Michael Krebber Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Michael Krebber Art Value Price Guide

Jun. 06, 2026
Michael Krebber, Untitled, 2000
Est: €20,000 - €30,000
Signed 'Michael Krebber' verso on stretcher.
Lempertz
Jun. 04, 2026
Michael KREBBER
Est: €18,000 - €25,000
Michael KREBBER MK 321 - 2016 Laque industrielle Signée et datée au dos 220 x 150 cm Lacquer on canvas; signed and dated on the reverse 86.61 x 59.05 in. Provenance : Greene Naftali, New York Acquis directement auprès de cette dernière par l'actuel propriétaire FR Michael Krebber a passé les quarante dernières années à explorer de nouvelles voies vers et hors de la peinture, toujours conscient des voix qui annonçaient l’épuisement de ce médium, mais néanmoins déterminé à en assurer la pérennité. Son approche conceptuelle – développée grâce à ses études auprès de Markus Lüpertz et à ses assistanats auprès de Georg Baselitz et Martin Kippenberger – a valu à Krebber la reconnaissance de la scène artistique de Cologne des années 1980 et 1990, aux côtés de ses pairs tels que Cosima von Bonin, Jutta Koether et Josef Strau. À l’instar de ces derniers, Krebber redonne vie aux stratégies de la néo-avant-garde européenne qui l’ont précédé, formulant une critique ouverte des systèmes et des processus artistiques à travers de subtils indices visuels. Pourtant, son attitude apparemment réservée – souvent comparée au dandy de Baudelaire ou au Bartleby de Melville – rend Krebber unique. Sa définition de la peinture, à la fois effacée et expansive, a laissé place à un large éventail de formats, exposant tour à tour des textiles à motifs, des affiches et des dizaines de toiles ne portant que quelques marques timides. Ces gestes légers incarnent ce que John Kelsey appelle « une hésitation permanente entre la répétition et l’interruption (ou entre avoir une idée et n’en avoir aucune) », maintenant vivante la pratique de la peinture tout en court-circuitant les attentes du monde de l’art quant à sa domination et à son décorum. Toujours de bonne humeur, Krebber a à son tour occupé l’imaginaire social de l’art en tant que source mercurielle d’invention malicieuse. Mais si la personnalité de Krebber le précède parfois, ses peintures révèlent, par leur traitement habile, voire délicat, un attachement indéfectible à l’esthétique et au savoir-faire. « Krebber aurait-il pu prévoir que son art pourrait réellement émouvoir ? », demande Michael Sanchez. « Que son œuvre humoristique, et la politesse avec laquelle elle est présentée, puisse donner envie de pleurer ? » L’approche intellectuelle de Krebber est depuis longtemps teintée d’émotion (il parle souvent de sa « gêne »), et son engagement envers la peinture est finalement autant axé sur sa persistance que sur sa déconstruction (ce qui est tout à fait approprié, compte tenu de son poste de longue date de professeur de peinture à la célèbre Städelschule de Francfort). Comme l’écrit Kelsey, la stratégie de Krebber consiste « à répéter et à cesser de peindre afin de se pencher sur le système plus large qui fait de la peinture ce qu’elle est aujourd’hui, ce qu’elle était hier, et ce qu’elle pourrait être ou cesser d’être demain. » EN Michael Krebber has spent the past forty years in pursuit of new routes into and out of painting, ever-conscious of claims for the medium's exhaustion yet committed to its endurance all the same. His conceptual approach—developed through studies with Markus Lüpertz and assistantships with Georg Baselitz and Martin Kippenberger—endeared Krebber to the Cologne art scene of the 1980s and ’90s, alongside peers like Cosima von Bonin, Jutta Koether, and Josef Strau. Like them, Krebber animates European neo-avant-garde strategies that came before, mounting an open-ended critique of art’s systems and processes through subtle visual cues. Yet his apparently diffident attitude—often likened to Baudelaire’s dandy or Melville’s Bartleby—renders Krebber unique. His self-effacing yet expansive definition of painting has admitted a wide range of formats, variously exhibiting patterned textiles, posters, and scores of canvases that bear just a few tentative marks. Those slight