Kunsthaus Lempertz has unveiled the line-up for its Evening Sale of Modern and Contemporary Art in Cologne on 4 December 2026, a sale that will stretch from Fernand Léger to Thomas Schütte. The announcement, published on 3 November, places the auction at the centre of the Cologne house's autumn season, with previews running alongside Art Cologne from 4 to 6 November.

A substantial share of the evening sale comes from the collection of the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft, the cultural association of German industry, which is parting with works it has held for decades, some previously shown in museums. Among them are Hans Purrmann's Self-Portrait of 1953 and Tessiner Landschaft of 1948, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's Still Life with Bottle and Blue Glass of 1909, Werner Heldt's Pfingsttag of 1952 and Karl Hartung's Liegende of about 1947 to 1948, with estimates between €30,000 and €90,000.

The following day, 5 December, a further 54 lots from the same collection will appear in the Day Sale: 37 modern works, including pieces by Hermann Blumenthal, Emy Roeder, Erich Heckel, Franz Marc, Lyonel Feininger and Karl Hartung, and 17 contemporary works by artists such as Horst Antes, Peter Brüning, Fritz Koenig and Rosemarie Trockel.

Highlights will tour to Munich from 9 to 11 November and Berlin from 12 to 14 November, before the full viewing opens in Cologne from 28 November to 3 December. The Cologne opening will include an expert talk on collecting and the question of what endures, while Lempertz Berlin will run a parallel fixed-price sale, ART TO GO, with works priced from €30 to €300.