About the auction house
A brief history
ZADIK, A 100 Archiv Hauswedell & Nolte
- 1927: Founding of ‘Der Deutsche Buch-Club GmbH’
- 1930: The first auction is held. Initially, books and autographs are auctioned. Prints are added later.
- 1935: The company Der Deutsche Buch-Club GmbH is abandoned and re-established under the name Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. as an antiquarian bookshop and auction house.
- 1963: Ernst Nolte (born 1939) starts working at Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. Under his leadership, the auction of modern art quickly gains national and international importance. In 1969, he becomes a partner of the antiquarian bookshop and auction house Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Ernst Nolte.
- 1967: Gabriele Braun-Nolte, née Braun (born 1945) starts working at Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. in the antiquarian bookshop's art department as Ernst Nolte's assistant. Initially, she is responsible for cataloguing the consignments and coordinating the colour illustrations before printing, as well as organising the previews and preparing the auctions. From around 1971, she begins working independently with Nolte on the catalogues of old masters and modern art. She later takes on the administration of all internal processes.
- 1977: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell leaves the auction house. From 1978, Ernst Nolte is the sole owner of the Hauswedell & Nolte company.
- 1983/1998: Hauswedell & Nolte opens two branches in the United States in New York City and Los Angeles.
- 2015: The auction house closes after 466 auctions.
Auction categories
The auction house sold art and cultural artefacts in the following auction categories:
- Old Masters
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Books & Autographs
- Non-European Art and Cultural Objects
The sale of books and autographs has been the core business of the auction house for the entire time of its existence. Until 1935 Ernst Hauswedell auctioned off books and manuscripts exclusively and only then expanded his range to include art. From the middle of the 20th century, book art increasingly marked the focus of book auctions. In 1935, prints were introduced as an auction category at Ernst Hauswedell & Co., thereby expanding the range of fine arts. The expansion of the art offerings continued with the arrival of Ernst Nolte in 1963. In this context, the works of art by Old Masters and Modern Art that had previously been listed in joint catalogues were auctioned in separate auctions in 1967. Subsequently, the company succeeded in achieving national and international importance in the auction sector of modern art – particularly in the field of German Expressionism – in just a few years. From 1990, separate catalogues were published for contemporary art. Trade in non-European art and cultural artefacts took place from 1940, and in 1952 they were offered in separate auctions. These were mainly objects from Central and South America, Oceania, East Asia and Africa, which were auctioned until 1982. Subsequently, this auction area was discontinued.