Lempertz Evening Sale Achieves Record for Lehmbruck Marble, Total Exceeds €10M
The Facts
Lempertz's Evening Sale of Modern and Contemporary Art on June 5, 2026, in Cologne achieved total proceeds of over €10 million, led by a record price for a marble sculpture by Wilhelm Lehmbruck. The last privately owned Lehmbruck marble, 'Frauenbüste (Büste Frau L.)', sold for €850,000 (including fees), well above its €450,000 estimate, after 114 years in the same family. Pierre-Auguste Renoir's portrait of his son 'Coco mangeant sa soupe' fetched €508,000, one of four works deaccessioned by the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts to fund a new acquisition. Contemporary highlights included Zdeněk Sýkora's 'Line No. 145' at €633,000, Yoshitomo Nara's work at €607,000 (estimate €350,000), and Georg Baselitz's 'Borke' at €544,000.
The Signal
The sale underscores strong demand for museum-quality Modernist works, particularly German sculpture, and the growing acceptance of institutional deaccessioning in the U.S. as a collection-management tool. The Lehmbruck record—the first time a marble by the artist has crossed the €800,000 threshold—signals that top-tier German Expressionist and Modernist pieces are increasingly competing with international blue-chip names. Lempertz's ability to achieve prices above estimate for works by Nara, Sýkora, and Cosima von Bonin (whose two lots sold for €99,000 and €145,000) also confirms sustained collector appetite for both established and emerging Contemporary artists across European and Asian markets.
The Morning Signal · Daily
Enjoying this? Get the daily wire.
The art world in one daily email — auctions, openings, and acquisitions from 90+ primary sources, distilled into a five-minute read. Independent — no marketplace, no gallery ads.
Join collectors, dealers & curators
No spam · free every morning · unsubscribe anytime
- Artists: Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Karl Hofer, Bernard Buffet, Maurice Utrillo, Georg Baselitz, Zdeněk Sýkora, Yoshitomo Nara, Cosima von Bonin, Olafur Eliasson
- People: Hermann Hertz, Jan Bykowski
- Auction Houses: Lempertz
- Museums: Worcester Art Museum
- Locations: Cologne
- Prices: 850,000 euros, 508,000 euros, 198,000 euros, 92,000 euros, 52,800 euros, 544,000 euros, 633,000 euros, 607,000 euros, 99,000 euros, 145,000 euros, 55,000 euros, over 10 million euros
📊 Market Intelligence
Get deeper analysis, artist indices, and auction analytics on Art Collector IQ →
The Morning Signal · Daily
Get stories like this in your inbox
The art world in one daily email — auctions, openings, and acquisitions from 90+ primary sources, distilled into a five-minute read. Independent — no marketplace, no gallery ads.
Join collectors, dealers & curators
No spam · free every morning · unsubscribe anytime
The Jobs Digest · Weekly
New art-world jobs, every Monday
The Jobs Digest rounds up the week’s new museum, gallery, and auction-house openings — with salary when disclosed. One email a week, unsubscribe anytime.
