Figure with White Ladder (Figur mit weisser Leiter) by Horst Antes, estimated at €30,000-40,000 at Ketterer.
His figures were inspired in part by the Kachina dolls of the native American Pueblo peoples. In their most distilled form, they consisted solely of a large head with virtually no torso, standing on two feet. Antes gave them the name Kopffüssler, which translates literally as Head-Footer.
Their shape varies and in the case of a painting that is being sold by Ketterer in Munich on June 10, the Figure with White Ladder (Figur mit weisser Leiter) bears a greater resemblance to human figures than the classic Kopffüssler, as it has fully formed arms and torso. Nevertheless, the shape of the head and the overlarge size of it are unmistakeably Antes.
The 2ft 9in x 2ft (85 x 62cm) wood panel with water-based acrylic paint was executed in 1980 and was sold by a Hanover gallery in the same year to a local company. Since then, it has been in the firm’s collection and is now coming onto the auction market for the first time.
Estimate €30,000-40,000.
