The Spring sales for modern and contemporary art offer a gripping panorama between figuration and abstraction. Impressive and iconic portraits by eminent artists such as Max Liebermann, Andy Warhol, and Sigmar Polke will be joined by representatives of abstract art and photography, including Gerhard Richter and Wolfgang Tillmans. A work by Bernard Frize comes from the private collection of Peter Metzger in Hamburg, whose focus is New Abstraction. The collection of Frankfurt banker Jochen Neynaber, which centres on great small-scale art, is also remarkable. More information on the Jochen Neynaber Collection is available in a separate press release.
Max Liebermann painted his only daughter, Käthe, born in 1885, in numerous portraits. Many of them were confiscated after Liebermann’s wife Martha passed away in 1943 and have been considered lost ever since. The pastel being offered now, which shows Käthe sitting on an armchair reading and with a sleeping dachshund at her feet, comes from a private collection in Southern Germany (estimate: €70,000–100,000).
A small newspaper clipping, probably an advertisement, served Sigmar Polke as the basis for the hand-coloured lithograph Freundinnen II (Girlfriends II) from 1967 (estimate: €70,000–100,000). The work is considered paradigmatic as its stylistic and technical elements appear time and again Polke’s oeuvre. He enlarged the original picture, thus creating a new, fine dot grid. However, whereas graphic artists avoid the moiré patterns that are generated when images are reproduced, Polke emphasized them, modifying the screen ruling by enlarging the dots and spreading them apart. As a result, the image no longer serves to illustrate an advertising message but is presented as an artwork in its own right.
Mental Picture #62 is part of Wolfgang Tillmans’ iconic Mental Pictures series which, along with the Blushes that were created at the same time, were to pave the way for later abstract series, such as the Freischwimmer series. Photographic in terms of method, conceptional in spirit, and yet almost painterly in appearance, Mental Picture #62 captures that ineffable moment when a picture comes to life (estimate: €150,000–200,000). This monumental work, which is permeated by an incredible luminosity, is an exploration of the origin of artistic expression in its purest sense. It only captures the movement of light and chemicals on light-sensitive paper and was created in the darkroom without camera or photographic negatives.
Several works will be offered from Peter Metzger’s private collection, which is being presented in March in the premises of Van Ham’s Hamburg office in the exhibition titled “New Abstraction – The Peter Metzger Collection”. Highlights of the collection as well as the sale include works by Juan Uslé, Julie Mehretu, and Bernard Frize, among others. Frize’s large-scale painting Neori is an appealing work by the French artist which is stunning for its colours and three-dimensional quality.
Gerhard Richter is still one of the most famous and sought-after contemporary artists; he has led the international ranking in Capital magazine’s Art Compass for years. Most recently he was honoured with a major retrospective in Paris, which drew huge, enthusiastic crowds. At the Spring sale, once again several works by Gerhard Richter will be called up, including 2.2.89 – a nuanced colour space modulation in the artist’s distinct visual language (estimate: €100,000–150,000). With the interplay of different techniques Richter achieves a balanced and unique composition of the surface.
Frankfurt banker Jochen Neynaber (1939–2025) had put together his art collection of superb small-scale works since the 1970s. For the cosmopolitan that he was, the small size was not just practical, as it allowed him to keep his art with him at all times as he moved around from place to place. The high quality of his collection moreover confirms that “hand luggage size” artworks can be extraordinarily exciting, diverse, and surprising – both individually and in relation to each other. The private collection, titled “Gulliver’s Travels – The Jochen Neynaber Collection”, contains approximately 250 works. Its highlights will be presented in a special catalogue and offered for sale on 10 June 2026. The collection includes works by On Kawara, Gerhard Richter, Alexej von Jawlensky, George Condo, Alighiero Boetti, Günther Förg, and the wonderful artists Bridget Riley, Miriam Cahn, Karin Kneffel, and Meret Oppenheim – big names that demonstrate Neynaber’s eye for quality. More information on the Jochen Neynaber Collection is available in a separate press release.
