Lempertz traces its origins to Cologne in 1798, when Johann Matthias Heberle established an antiquarian business that developed an important auction activity in books and works of art. Following Heberle's death, his employee Heinrich Lempertz took over the enterprise, which subsequently operated under the Lempertz name. The first Lempertz auction was held in Bonn in November 1844, and the firm's reputation was strengthened the following year by the sale of the library of the scholar August Wilhelm Schlegel. In 1875 Peter Hanstein acquired the business and brought Lempertz into the family ownership that has continued through successive generations. The auction house developed from its origins in books and prints into a broad fine-art business, increasingly offering Old Master paintings and decorative arts during the second half of the nineteenth century. Lempertz played an early role in the development of specialist auction fields in continental Europe. The house records that it became the first European auction house to conduct dedicated Asian Art auctions in 1908. Separate Modern Art auctions began in 1958. In 1989 Lempertz established independent auctions devoted to Contemporary Art and Photography, and since 1992 its Brussels operation has conducted specialist auctions of African and Oceanic Art. The firm's principal headquarters is at Neumarkt 3 in central Cologne. Lempertz also maintains auction houses or branches in Berlin, Munich and Brussels, supported by an international network of representatives. Its programme spans Old Masters and nineteenth-century painting, Modern and Contemporary Art, Photography, European Decorative Arts, Asian Art, African and Oceanic Art, Jewellery and Watches, as well as specialist collections and online auctions. Lempertz combines public auctions with scholarly cataloguing, exhibitions, previews and digital bidding. Its extensive historical archive provides an important record of works passing through the German and European auction market, making the house particularly relevant to provenance research and the documentation of artists across museum and market contexts.

Specialties

Upcoming Sales (13)

Sale formats