A diptych (F XXXVIII) by Karin Kneffel, estimated at €150,000-200,000 at Grisebach in Berlin.
Image: Karen Bartsch, Berlin / Grisebach GmbH
Kneffel, currently professor at the Munich art academy, trained with the great German painter Gerhard Richter but emancipated herself from his style of painting.
While she was at the academy in Düsseldorf there was a general prejudice against realistic painting. Kneffel was not deterred.
She chose her subjects and the sizes of her paintings carefully and is known for her small format depictions of animals on the one hand and her monumental, hyper-realistic paintings of everyday objects on the other. Her most famous works thus far have been over-dimensional, almost photographic depictions of fruit in extreme close-up.
More recently, she has changed her style; her latest works are not completely realistic, but incorporate hallucinogenic undertones. The paintings in the Berlin auction present peaches on the tree in characteristically detailed fashion with the view of an extensive, probably Mediterranean landscape in the background. The diptych comes from a corporate collection in Berlin and is estimated €150,000-200,000.
