A LOOK BACK AT THE SUMMER AUCTIONS
Koller’s June auctions were spectacularly successful, with seven lots breaking the million mark, more than 50 lots selling for between CHF 100 000 and CHF 1 million, and over 85% of all lots sold. There was auction fever in the saleroom during the entire auction week – some lots had over thirty telephone bidders competing, along with saleroom and online bidders. Two world records were set in the Watches auction, including the CHF 2.4 million achieved for a Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ gold Daytona.
Ferdinand
Hodler
Sunset on Lake Geneva from Caux, 1917
Oil on canvas, 60 × 80 cm
Estimate: CHF 3 / 4.5 million
Sold for CHF 7 million
Highest auction price in the DACH region, first half of 2026
Seven lots passed the million mark, more than 50 sold for between CHF 100 000 and CHF 1 million, and over 85% of all lots sold.
Claude
Monet
Waterloo Bridge, 1900/01
Pastel on paper, 31.7 × 48.3 cm
Estimate: CHF 350 000/450 000
Sold for CHF 1.06 million
Two works by Ferdinand Holder sold in the seven figures. ‘Sunset on Lake Geneva from Caux’ was the subject of a fierce bidding battle which ended at CHF 7 million, among the top prices ever achieved for Holder at auction. ‘The Jungfrau massif from Mürren’, also from Hodler’s mature period, sold for CHF 1.8 million.
Robert
Rauschenberg
Crosstown [Anagram (A Pun)], 1997
Vegetable dye transfer on polylaminate
152 × 310.5 cm
Estimate: CHF 100 000/150 000
Sold for CHF 450 000
Robert Rauschenberg’s large-format work ‘Crosstown [Anagram (A Pun)]’ from 1997 sold for more than four times its lower estimate at CHF 450 000, and a 1952 landscape by Nicolas de Staël fetched CHF 375 000. Homage to the Square (White Enclave) by Josef Albers tripled its lower estimate at CHF 350 000.
The Watches sale was once again a ‘White Glove’ auction, with every lot finding a buyer. Besides the CHF 2.4 million auction record set by the Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ 18K gold Daytona watch, a Rolex ‘Kew A’ chronometer from the 1950s also set an auction record at CHF 287 500. The Jewellery auction was also a resounding success, with a by-lot sales rate of over 90%, and hammer prices totalling 1 ½ times the lower estimates.
Albert
Anker
The little brother, 1883
Oil on canvas, 72 × 56.5 cm
Estimate: CHF 1.5/2.5 million
Sold for CHF 1.8 million
Ferdinand
Hodler
The Jungfrau massif from Mürren, 1914
Oil on canvas, 63 × 86 cm
Estimate: CHF 1.2/1.8 million
Sold for CHF 1.8 million
Pierre Auguste
Renoir
Jeune fille lisant, ca. 1890
Oil on canvas, 41 × 32.4 cm
Estimate: CHF 900 000/1 400 000
Sold for CHF 1.17 million
DIAMOND SET
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Fuchsia model
18K yellow and white gold
Estimate: CHF 80 000/150 000
Sold for CHF 175 000
Rolex Daytona
‘Paul Newman’, 1970
18K yellow gold, D 37.5 mm
Estimate: CHF 350 000/700 000
Sold for CHF 2.4 million
World auction record
UNMOUNTED MOZAMBIQUE RUBY
Oval-cut ruby weighing 4.024 ct,
Mozambique, unheated
Sold for CHF 130 000
EXPERTS
