“Bares for Rares”
Pensioner hopes for big money with Beuys – expertise is a bang
“Bares for Rares” expert Friederike Werner explains what can be seen on the chalk board. But the real Beuys is not worth what the seller wants.
© Frank W. Hempel / ZDF
A real Beuys is for sale at “Bares for Rares”. But the expert does not have good news for the seller.
It is the work of one of the most important artists of the 20th century: Arnulf Reichert from Hanau comes to “Bares for Rares” with a real work of art by Joseph Beuys. The chalkboard described belongs to a friend who bought it from a stiff painter. He hopes to “sell it really well,” says the 74-year-old pensioner in Horst Lichter’s ZDF junk show. The expectations are high. But can they also be fulfilled?
“In 1972 Beuys gave a lecture at the Folkwang Museum in Essen,” says “Bares for Rares” expert Friederike Werner. At that time he wrote down his thoughts on democracy on one side and philosophy on the other on chalkboards. The museum then issued a limited series of these panels, including this piece. “It is signed by Beuys,” explains the expert. It could be an artist’s copy as it bears a Frankfurt stamp. “But that is unclear.”
“Bares for Rares” expert skeptical
The seller Reichert would like to have 2500 euros for the property. “That’s the problem, that I can’t sell big,” he says, referring to his friend who is the owner of the work of art. But expert Werner has to disappoint him. Although the panels are offered at auctions for this price, the last copies have been sold for 1200 euros. That is why that is also their estimated price.
However, if it were a one-off piece made for Beuys, the price would be many times that. “Then it could well be that someone offers a lot more for it,” says the expert. Some of Beuys’ works achieve horrific prices on the art market. A watercolor on a cardboard box sold for over 160,000 euros in 2015. A basalt stone with a rabbit for over 100,000 euros.
But salesman Reichert’s chalkboard does not make it into these regions. But Reichert insists on 2500 euros. “Then I can’t give you the dealer card,” says moderator Horst Lichter. The pensioner takes the work of art back home. “I’m still going home with a great feeling, it was all good.”
Source: “Bares für Rares” from May 7, 2021. There are new episodes of the junk show from Monday to Friday at 3:05 p.m. on ZDF and in advance on Media library to see.
This article originally appeared on stern.de.