Friday

50 Million For Art Collection

Hans Grothe, the German construction magnate, has sold his collection of over 700 works of post-1960s German art to the Wella haircare billionaires Sylvia and Ulrich Ströher for an estimated E50 million. The bulk of Mr Grothe’s collection is currently on loan to two municipal German museums in Duisberg and Bonn, where it is expected to remain for the foreseeable future. The figure of E50 million, reported in the German press, represents half of the collection’s estimated value. A recent tax appraisal of the works put their market value at between E120 to E200 million. There has been speculation that Mr Grothe had financial problems and needed to raise money fast. He was unavailable for comment. For the full story - click the title Irish Art