From a Dutch Golden Age still-life to a Nobel Prize medal: our pick of the highlights from December's sales
Riah Pryor, The Art Newspaper, 30 November 2022
Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Untitled (Seated female figure with long yellow hair), 1921/22
This striking work was created by the German-born artist Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, who escaped Nazi Germany only to be interned in camps in New South Wales and Victoria in Australia (via the Huyton internment camp near Liverpool, England), before becoming a grammar school art teacher in 1942. His vessel to Australia, the HMT Dunera, was filled with professionals and echoes the route taken by Henry Talbot, Erwin Fabian and the founders of Fler furniture. This work reflects his time with the Bauhaus and joins the auction with 14 other pieces by the artist, including a collection of drawings that serve as a record of his life at the camps, all consigned by a family member.