4/22

ARTIST REDISCOVERED ABSOLUTE AUCTIONS

3 cuts

set 4/12 #623644 ak

PLEASANT VALLEY, N.Y. — The three-session estate auction of more than 1,400 paintings by the Swiss American artist John Konstantin Hansegger (1908–1988) concluded in March. Just over 700 works were auctioned off, in addition to limited edition lithographs, prints, sketch-books and biographical literature.

The auctions, beginning in November 2004 and conducted live both in-house and on the Internet by Absolute Auctions & Realty, produced stronger prices with each session, reaching $5,108 in this auction for lot 80, a 42-by-38-inch oil on canvas entitled “Parallelism,” which was created in Paris in 1937 and was exhibited in 1939.

Other top prices included $4,256 for “14th of July,” another early piece; $3,405 for a 36-by-28-inch oil on canvas painting “Homage to Max Bill,” a sculptor and close associate of Hansegger’s in Switzerland; $1,249 for “Paris Park Luxembourg,” a 13¾-by-10¾-inch oil on canvas. A large group of sketchbooks and pads sold for $2,270, and a lot of biographical material including newspaper clippings and show catalogs brought $1,135. By comparison, the highest price in the first session was $2,384 for “Pensive,” rising to $2,951 for “Triangle” in the second.

The increasing prices reflect the progress dealers and collectors made in sorting out the career of a complex and talented artist that spanned seven decades and five continents, and produced at least six major periods and several minor ones. The vastly different styles represented included Hansegger’s unique Abstract Parallels — a precursor of, and perhaps an influence on, the development of Abstract Expressionism. Also selling strongly were examples of Hansegger’s Cubism, Art Konkrete, Surrealism, and a group of large canvases of nude men and women depicted only in straight lines that buyers began calling Stick-Figures.

Other styles included a landscape form the artist defined as Ornamentalism, Modernist scenes of Paris, and a vast number of floral still lives and Impressionist landscapes, many of Columbia County, New York, where Hansegger spent his last 20 years.

At the outset of the three auctions, few were aware that Hansegger was also known as “Hans Egger” in Europe and had numerous auction records under that name, but none as Hansegger. In addition, since the sale included virtually everything found in his studio at his death including his easel, the collection contained many sketches and other pieces of dubious distinction, which made it harder to spot the gems.

Heavy promotion by Absolute brought a large crowd to the Pleasant Valley gallery for the auctions, where the great profusion of styles left many at the first offering confused and slightly baffled. As a result, prices were quite favorable to buyers in the first auction of 350 pieces.

By the January auction, people began to recognize that they were dealing with an artist of considerable standing. In spite of some lingering confusion about the artist, prices advanced smartly in this session, especially for the Stick-Figures series that Hansegger first created in 1949.

By the March session, auctioneer Rob Doyle had discovered that Hansegger’s unique Abstract Parallels series, thought to have originated around 1960, actually began in 1936-37 in Paris and continued until his death. As a result, hammer prices took a quantitative leap forward. For example, sales of his rooster paintings rose in value from an average of $150 for a 24-by-30-inch oil on canvas in the first auction to about $600 in the third and final auction of his work.

For information, 845-635-3169 or www.AbsoluteAuc tionRealty.com.

FOR 4-22

MEDIUM IS THE MATZO

ewm/lsb set 4/15 #623970

NEW YORK CITY — “The Medium Is the Matzo,” a Passover installation by Melissa Shiff, will be featured at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at New York University, 7 East 10th Street, through May 2.

Ms Shiff’s installation will be part of the third annual NYU Artist Seder to take place at the center on April 27, the sixth night of Passover.

For information, www.nyu.edu/bronfman.