Udo Jürgens Auction Cracks Million Mark
This is "more than triple the upper pre-auction estimate," Sotheby's auction house announced on Friday. All 99 lots were sold, with 3,150 bids placed. More than 1,000 people attended the previews in Vienna, Munich, and Cologne. Jürgens' concert piano by Wilhelm Schimmel became the most expensive piece.
Piano, Bathrobe, Sculpture
The glass wing was Jürgens' preferred musical instrument and accompanied him at many of his performances. Along with a plexiglass and white leather piano stool, the estimated price here was between 20,000 and 30,000 euros. In the end, an Austrian collector and fan paid 240,000 euros.
There was also enormous interest in an iconic white terry bathrobe (personalised and signed by German footballers), estimated at 150 to 200 euros. According to the auction house, an intense bidding war shortly before the end of the auction extended the running time for this lot by 20 minutes, so that the artist's moisture-absorbing trademark realised a result of 26,400 euros after 54 bids - 176 times the lower estimate.
A sculpture by the German-French artist Jean (Hans) Arp, conceived in 1965 and completed in 1967, was worth 192,000 euros to a private collector. According to Sotheby's, there was a lot of bidding interest for a watercolour by Gustav Klimt at the start of the auction, after 28 bids the hammer fell at 168,000 euros - 14 times the lower estimate of 12,000 to 18,000 euros.
23 Countries at Udo Jürgens Auction
Over 48 bids were placed for Jürgens' Bentley Continental GTC, his two-door luxury convertible with four seats. Estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 euros, the vehicle changed hands for 132,000 euros. A Mercedes-Benz owned by Jürgens, manufactured in 2012, was also very popular: after more than 42 bids, the dark blue metallic car was auctioned for 33,600 euros. The Starfighter helmet, which Jürgens wore on a supersonic flight, went for 31,200 euros, with an estimated price of 1,000 to 2,000 euros.
Every lot - except for three (Klimt, Bentley, grand piano) - was offered without reserve (from one euro). 954 people registered for the auction. 98 percent of the lots sold at prices significantly above their upper estimates. The auction participants came from 23 countries such as Germany (50 percent of the bids), Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain - and even from Asia, Australia, and North and Central America. Part of the auction proceeds will go to support the Udo Jürgens Foundation.
(APA/Red)
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