“Sunny Autumn Day” is the name of the beautiful large-format painting that is installed in the expert room of “Bares für Rares”. It has been owned by Dorothea Elisabeth Schlüter’s family for more than 100 years. Her grandfather bought it in 1918 for 3,500 marks. The picture is accompanied by a letter from the painter Fritz von Wille, who confirms that he painted it in Kerpen (Eifel) in 1917. Now the 79-year-old pensioner from Kronberg im Taunus wants to part with it.
Fritz von Wille was a sought-after painter at the beginning of the 20th century, as Colmar Schulte-Goltz explains. Kaiser Wilhelm II bought one of his paintings at the time, which sparked a hype. Wille was so successful with his landscape painting that he was able to buy a castle, Kerpen Castle. There he explored the landscape and this is how the picture you can see here was created.
However, it was “painted relatively quickly”, as the expert notes, which can be seen in the poorly preserved painting on the surface, which has detached from the primer structure in many places. That dampens his enthusiasm. The frame was only added later. The seller would like 3,500 euros for the painting. This corresponds to Schulte-Goltz’s expertise; he values the property at 3,500 to 3,800 euros.
Before she enters the dealer’s room, Schlüter comes up with a plan: “If the price is too low, I’ll take it back and have it restored myself.” The 79-year-old also follows through with this strategy in an ice-cold manner. Because the bids come in slowly. Thorsden Schlößner starts with 800 euros, Wolfgang Pauritsch emphasizes that there is still a lot of work to be done – with this argument Steve Mandel immediately withdraws from the race.
More than 1000 euros are not in the cards after the first round, and Schlüter definitely doesn’t want to sell for that. Schlößner is now making another attempt and increasing – “the highest of all feelings” – to 2000 euros. There’s nothing more possible because he would have to invest at least 1,000 euros into the restoration. But the pensioner remains adamant: “I won’t hand over the picture for less than 3,000, then I’d rather take it back home.”
Your persistence is paying off. Schlößner is prepared to pay the 3,000 euros. The saleswoman immediately has a use for all the money: “We’re having a big family celebration now, so everyone can get something from the heirloom.”
Watch the video: “Cash for Rares”: Exciting and curious facts about the junk show on ZDF.
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