Record amount of top Finnish art to be sold in December auction

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History will be made in the Finnish art auction business in December, when a record amount of Finnish valuable paintings are to be sold by the Bukowski-Hörhammer auction house.
      More than the quantity, the quality of the art on offer is impressive, and experts are already talking about an extensive redistribution of Finnish art treasures.
     
Most of the paintings on sale are from the estates of deceased persons. A new record is being set here as well. The estate of just one couple, who were avid art collectors, contains more than ten prized paintings with a combined estimated value of EUR 1.5 million.
      Many of these works are familiar from recent Finnish auctions, where they set new price records.
      Strawberries, a painting by Albert Edelfelt, dates back to 1890. It was sold at an auction in April 1998 for 2,555,000 markka, or about EUR 430,000. At the time it was the highest price ever paid for a Finnish painting.
      Only once before, in November 1988, had a painting by a Finnish artist been sold for more than two million markka. At that time, Suru ("Mourning") by Helene Schjerfbeck sold for 2.2 million markka.
      Now Strawberries is coming under the hammer again, and the starting price has been set at EUR 400,000.
     
Also on sale again is Tyttö ja kukko ("Girl and Rooster"), by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, which carried the name Friendship when it was first exhibited in 1887.
      The last time it was on auction the starting price was just 150,000 markka. This was considered a serious miscalculation; the final selling price rose to over one million markka.
      Now Bukowski’s starting price for the painting is between EUR 100,000 and 150,000.
      Sisarukset ("Sisters") by Elin Danielson-Gambogi fetched EUR 235,000, which was about six times its starting price when it was last on auction in December 2000. Now the starting price is EUR 100,000.
      "Pricing these paintings that have recently been on the market is exceptionally difficult", admits Bukowski CEO Paul Hörhammer.
     
The Bukowski-Hörhammer international auction will be held at Helsinki’s Finlandia hall on December 11th and 12th. The works to be sold will be on display at Bukowski on Iso-Roobertinkatu 12-14 until December 10.


Links:
  Bukowski-Hörhammer web site:

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