• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

The Kornfeld Stimulus Plan

I wouldn’t say that the immediate future of the art market depends entirely on the forthcoming sale of the late auctioneer’s extraordinary personal collection—Munch, Monet, Mondrian, Klee, Seurat, Degas, Kirchner, Giacometti, etcetera—but it should be a harbinger.

Eberhard Kornfeld, gallery owner in his Gallery Kornfeld in Berne 1993
In 12 days, Galerie Kornfeld will sell Eberhard Kornfeld’s personal collection of Modern art into a global art market starved for high quality works. Photo: Privé/via Getty Images
Marion Maneker
September 1, 2024

For nearly 75 years, Eberhard Kornfeld, the determined auctioneer and thoughtful scholar, was the gravitational center of the European art trade. He died last year, just shy of his 100th birthday. Kornfeld made his mark early, taking over the leadership of an auction house in 1951, before he turned 30, that would eventually be called Galerie Kornfeld. In 12 days, that auction house will sell his personal collection of Modern art—including works by Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Marc Chagall, and Egon Schiele—into a global art market starved for high quality works.