Art market Franz Gertsch's self-portrait goes under the hammer in London

The self-portrait by Swiss painter Franz Gertsch will be auctioned in London next week. It is the only self-portrait in the artist's authorized oeuvre.

The value of the artwork is estimated at up to three million British pounds, as the auction house Christie's announced on Tuesday. It measures 2.5 by 3.9 meters. Franz Gertsch painted it in 1980. Only rarely do works by Franz Gertsch come onto the market, especially of this size and quality, the statement added.

The artist, who died in 2022, is known for his photorealistic works of art. Gertsch initially made a name for himself with his woodcuts before finding his characteristic technique in the late 1960s. He enlarged photographs with slide projections and used these as the basis for his large-format paintings. Between 1969 and 2005, he created 63 major works, Christie's added.

SDA