Ketterer

Biography

New to the business but zealous in his desire to become
an art dealer, Roman Norbert Ketterer established his
auction house, the "Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett" in 1946.
His brother Wolfgang, nine years his younger, who had
recently returned from an American prisoner of war
internment camp, threw his support into the new
enterprise in December
of that year.



The first auction catalogue, complete with hand drawings
and prints by Max Slevogt, was published in September
1946. It contained 183 entries, with a print run of 500
copies. Despite the difficulties of the postwar period, the
auction was a tremendous success. A gap in the market
had opened between the most basic essentials and the
longing for the beautiful.



Though the house is still primarily devoted to auctions,
Ketterer Kunst also enjoys playing host to special events.
The auction house acts as an interface and organizes the
various competencies of its partners to the greatest potential.
In this way, Robert Ketterer was able to win
the Technical University of Munich to lecture on "Art and
Counterfeiting". His goal was to provide more background
information on art themes, not only to his clients, but also
to the clients of the partners, Arabella Sheraton and
American Express.



Besides the occasional benefit auction, exhibitions with
special thematic emphasis are frequently
organized. Several have been of particular note, such as the
exhibitions of Expressionist works, such as those by Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner, to whom House Ketterer has always
been closely connected, and Tom Wesselmann’s traveling
exhibition featuring his contemporary art.



Ketterer Kunst maintains representatives in New York and Tokyo.