Little Fire Moon by Otto Piene, estimate €4000-6000 at Quentin.
He incorporated a layer of inflammable solvent on the surface of his oil paintings. When this was lit, the flames and the resulting soot produced distinctive compositions, one of which is being sold by Quentin in Berlin on April 20.
Piene once described his Rauchbilder as “survival studies, formed from private purgatory”, partly inspired by his own traumatic experiences of flame, smoke and light while serving with an anti-aircraft unit during the Second World War.
That Piene remained true to his style of painting for several decades can be seen by the date of the 9 x 7in (24 x 18cm) canvas: Little Fire Moon was created in 1979 and has now come from the legacy of a Berlin collector.
It has a guide of €4000-6000.
