Lot 28 
28
Rainer Fetting
Kuss IV, 1981.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimation: € 80,000 / $ 92,800
Rainer Fetting
1949
Kuss IV. 1981.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse. 200 x 250 cm (78.7 x 98.4 in). [CH].
• With unbridled passion and creative energy, Rainer Fetting battled against rigid artistic clichés and social taboos.
• Formerly owned by collector Carlo Monzino, New York (portrayed by Andy Warhol in 1980).
• In the year of its creation, Fetting participated in the legendary exhibition “A New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy in London, and the following year, the artist took part in the seminal “Zeitgeist” exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin.
• The paintings from the early 1980s are the artist’s most sought-after works on the international auction market.
• Other works from the 1980s are in international museum collections, including the Tate Gallery, London, the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.
PROVENANCE: Carlo Monzino Collection (1933-1996), New York (acquired in 1982, typographic inscription on a gallery label on the reverse).
Galerie Deschler, Berlin.
Acquired by the current owner from the above in 2016.
EXHIBITION: "Ich bin ein Berliner", Museum No Hero, Delden/Netherlands, April 15, 2018-February 7, 2019.
Called up: December 5, 2025 - ca. 17.54 h +/- 20 min.
1949
Kuss IV. 1981.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse. 200 x 250 cm (78.7 x 98.4 in). [CH].
• With unbridled passion and creative energy, Rainer Fetting battled against rigid artistic clichés and social taboos.
• Formerly owned by collector Carlo Monzino, New York (portrayed by Andy Warhol in 1980).
• In the year of its creation, Fetting participated in the legendary exhibition “A New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy in London, and the following year, the artist took part in the seminal “Zeitgeist” exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin.
• The paintings from the early 1980s are the artist’s most sought-after works on the international auction market.
• Other works from the 1980s are in international museum collections, including the Tate Gallery, London, the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.
PROVENANCE: Carlo Monzino Collection (1933-1996), New York (acquired in 1982, typographic inscription on a gallery label on the reverse).
Galerie Deschler, Berlin.
Acquired by the current owner from the above in 2016.
EXHIBITION: "Ich bin ein Berliner", Museum No Hero, Delden/Netherlands, April 15, 2018-February 7, 2019.
Called up: December 5, 2025 - ca. 17.54 h +/- 20 min.
“I painted the first three kiss pictures in 1978, and they have a similar style of flowing color as the ”van Gogh and Wall" pictures from the same year, which, however, become more intense and dynamic from picture to picture. The pale yellow-ochre-pink tones also appear in both series. At the time, I was inspired by the American Abstract Expressionists, especially by Willem de Kooning. After my first stay in New York in the fall of 1978, I developed a more intense painting style and a greater use of color, though this varied depending on the subject of the paintings.
In contrast to the first kiss paintings from 1978, which were still rendered in more delicate colors, this kiss from 1981 features a crisper palette, and I notice that a few cubist elements have been incorporated. It seems that I had tried my hand at Picasso. “In addition to eroticism and discoveries in painting,' The Kiss' was certainly always a symbol of circumstances in life that went beyond that.”
Rainer Fetting about the present work, 2025.
Together with fellow artists such as Luciano Castelli, Helmut Middendorf, Salomé, and Bernd Zimmer, Rainer Fetting made a name for himself as a member of the artist groups “Neue Wilde” (New Wild Ones), “Junge Wilde” (Young Wild Ones), or the “Moritzboys” in the 1970s. In 1977, they jointly founded the collectively run “Galerie am Moritzplatz” in the isolated, subcultural Berlin art world. In the early 1980s, Fetting's artistic career hit its first peak: in 1980, his works were on display in the exhibition “Heftige Malerei” (Fierce Painting) at the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin; in 1981, he participated in the exhibition “A New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy in London; and in 1982, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin showed his work in the highly acclaimed exhibition “Zeitgeist.” At that time, the artist was represented by, among others, the Mary Boone Gallery in New York, which also offered our work. In the relatively isolated Berlin art world at the time, the intensity of the works seemed like a liberation from the largely prevailing, established art clichés. To this day, they have lost none of their impetuous, impulsive power and timeless relevance.
