Seen by critics and art enthusiasts as one of Romania’s best-known and best-rated artists internationally, Adrian Ghenie returns to an auction in Romania this month. Self-portrait (2003-2004) has been included in the A10 by Artmark’s Postwar and Contemporary Art Sale scheduled for February 20, at a starting price of EUR 50,000.

The painting is one of Ghenie’s earliest known self-portraits and dates from what the artist called “a strange, searching period,” when he emigrated to Austria and was on the verge of giving up painting, according to the auction house.

“Painting is the only environment in which the visceral nature of the world can be expressed,” believes Adrian Ghenie, the artist whose works can be found today in the most important collections in the world - such as the Center Pompidou in Paris and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Born in Baia Mare, Romania, Adrian Ghenie has set new sales records in recent years. His Pie Fight Interior 12 painting sold in May 2022 for a record EUR 8 million at an auction in Hong Kong. At profile events in Romania, his record for another compositional self-portrait (2006-2009) was registered at Artmark in December 2019 for EUR 150,000.

A10 by Artmark’s new event also brings together the most important Romanian postmodern artists, including a small collection of works belonging to Marcel Iancu. 

Moreover, the auction also includes a charity section featuring 18 artworks. The funds raised from the sale of the lots marked with a red heart will be used to cover a scholarship on Romanian art history.

The collection included in the February 20 auction can be discovered on the auction house’s website and in the exhibition at Cesianu-Racoviță Palace in Bucharest. Further details are available here.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Artmark)