaves the firm with a head office in Cologne and branches in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. Sotheby's said economic factors contributed to the move, noting that business wasn't up to expectations. Sotheby's still plans to mount special presale shows in the city.
The Deyle Collection, an impressive holding that ranges from artists of the Berliner Sezession to the German Neo-Expressionists, was assembled by musical producer Rolf Deyhle. Deyhle's Stella AG recently suffered financial reverses, leading to the deaccessions. The collection goes on the block at Sotheby's London on Oct. 6 and at Sotheby's Munich on Nov. 10, one of the rare sales that Sotheby's actually conducts in Germany.
In addition to closing its Berlin operation, Sotheby's is also ending its auctions in Madrid, though the house will maintain an office in the city. In previous years, Sotheby's spring and fall auctions at the Ritz were considered one of the high points of the Madrid art market.
NEW ANTIQUES FAIR FOR BERLIN
Four chapters of the German art dealers association, those in Berlin, Hessen, Niedersachsen and Hamburg, have revived the art and antiques fair Antiqua, now scheduled for Nov. 20-28 at the Berlin Messe. Fine and decorative art from an as-yet-undetermined number of dealers will be on display. For more info contact Mr. Köppen at 49-30-3038-2275.
MET SHOP GOES TRANSATLANTIC
The Bonn Kunsthalle has an exclusive deal to sell gift-shop items from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The selection will be geared to the taste of German customers and will include textiles, jewelry, postcards, toys, umbrellas, posters and reproductions.
RISD IN PONT-AVEN
The Rhode Island School of Design is expanding its Pont-Aven-School of Art in Brittany. With funding from the Florence Gould Foundation, RISD bought land outside of town for a new art academy to be designed by Jean Nouvel. The 5 million FF facility will house 50 students and open in 2001. Additionally, RISD has purchased rooms in the Pension Gloannec, where artists like Paul Gauguin, Paul Sérusier and Emile Bernard stayed when in Pont-Aven. The rooms were officially reopened in July and house the school's administration and library.
MILWAUKEE SELLS AT NEUMEISTER
The Milwaukee Museum of Art is selling 80 paintings from the René von Schleinitz Collection of 19th-century German art at the Neumeister auction house in Munich Sept. 29. Among the artists represented in the sale are Julius Adam, Anton Braith, Franz von Defregger, Eduard Gruetzner, Hugo Kauffman, Willy Moralt, Carl Schlesinger, Anton Seitz and Joseph Wopfner. Proceeds from the sale are earmarked for future acquisitions in the same period. The son of German immigrants in Wisconsin, Schleinitz donated his collection and library to the Milwaukee Museum in 1972, shortly before his death.
KIEFER AT KETTERER'S
The Ketterer auction firm will offer four large paintings by Anselm Kiefer at its Oct. 1 auction of contemporary art, to be held at the elegant premises of Dresdner Bank across from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Three of the paintings belong to Kiefer's1978-1980 cycle "Noch ist Polen nicht verloren" (Poland is not yet lost), and have been on view at the Wiesbaden Museum. The fourth work, Urd, Werdani, Skul (1979), comes from a private collection. Select works from the coming auction are on view at the Trinkhaus Gallery, Düsseldorf, Aug. 30-31; Schloss Vaux in Eltville/Rheingau, Sept. 4-5; Hotel Louis Jakob, Hamburg, Sept. 9; Galerie Vorderbank, Frankfurt, Sept. 9-11; Galerie Henn, Stuttgart, Sept. 12-13; the Carolinenpalais, Munich, Sept. 15-19; and Dresdner Bank, Berlin, Sept. 23-29.
MIRO IN DORTMUND
For the first time, the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca has agreed to an exhibition in Germany. The show opened at the Museum am Ostwall in Dortmund, Aug. 14-Nov. 14, 1999. On view are 60 paintings, 23 sculptures and more than 40 works on paper, all created on the island of Mallorca, where Miró spent the last 27 years of his life.
OUT LATE AT BERLIN MUSEUMS
More than 60 museums and cultural institutions in Berlin are staying open till well after midnight on Aug. 28. The city's first "Late night at the museums" event, held on Jan. 30, 1999, drew more than 150,000 visitors to city arts institutions and was considered a great success. The 250th anniversary of Goethe's birth is the theme for many of the events. Shuttlebus service will be available. For more info go to www.mdberlin.de
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