The German Expressionist, who was born 125 years ago and worked mainly in Berlin, disappeared on the eastern front in the latter days of the Second World War and was finally declared dead by a German court in 1961.
In the 1920s-30s, however, contemporary critics compared him to Franc Marc and Wassily Kandinsky; his works were shown in German exhibitions as well as in the US, Russia and Japan.
Not surprisingly he fell out of favour with the Nazi authorities and his works disappeared from public view. Only in recent decades have they begun to come back onto the market.
In the December 8-9 sale at Karl & Faber in Munich three paintings by Topp are coming up from sale, consigned by a European collector. They were all painted soon after the end of the First World War and belong to Topp’s so-called revolution paintings.
Most prominent is his untitled 2ft 8in x 2ft 4in (82 x 68cm) composition from 1918, which is expected to bring €80,000-120,000.
