The Year in Review

It is hard not to view 2016 as a fine auction year. We began the year with the knowledge that 2015 had yielded the best financial result in the history of the auction house. We therefore also had great expectations for this past year, although also some concern – would the strong economic growth continue? It is always difficult to foresee the trends of the art market, but one thing is certain: our worries were put to shame.

Historic Hammer Price of DKK 12 Million

In addition to our daily online auctions, we held our four traditional auctions of art, antiques, design and jewellery in the old saleroom in Bredgade, Copenhagen. Here we achieved a total of 20 individual million kroner sales in 2016, and let us begin in reverse chronology since the final traditional auction of the year turned out to be the best stand-alone auction we've ever had in terms of revenue. And not only that – we also achieved the highest hammer price we have ever had in the almost 70-year history of the auction house. The item that achieved the record-breaking price was a rare Chinese Ming vase from the 1400s, which we sold for DKK 12 million (€ 2.1 million including buyer's premium) to a Chinese collector. It was both amazing and thrilling to experience bidders from all over the world offering higher and higher bids in the saleroom, by phone and via “live bidding”. Through the years I have swung the auction hammer over thousands of rare and remarkable works of art, but this particular sale will undoubtedly resonate deeply in both my personal history and the history of the auction house.

Themed Auctions Result in Million Kroner Sales

The year also saw a variety of themed auctions. At the first traditional auction of the year, we shed a light on one of the most internationally acclaimed Danish artists, Vilhelm Hammershøi, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death. Hammershøi's enigmatic works are rarely seen on the auction market, due to a combination of the fact that he was not a very prolific artist, many of his paintings are today owned by major museums around the world and the private art collectors who own his work truly appreciate the quality of it. Nevertheless, we managed to present eight of the artist's paintings that in subject matter and historic terms had a broad range. The year's second and third highest hammer prices were achieved at this auction – one was a landscape from Gentofte that went for DKK 4.3 million (€ 752,000 including buyer's premium), the other an interior with one of his familiar women with her back turned for DKK 3.7 million (€ 650,000 including buyer's premium). The final theme auction of the year focused on the international art movement CoBrA, and in particular Asger Jorn and his Belgian colleague Pierre Alechinsky, whose paintings and graphic works were all sold except one. Jorn's work "Fantasy Animals" from 1952 achieved a hammer price of DKK 1.95 million (€ 341,000 including buyer's premium), while Alechinsky’s "Retrovision premonitoire" 1984 resulted in a hammer price of DKK 1.4 million(€ 245,000 including buyer's premium). We were therefore once again confirmed that the themed auctions create a great amount of attention regarding our auctions.

A Focus on Furniture

It is fortunately not only Chinese vases and paintings that are in demand. 2016 also resulted in impressive hammer prices for design from Danish furniture history's golden age between 1920 and 1970. We have, for instance, just sold an example of Finn Juhl's iconic "Chieftain Chair" from 1949 for no less than DKK 860,000 (€ 150,000 including buyer's premium). A unique rosewood stool by the uncompromising architect Peder Moos achieved the same hammer price in March. The highest hammer price of the year for furniture design can, however, be found in the antique section with a Louis XVI-cylinder bureau in mahogany with Chinoiserie. It was made by the German cabinetmaker David Roentgen around 1780 and sold for DKK 1 million (€ 175,000 including buyer's premium).

International Initiatives

At Bruun Rasmussen we still want to be an auction house firmly based in Denmark, since this is where the company has its roots. But this in no means suggests a lack of an international outlook. Much of our work consists of constantly seeking out new international markets and our high hammer prices are increasingly due to our international and affluent customer base. This year our focus has been on China, the US and France, and we continue to increase our international presence across the world. Today, we have representatives employed in Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, USA, Thailand and China. Prior to the traditional auctions, we host exhibitions in the international art metropolises with some of the most interesting and valuable auction lots. This has paid off, and we are seeing an increased international awareness on a broad range of categories that we sell.

With these words I wish all the customers and friends of the house a happy holiday and a wonderful New Year. See you soon for a hopefully just as fine auction year of 2017!

Jesper Bruun Rasmussen

Watch a film with the milestones of 2015