Modern | Post War | Contemporary

Modern
It is one of Max Beckmann’s rare landscape paintings: Monte Carlo from 1936. Here the artist offers a view of the glamorous city in the Côte d‘Azur in France in a very distinct manner, contrasting the light, summery colours of the South with dark shadows and distinctive sombre features in a strong, Expressionist fashion. In this painting Beckmann demonstrates his skill in exploring different genres and themes and interpreting them in his unique style. At the same time the eye wanders over the sea into the distance – it is the gaze of an artist whose flight into exile is imminent. The painting is from the same outstanding private collection from which Van Ham already had the privilege to auction Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme in the Spring.

Autodidact Suzanne Valadon is one of the outstanding women artists of the early 20th century who is distinguished for her independence and her talent in an art world dominated by men. She started out her artistic career as a model for famous artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Valadon’s wide range of works is influenced by the styles of Naive Art and Post-Impressionism. The painting Les Jardins du 12 rue Cortot à Paris depicts one of her favourite motifs: the garden of her home and studio in Paris.

Post War
Serge Poliakoff’s Composition abstraite from 1968 is also from the above-mentioned private collection. Works of the École des Paris already saw overwhelming price increases when they were offered during the Spring sale. Collectors are bound to find the intense and characteristic work in blue and red on offer now equally exciting.

Exaggerated, oversized – Boterismo! This is how the style of Columbian artist Fernando Botero is described, who is known for his voluminous, humorous figures, which inspire viewers to reflect on beauty ideals and social norms. In the large-scale charcoal drawing on canvas being offered, Botero managed to lend the protagonist depth and volume without any colours.

They are icons of art history: Andy Warhol’s Flowers. In Spring 2021 Van Ham was already able to establish an international auction record with the sale of a ten-part Flower set from the legendary Lauffs Collection. Those who did not get a chance back then will be able to acquire a unique Flower from a private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia this Autumn. The market-fresh work, which is in excellent condition, is a colour serigraph on canvas that was painted over with polymer paint – which is what makes it so unique.

Contemporary
La Chambre de Balthys IV from 2001 is a large and impressive triptych by Jonathan Meese. The work was conceived as part of a series about Balthus, which eventually grew into a huge installation of paintings and objects in an imaginary flat in the Falckenberg Collection in Hamburg. A monumental work of museum-like quality.