Archipenko sculpto-painting to be auctioned (10/20/96)

Archipenko sculpto-painting to be auctioned

by Ika Koznarska Casanova

NEW YORK - The Mauerbach Benefit Sale, an international auction offering heirless art confiscated by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945, will be conducted by Christie's on behalf of The Federation of Austrian Jewish Communities on October 29-30 at the MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.

The collection includes Old Masters and 19th century continental European paintings and drawings as well as sculpture, tapestries and textiles, furniture, arms and armor, coins and books. The 878 lots in the sale represent some 8,000 objects and carry estimates from $75 to $110,000.

Most of the works offered in the sale can be traced back to their hiding place in the salt mines of Altaussee, Austria. Thousands of objects, whose owners could not be traced, were eventually stored at a 14th-century Carthusian monastery in Mauerbach, just outside of Vienna.

The Austrian government transferred ownership of the confiscated property last year to The Federation of Austrian Jewish Communities. Proceeds from the sale in total are conservatively estimated to realize $3.5 million. They will benefit Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust and their families.

Among the highlights of the Mauerbach sale is Alexander Archipenko's work, "Karaffe" (Carafe). A work long recorded as lost, the picture is one of few works by the artist which is not in a public collection.

The work is an example of sculpto-painting, an attempt to unite form and color via mixed media, which Archipenko introduced in 1912.

The work, oil and papier-mâché on wood, is signed "Archipenko." It measures 15 3/4 by 11 1/4 in., and was executed in 1921.

The work was exhibited as "Karaffe/ Skulptomalerei" in Berlin in 1921 as part of the "Kunstaustellung der Sturm" (catalogue No. 118/25). The work, lot No. 5862, carries an estimate from $61,000 to $93,000.

The works of art in the sale will be sold without reserve and are fully illustrated in a special catalogue which serves as historic documentation. The catalogue is available through Christie's for $50 (price exclusive of postage). To reserve a catalogue, call 1-800-395-6300.

Objects to be sold on October 29 and 30 will be on public view at the MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna beginning October 22-28, coinciding with the museum's exhibitions celebrating Austria's millennium.

The benefit sale can be accessed on Christie's Web site: http://www.christies.com