The first three “Kuss” (Kiss) paintings were created in 1978, and Rainer Fetting continued the series in the early 1980s.
With his expressive depictions, in which he moves so close to the models' faces, Fetting engages in a role play that is characteristic of him—a play with intense, contrasting colors, “fierce”, energetic and expressive brushstrokes, passion, immediacy, homosexual eroticism, sensuality, and a desire to provoke. At a time when the end of taboos surrounding homosexuality still seemed a long way off, even in legal terms, this very personal painting is not only role-play, but also rebellion, protest, and exclamation mark, as well as an overwhelming testimony, both in terms of color and size, to the unconventional and wild Berlin art scene of the 1980s. [CH]
In contrast to the first kiss paintings from 1978, which were still rendered in more delicate colors, this kiss from 1981 features a crisper palette, and I notice that a few cubist elements have been incorporated. It seems that I had tried my hand at Picasso. “In addition to eroticism and discoveries in painting,' The Kiss' was certainly always a symbol of circumstances in life that went beyond that.”
Rainer Fetting about the present work, 2025.
Together with fellow artists such as Luciano Castelli, Helmut Middendorf, Salomé, and Bernd Zimmer, Rainer Fetting made a name for himself as a member of the artist groups “Neue Wilde” (New Wild Ones), “Junge Wilde” (Young Wild Ones), or the “Moritzboys” in the 1970s. In 1977, they jointly founded the collectively run “Galerie am Moritzplatz” in the isolated, subcultural Berlin art world. In the early 1980s, Fetting's artistic career hit its first peak: in 1980, his works were on display in the exhibition “Heftige Malerei” (Fierce Painting) at the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin; in 1981, he participated in the exhibition “A New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy in London; and in 1982, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin showed his work in the highly acclaimed exhibition “Zeitgeist.” At that time, the artist was represented by, among others, the Mary Boone Gallery in New York, which also offered our work. In the relatively isolated Berlin art world at the time, the intensity of the works seemed like a liberation from the largely prevailing, established art clichés. To this day, they have lost none of their impetuous, impulsive power and timeless relevance.
The first three “Kuss” (Kiss) paintings were created in 1978, and Rainer Fetting continued the series in the early 1980s.
With his expressive depictions, in which he moves so close to the models' faces, Fetting engages in a role play that is characteristic of him—a play with intense, contrasting colors, “fierce”, energetic and expressive brushstrokes, passion, immediacy, homosexual eroticism, sensuality, and a desire to provoke. At a time when the end of taboos surrounding homosexuality still seemed a long way off, even in legal terms, this very personal painting is not only role-play, but also rebellion, protest, and exclamation mark, as well as an overwhelming testimony, both in terms of color and size, to the unconventional and wild Berlin art scene of the 1980s. [CH]
28
Rainer Fetting
Kuss IV, 1981.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimation: € 80,000 / $ 92,800
Commission, taxes et droit de suite
Cet objet est offert avec imposition régulière ou avec imposition différentielle.
Calcul en cas d'imposition différentielle:
Prix d’adjudication jusqu’à 1 000 000 euros : frais de vente 34 %.
Des frais de vente de 29% sont facturés sur la partie du prix d’adjudication dépassant 1 000 000 euros. Ils sont additionnés aux frais de vente dus pour la partie du prix d’adjudication allant jusqu’à 1 000 000 euros.
Des frais de vente de 22% sont facturés sur la partie du prix d’adjudication dépassant 4 000 000 euros. Ils sont additionnés aux frais de vente dus pour la partie du prix d’adjudication allant jusqu’à 4 000 000 euros.
La commission comprend la TVA, mais celle-ci n'est pas indiquée.
Calcul en cas d'imposition régulière:
Prix d'adjudication jusqu'à 1 000 000 € : 29 % de commission.