gestures embody what John Kelsey calls “an ongoing hesitation between repetition and interruption (or between having an idea and having no idea),” keeping the practice of painting alive while short-circuiting art world expectations for its dominance and decorum. Always in good humor, Krebber has in turn preoccupied art’s social imagination as a mercurial source of sly invention. But if Krebber’s persona sometimes precedes him, his paintings reveal an abiding dedication to aesthetics and craft with their deft, even delicate, handling. “Could Krebber have predicted the possibility that his art could actually be touching?” asks Michael Sanchez. “That his joke-work, and the politeness of its delivery, can make one want to cry?” Krebber’s intellectual approach has long been laced with affect (he often speaks of his “embarrassment”), and his engagement with painting is ultimately as focused on its persistence as it is on its deconstruction (fitting, given his longtime post as professor of painting at Frankfurt’s acclaimed Städelschule). As Kelsey writes, Krebber’s tack is “to repeat and to stop painting in order to go to work on the wider system that makes painting what it is today, what it was yesterday, and what it might be or stop being tomorrow.” Michael KREBBER
Artcurial
Oct. 02, 2024
Untitled
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
Art House: The Collection of Chara Schreyer Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled signed and dated 2005 (on the stretcher) lacquer on canvas 37 by 31 ½ in. 94 by 80 cm. Executed in 2005. Please note that this lot will not be on view during the sale exhibition. It is located at our Long Island City, New York storage facility. If you would like to examine it in person before the sale please contact Juliette Saylor at Juliette.Saylor@sothebys.com
Sotheby's
Oct. 02, 2024
Michael Krebber: Karstadt
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
KREBBER, MICHAEL 1954 Cologne Title: "Karstadt". Date: 2003. Technique: Advertising brochure pages, collaged on canvas. Measurement: 80 x 70cm. Notation: Signed, titled and dated verso centre: Michael Krebber -Karstadt- 2003. Provenance: - Kasper König Collection, Berlin (directly from the artist) - Collage from advertising material reflects elements of Pop Art - Groundbreaking publication 'Außerirdische Zwitterwesen' published by Walther König Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Germany: 77,31 Euro plus 14,69 Euro VAT EU: 100,84 Euro plus 19,16 Euro VAT Worldwide: 159,66 Euro plus 30,34 Euro VAT additional shipping insurance Explanations to the Catalogue Michael Krebber Germany Abstraction Contemporary Art 2000s Advertisment Painting Collage
Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Oct. 01, 2024
Michael Krebber: Untitled
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
KREBBER, MICHAEL 1954 Cologne Title: Untitled. Date: 1996. Technique: Acrylic, oil and varnish on printed fabric. Measurement: 81,5 x 54cm. Provenance: - Gallery Christian Nagel, Cologne - Kasper König Collection, Berlin Exhibitions: - London Projects 1996 (label verso) - Villa Arson, Nizza 1997 - Kunstverein München 1997 - Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin 2005/06 Literature: - Sanchez, Michael: Michael Krebber, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, Cologne 2022, cat. rais. no. 123, ill. Cologne art scene Michael Krebber was born in Cologne in 1954 and is a German conceptual artist and painter. He studied under Martin Kippenberger and Georg Baselitz and has made a name for himself over the course of his career with his anti-academic stance and refusal to engage with the traditional art market. Krebber has been firmly anchored in the Cologne art scene since the 1980s with exhibitions and projects with artists such as Cosima von Bonin, whom he married in 1992, and Jutta Koether. He has lived in New York since 2016. Gestural composition The work shows a composition by Michael Krebber that is characterised by a minimalist and at the same time conceptual approach. The work consists of a surface with blue and green checks, which is interrupted by irregular black colour