Dropping a Cool Three Million on Pechstein's Selfie
Bid adieu to 3.2 million euros, and welcome Pechstein's "Self-Portrait, Reclining" into a luxury German home. The piece, created in 1909, sold in a heated auction, with bidders hailing from Germany and Switzerland. Despite the hefty price tag, the painting fell within the estimated 1.5 million to 2 million euro range, implied by the auction house catalog .
The auction house, Lempertz, stated that this self-portrait by Max Pechstein (1881-1955) is the artist's most significant work of personal introspection, fetching a deserving place in a German private art collection .
Originally, the painting was part of the prized collection of Dr. Walter Blank (1892-1938), born in Cologne. Following his 1936 sale, Blank and his two sons took refuge in Antwerp. The piece saw the auction stage in June 2023, with researchers meticulously investigating its background before ruling out claims of looted art .
Prior to the auction, concerns arose when the piece was recognized and registered within the "Lost Art" database, a platform documenting the plight of culturally significant items confiscated by the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. The database also captures works whose ownership is shrouded in doubt during this period.
The museum-goers and private bidders, including the item's heirs, started to lose interest when it surfaced in the "Lost Art" database. This led to its withdrawal from the summer auction . However, post-legal scrutiny and appraisal of the painting's authenticity, the art piece regained prominence as one of the star attractions in the fall auction. Removed from the "Lost Art" database, it gained recognition as a valuable piece of art, once again.
Despite initial apprehensions, the auction witnessed a multitude of renowned art pieces, including the sold-out Pechstein self-portrait .
Footnotes
[1] [2] Earlier, there have been reports of forgeries involving Max Pechstein's art. Wolfgang Beltracchi, a German former art forger, confessed to faking several paintings by Max Pechstein. This incident raised questions about the authenticity of various works, but specifics about this particular self-portrait have not been disclosed .
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