Lempertz Evening Sale Totals Over €10M, Lehmbruck Marble Sculpture Sets Record at €850K
On June 7, 2026, Lempertz announced results from its Evening Sale of Modern and Contemporary Art held on June 5, 2026, in Cologne. The sale generated total proceeds of over €10 million, with a high sales quota and strong price increases. The top lot was Wilhelm Lehmbruck's 'Frauenbüste (Büste Frau L.)', a marble sculpture that sold for €850,000 (including fees), setting a record for a marble sculpture by the artist. The work had been in private hands for 114 years, acquired directly from the artist at the 1912 Sonderbund Exhibition. Pierre-Auguste Renoir's portrait of his youngest son, 'Coco mangeant sa soupe', sold for €508,000, one of four works deaccessioned by the Worcester Art Museum. Other notable results included Zdeněk Sýkora's 'Line No. 145' at €633,000, Yoshitomo Nara's work at €607,000, Georg Baselitz's 'Borke' at €544,000, and two works by Cosima von Bonin achieving €99,000 and €145,000. Olafur Eliasson's 'The Island Series' sold for €55,000 in the photography category.
The Signal
The sale underscores robust demand for museum-quality Modern works, particularly German sculpture, with the Lehmbruck record reflecting sustained interest in rare, historically significant pieces. The Worcester Art Museum's deaccessioning of four works, including the Renoir, highlights a growing trend among US institutions to revise collections for new acquisitions. Strong prices for Contemporary artists such as Baselitz (recently deceased) and Sýkora, alongside international stars like Nara, signal a healthy market across categories at Lempertz, with photography also performing well.
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- 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
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