Art Informel. From a German Private Collection

ONLINE CATALOGUE
(can be seen from 5 November 2025)

5 – 13 November 2025
The first lot closes at 5 pm.

From a private collection in southern Germany, more than 200 works will be offered for sale. With this online auction, VAN HAM presents a fascinating insight into Informel, the defining art movement of the 1950s. It highlights the expressive freedom that artists developed after the Second World War: from gestural abstract paintings and experimental works on paper to rare prints.

The collection brings together central figures of German Informel such as Karl Fred Dahmen, Bernard Schultze, Georg Meistermann, Heinrich Wildemann, Fritz Winter, Max Ackermann, Gerhard Hoehme, and Johnny Friedlaender. The spectrum is further enriched by international pioneers like Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet, who decisively shaped the European discourse on abstract painting.

At the heart of the movement lies the dissolution of classical principles of form: painterly matter itself becomes an independent means of expression – color, structure, and texture move to the forefront, and the canvas becomes a stage for experimentation and movement. This approach opened up entirely new artistic pathways between gestural abstraction, lyrical painting, and material-oriented visual language.

The development of Informel in Germany is closely tied to major exhibitions and artist groups: Quadriga in 1952, “junger Westen” in Düsseldorf, “ZEN 49” in Munich, and “Gruppe 53” played a decisive role in shaping post-war art. The movement reached its peak and gained international recognition at documenta II in 1959 in Kassel, where its leading artists presented their work.

This auction therefore offers not only outstanding individual works but also a profound insight into the development of abstract art after 1945 – and into the unique vision of a collector who spent decades bringing together the key positions of Informel.

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In the price range from € 200 – 12.000
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Max Ackermann | Arman [Armand Pierre Fernandez] Arman | Hiroshi Asada | Jean René Bazaine | Erwin Bechtold | Franz Bernhard | Tuvia Beeri | Rolf Behm | Hubert Berke | Roger Bissière | Francis Bott | Jürgen Brodwolf | Camille Bryen | Uwe Bremer | Carl Buchheister | Jorge Castillo | Rolf Cavael | Ouhi Cha | James Coignard | Brigitte Coudrain | Brigitte Coudray | Brigitte Coudrai | Karl Fred Dahmen | Gustav Deppe | Bertrand Dorny | Jean Dubuffet | Joseph Egan | Herbert Eglmaier | Maurice Estève | Jean Fautrier | Fred A. Th. Winter (Fathwinter) | Gerhard Fietz | Marcel Fiorini | Johnny Friedlaender | Georg Gais | Winfred Gaul | Jaume Genovart | Henri Goetz | Karl Otto Götz | Werner Graeff | Hap Grieshaber | Alois Janak | Horst Janssen | Heinz Kreutz | Hans Kuhn | André Lanskoy | Martin Matschinsky | Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff | Georg Meistermann | Zoran Music | Georges Noël | Leopoldo Nóvoa | Josef Povazan | Hans Reichel | Otto Ritschl | Georges Noël  | Gerard Schneider | Bernard Schultze | Gustave Singier | Hans Staudacher | Antoni Tàpies | Matko Trebotic | Hann Trier | Rodolphe Raoul Ubac | Hans Uhlmann | Maria Viera da Silva | Heinrich Wildemann | Fritz Winter | Josef Wedewer | Theodor Werner | Conrad Westpfahl

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