KOLLER HIGHLIGHTS 2022

| 1 Dear Reader, What do the two paintings by Frantisek Kupka and Dirck van Baburen pre- sented in this brochure have in common? At first glance nothing at all, other than the fact that both works exceeded the million mark at our auctions last year. The painting by Baburen from circa 1621 set a new auction record for the artist at CHF 1.4 million (page 19). The 1913/14 painting ‘Le Rouge Emporte’ by Kupka fetched five times its estimate at CHF 2 million, one of the highest prices realised for a work by this artist (page 5). But even if these two paintings have nothing to do with each other stylis- tically, they are both revolutionary works that represent a new conception of art. Dirck van Baburen belongs to the circle of Dutch artists in Rome at the beginning of the 17 th century who became acquainted with Caravaggio’s new, dramatically staged realism. Upon their return to the Netherlands they continued to develop this style, and exerted a decisive influence on subsequent generations of painters. Kupka’s monochrome painting was created in the period around 1910, whenHilma af Klint and soon afterWassily Kandinsky painted the very first abstract works of art. Kupka’s ‘Le Rouge Emporte’ thus also stands at the beginning of a reorientation that broke with artistic traditions and had a long-lasting influence on 20 th -century painting. Such discoveries are not limited to painting or to European art, of course. Our auction house has more than 20 specialised departments covering the entire range of Western as well as Asian art. Some of the most exciting paintings, sculptures and objects that passed through our hands in 2022 are shown on the following pages. Kind regards, Cyril Koller