German painter Gerhard Richter has long been one of the most highly regarded painters of his generation, and now a 'lost' work from his 50 years-plus career is set to auction for up to £3m at Sotheby's London.
The reappearance of the work Eisläuferin, which translates as "skater", is especially remarkable considering that most experts, and even Richter himself, assumed that the work had been destroyed. It last exhibited in 1963.
Until recently, you could only see his work Eisläuferin as a low quality monochrome version on Richter's official website - especially frustrating as it holds the "No 2" spot in Richter's catalogue of his own works.
Eisläuferin will appear with 59 other works for sale, which Sotheby's expects to net £33m overall. "We've never seen anything like it on the market," said Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in Europe, in an interview with UK newspaper the Guardian.
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Gerhard last enjoyed success at Sotheby's London in February. His very large, Ab-Ex-styled work "Abstraktes Bild" (1990) appeared estimated at £5-7m and eventually sold for $11.5 million (£7.2 million) - the top lot in the sale.
Meanwhile, London's Tate Modern is holding a retrospective of Richter's works this autumn. With the buzz surrounding the artist in 2011, there could be not better time for you to collect or invest in his artworks.
Watch this space for further news on Sotheby's upcoming June sale.
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