Prix d'adjudication supérieur à 1 000 000 € : montants partiels jusqu'à 1 000 000 € 29 % de commission, montants partiels supérieurs à 1 000 000 € : 23 % de commission.
Prix d'adjudication supérieur à 4.000 000 € : montants partiels supérieurs à 4.000 000 € : 15 % de commission.
La TVA légale de 7 % est prélevée sur la somme du prix d'adjudication et de la commission.
Si vous souhaitez appliquer l'imposition régulière, merci de bien vouloir le communiquer par écrit avant la facturation.
Calcul en cas de droit de suite:
Pour les œuvres originales d’arts plastiques et de photographie d’artistes vivants ou d’artistes décédés il y a moins de 70 ans, soumises au droit de suite, une rémunération au titre du droit de suite à hauteur des pourcentages indiqués au § 26, al. 2 de la loi allemande sur les droits d’auteur (UrhG) est facturée en sus pour compenser la rémunération liée au droit de suite due par le commissaire-priseur conformément au § 26 UrhG. À ce jour, elle est calculée comme suit :
4 pour cent pour la part du produit de la vente à partir de 400,00 euros et jusqu’à 50 000 euros,
3 pour cent supplémentaires pour la part du produit de la vente entre 50 000,01 et 200 000 euros,
1 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part entre 200 000,01 et 350 000 euros,
0,5 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part entre 350 000,01 et 500 000 euros et
0,25 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part au-delà de 500 000 euros.
Le total de la rémunération au titre du droit de suite pour une revente s’élève au maximum à 12 500 euros.
Calcul en cas d'imposition différentielle:
Prix d’adjudication jusqu’à 1 000 000 euros : frais de vente 34 %.
Des frais de vente de 29% sont facturés sur la partie du prix d’adjudication dépassant 1 000 000 euros. Ils sont additionnés aux frais de vente dus pour la partie du prix d’adjudication allant jusqu’à 1 000 000 euros.
Des frais de vente de 22% sont facturés sur la partie du prix d’adjudication dépassant 4 000 000 euros. Ils sont additionnés aux frais de vente dus pour la partie du prix d’adjudication allant jusqu’à 4 000 000 euros.
La commission comprend la TVA, mais celle-ci n'est pas indiquée.
Calcul en cas d'imposition régulière:
Prix d'adjudication jusqu'à 1 000 000 € : 29 % de commission.
Prix d'adjudication supérieur à 1 000 000 € : montants partiels jusqu'à 1 000 000 € 29 % de commission, montants partiels supérieurs à 1 000 000 € : 23 % de commission.
Prix d'adjudication supérieur à 4.000 000 € : montants partiels supérieurs à 4.000 000 € : 15 % de commission.
La TVA légale de 7 % est prélevée sur la somme du prix d'adjudication et de la commission.
Si vous souhaitez appliquer l'imposition régulière, merci de bien vouloir le communiquer par écrit avant la facturation.
Calcul en cas de droit de suite:
Pour les œuvres originales d’arts plastiques et de photographie d’artistes vivants ou d’artistes décédés il y a moins de 70 ans, soumises au droit de suite, une rémunération au titre du droit de suite à hauteur des pourcentages indiqués au § 26, al. 2 de la loi allemande sur les droits d’auteur (UrhG) est facturée en sus pour compenser la rémunération liée au droit de suite due par le commissaire-priseur conformément au § 26 UrhG. À ce jour, elle est calculée comme suit :
4 pour cent pour la part du produit de la vente à partir de 400,00 euros et jusqu’à 50 000 euros,
3 pour cent supplémentaires pour la part du produit de la vente entre 50 000,01 et 200 000 euros,
1 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part entre 200 000,01 et 350 000 euros,
0,5 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part entre 350 000,01 et 500 000 euros et
0,25 pour cent supplémentaire pour la part au-delà de 500 000 euros.
Le total de la rémunération au titre du droit de suite pour une revente s’élève au maximum à 12 500 euros.