Auction 160

Online Catalogue with all Lots / Auction 160
Modern and Contemporary Art

Saturday, 11 July 2026 at 11:00 am - After sale

Lot 88 Johannes Grützke. Selbst. 2017. Öl auf …

Selbst. 2017. Öl auf Leinwand. 60 x 50 cm. Monogrammiert und datiert, verso datiert sowie mit dem Künstlerstempel und dem Stempel "Bibliothek von Johannes Grützke". - Mit wenigen, sehr vereinzelten winzigen punktuellen Bereibungen. Insgesamt ausgesprochen gut und sauber.

Deutsche Nachkriegsmoderne – Privatsammlung, Berlin. - Das vorliegende Werk ist das letzte Selbstporträt, das Johannes Grützke wenige Wochen vor seinem Tod im Mai 2017 erschuf. Als Porträtist idealisierte Grützke seine Modelle nicht, sondern versuchte, sich deren Physiognomie und Charakter durch Verzerrung und spezielle Perspektiven anzunähern. Dieses Prinzip wandte er sowohl bei den von ihm porträtierten Personen als auch bei Selbstbildnissen an. Im vorliegenden Werk zeigt sich diese Herangehensweise in unverminderter Schärfe: Der Blick ist direkt, die Modellierung des Gesichts roh und tastend zugleich, das erdige Kolorit ohne jeden beschönigenden Zug. "Indem ich mich spiegele, spiegelt sich die ganze Welt in meinem Spiegel. Das male ich dann ab", formulierte Grützke selbst. Als sein letztes Selbstzeugnis gewinnt das vorliegende Werk eine zusätzliche Dimension, die über das rein Malerische hinausweist.

German Post War – Oil on canvas. Monogrammed and dated, dated on the reverse and bearing the artist's stamp. - With a few very isolated, tiny, pinpoint-like smudges. Overall, in exceptionally good and clean condition. - Private collection, Berlin. - This work is the last self-portrait Johannes Grützke created a few weeks before his death in May 2017. As a portraitist, Grützke did not idealise his subjects, but sought to capture their physiognomy and character through distortion and unusual perspectives. He applied this principle not only to the people he portrayed, but also to his self-portraits. In this work, this approach is evident with undiminished clarity: the gaze is direct, the modelling of the face is both raw and tentative, and the earthy colour scheme is devoid of any embellishment. "When I look at my reflection, the whole world is reflected in my mirror. That is what I then paint," Grützke himself put it. As his final self-portrait, this work takes on an additional dimension that extends beyond the purely pictorial.

Result: 3500 €

Premium and taxation
This piece is subject to differential taxation. There is a 29,5% buyer's premium on the hammer price. The value added tax is included but not displayable according to §25a UstG.

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Droit de Suite
On the sales proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography, whose authors have not yet died 70 years before the end of the sale, an additional 2% (subject to change) of the hammer prices from 400€ will be charged pro rata for the VG Bild-Kunst, which represents the copyrights of visual artists according to § 26 UrhG.

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Department Modern and Contemporary Art
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Auction 160