Julius Katchen. Julius Katchen loved to combine his concert tours with a visit to dealers and collectors, where he often succeeded to repudiate many an important piece. It is rumored that he once threatened not to give a concert in South-East Europe if he were not given the famous Netsuke of Getchu for his concerto. The collectors Emil Damm from Munich and Kurt-Robert Jordan from Lüdenscheid resisted some not quite so dramatic proposals. I remember vividly a visit to the home of the elderly collector couple Jordan in Lüdenscheid, where I showed the treasures of an upcoming auction. During this visit, shortly after the death of Julius Katchen the shattered old couple mentioned his last visit to their home with tears in their eyes. Another collector visiting our auctions at the time, who was also client of Kunsthandel Klefisch from 1973 onwards, was Dr. Paul Spahn, the newsreader at Swiss television, whom I met many times at auctions in London and Paris. One day I met him absorbed in the study of exquisite Inrô and Netsuke at Kenzo Imai’s small house on Shinmonzen Street in Kyôto. During my first exhibition in May 1995 in the remote “Wasserschloss Inzlingen” close to Basel Dr. Spahn even came by taxi all the way from Zurich in order to see the pieces of the next auction. A recently described group of Inrô, originally from his estate, reveals the meticulous collector who always added a piece of paper with the year of purchase and often the name of the previous owner. These included well-known names like the legendary Parisian dealer Mariane Densmore, the niece of the brothers Vignier, the Paris based dealer Aoyama, and the Swiss art dealer Rigozzi from St. Gallen. Ueli Zwicky from Basel was also a regular customer of Rigozzi, whose first part of his huge collection of sword fittings, Inrô and netsuke I started to auction in my 12th sale. Already at the beginning of my apprenticeship I became acquainted with Sylvain Buzaglo from Amsterdam, who tragically died in a plane crash in Cyprus in 1967. His love for ceramics led him to Japan early on. Later on he got interested in Netsuke as well and from his collection we offer again some Kagamibuta. His successor Albert Roovers, who was catapulted by the sudden and tragic death of Buzaglo to the head of the company, maintained all his contacts and gave myself a path to Japan in the beginning of my independence. During this time, Johan Somerwil, a publisher from Amsterdam who with great dedication and excellent eye for unusual representations, built up an extensive and varied collection, Netsuke, Ukiyoe prints especially by Kuniyoshi, also fascinated him and later on Buddhist sculptures. His presence at auctions revived the group of collectors, some of whom were animated by his obvious enthusiasm. Over many years I maintained close contact with the clients with whom I shared the love and joy of Japanese art. In 2014 I was able to integrate them in the new department for Asian Art at Van Ham. I wish them all the best for the future. Trudel Klefisch, Cologne May 2017
Katalog 394 | Netsuke
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