Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880 – 1938) was a German expressionist painter and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke (The Bridge), a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art. He volunteered for army service during WW1, but soon suffered a breakdown and was discharged. In 1933, his work was branded as "degenerate" by the Nazis, and this was a contributing factor to his suicide.In 1913 Kirchner painted this Berlin Street Scene that was bought after WW1 by Jewish collectors Alfred and Tekla Hess renowned for their support of German expressionist art in the late 1920s and early 1930s, making a succession of large purchases and frequently inviting prominent artists into their home.
In the 30s, Tekla Hess, widowed of Alfred, had to leave Germany and the collection was scattered through Europe by the Nazis : Berlin Street Scene was sent to Switzerland, sold to Frankfurt collector Carl Hagemann in 1936 and, after the war, purchased by the Berlin's Brücke Museum as a treasured example of the country's rich history of expressionist art.But eventually the grand-daughter of Alfred Hess - a 62 year old British citizen named Anita Halpin - filed a claim for restitution of the Berlin Street and in 2006 -after two years of negociations between the Berlin Museum and the Hess heirs- the picture was brought back to her by the museum. A politically Left person, member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Mrs Halpin thus inherited one of the most reknown and expensive Expressionists works. She did not keep it in her property for long and in 2007 she sold it to art dealer Daniella Luxembourg from New York for £ 20.5 million ( $ 38 million) on behalf of cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, son of Estée Lauder, and among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.
Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was born in Rosario in the Santa Fé region of Argentina. His Italian father, Luigi, who had lived in Argentina for ten years, was a sculptor, and his mother, Lucia Bottino, also of Italian origin, was a theatre actress.After WW1, he returned to Argentina, and began working as a sculptor in his father's workshop in Rosario. He later opened his own studio in the same city. Between 1925 and 1927, he won several competitions. In early 1940 he settled in Buenos Aires and worked feverishly, winning numerous sculpture competitions.On returning to Milan in April 1947, Fontana founded the Movimento spaziale (Spatial Movement) and, together with other artists and intellectuals, published the Primo Manifesto dello Spazialismo (First Manifesto of Spatialism). Spatialism combined ideas from the Dada movement, Tachism and Concrete art. He then achieved a series of master pieces and Manifestos that brought him international awards and notoriety. He died in Comabbio, Italy in 1968.This picture, one of his several Concetti spaziali (1) is a waterpaint on canvas measuring 39 5/8 x 32in. (100.5 x 81.3cm.) and was executed in 1966. It fetched £1,161,250 ($2.3 million) in June 2008 on auction at Christie's London. In her portrait of Picasso published in 1938, Gertrude Stein wrote: “A creator is not in advance of his generation but he is the first of his contemporaries to be conscious of what is happening to his generation.” The sentence could have been written for Lucio Fontana.(1)
Since 1949, Fontana’s perforations in paper and canvases were created under the heading «Concetto Spaziale.» They translate the concepts of the first and second «Spazialismo» manifestos of 1947 and 1948 into an artistic practice.
Edouard Degas (1834-1917) was trained in the tradition of Ingres and draftmanship that he never totally abandoned. His finest works were often done in pastels making the dancers look like floating above the tilted floor like a butterfly. This picture was made in 1899 at a time where he had serious eye problems.In 1977 it sold at auction for $ 264,000 in New York to the Sara Lee Corporation which endowed it later to the National Gallery London.
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian artist born in Livorno of Jewish heritage, practicing both painting and sculpture who pursued his career for the most part in France.
There he developed a unique style : today his graceful portraits and lush nudes at once evoke his name, but during his brief career few apart from his fellow artists were aware of his gifts. Modigliani had to struggle against poverty and chronic ill health, dying of tuberculosis and excesses of drink and drugs at the age of 35.His Reclining Nude With Hair Undone (60cm x 92) is one of his most famous paintings and one of a series of Nudes he made before his early death in 1920. This Nude was bought in 1989 by the City of Osaka for $ 13.8 million for a city museum that was not yet built. It is still in Japan.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painted so many Buste de Femme that it is difficult for me to tell precisely which went for how much. In 1977, one Buste de Femme by Picasso was sold on auction by Christie's in New York for $330,000. But there are plenty of others "Buste" of which only a part have fetched recorded prices.
was sold by Christie's for $3.37 million. The one to the left below was sold by Sotheby's in 2005 for $3.15 million.
And the one in the middle was sold in 1994 for $1,10 million.