spots and splashes. These splashes of colour appear random and could be interpreted as a deliberate exploration of the idea of the 'gestural' in painting. In the lower part of the painting, shadowy, sketchy forms can also be recognised, which could be reminiscent of landscapes or figures, but remain abstract. This painting fits perfectly into the oeuvre of Krebber, who often explores painting as a medium and questions the conventions of painting. His approach is often ironic and self-reflexive, exploring the boundaries between art and non-art and between seriousness and parody. König and Krebber The relationship between Michael Krebber and Kasper König is significant, as König appointed him professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Here, Krebber had a decisive influence on a generation of young artists and developed his teaching methods, which were strongly influenced by his conceptual approach and his scepticism towards traditional art institutions. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Germany: 77,31 Euro plus 14,69 Euro VAT EU: 100,84 Euro plus 19,16 Euro VAT Worldwide: 159,66 Euro plus 30,34 Euro VAT additional shipping insurance Explanations to the Catalogue Michael Krebber Germany Abstraction Contemporary Art 1990s Abstract Painting Acrylic
Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Mar. 01, 2024
Untitled
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
Art House: The Collection of Chara Schreyer Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled signed and dated 2005 (on the stretcher) lacquer on canvas 37 by 31½ in. 94 by 80 cm. Executed in 2005.
Sotheby's
Feb. 29, 2024
Untitled
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
Art House: The Collection of Chara Schreyer Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled signed, dated 2006 and numbered 165 (on the verso) watercolor and pencil on paper 16½ by 11½ in. 14.9 by 29.2 cm. Executed in 2006. Please note that this lot will not be on view during the sale exhibition. It is located at our Long Island City, New York storage facility. If you would like to examine it in person before the sale please contact Montserrat Palacios at Montserrat.Palacios@sothebys.com
Sotheby's
Feb. 29, 2024
Untitled
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Art House: The Collection of Chara Schreyer Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled signed with the initials, dated 2006 and numbered 16 (on the verso) watercolor on paper 11 by 8½ in. 27.9 by 21.6 cm. Executed in 2006. Please note that this lot will not be on view during the sale exhibition. It is located at our Long Island City, New York storage facility. If you would like to examine it in person before the sale please contact Montserrat Palacios at Montserrat.Palacios@sothebys.com
Sotheby's
Feb. 29, 2024
Untitled (Asparagus)
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Art House: The Collection of Chara Schreyer Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled (Asparagus) oil on canvas 54¾ by 43½ in. 139.1 by 110.5 cm. Executed in 1993. Please note that this lot will not be on view during the sale exhibition. It is located at our Long Island City, New York storage facility. If you would like to examine it in person before the sale please contact Montserrat Palacios at Montserrat.Palacios@sothebys.com
Sotheby's
Dec. 14, 2023
MICHAEL KREBBER (b. 1954) MK 308 acrylic on canvas 78 ¾ x 59 in. (200 x 14
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
MICHAEL KREBBER (b. 1954) MK 308 acrylic on canvas 78 ¾ x 59 in. (200 x 149.8 cm.)
Christie's
Dec. 09, 2023
Michael Krebber und Mayo Thompson
Est: €300 - €400
Ground Floor / 8th Floor. 2018. Original-Leinenkassette mit neun Party-Tröten mit Polyester-Federn. Multiple anläßlich der gleichzeitigen Ausstellung von Michael Krebber (8.10.2015 – 7.11.2015) und Mayo Thompson (08.10.2015 – 14.11.2015) bei Greene Naftali, New York. Auf der Innenseite mit technischen Angaben. Maße Box: 23,6 x 16, 2 x 4 cm. Herausgegeben von: Greene Naftali, New York 2018.
AaG Auktionshaus am Grunewald
Dec. 07, 2023
Michael Krebber (1954 Köln) – MK.291 (MK.291)
Est: €35,000 - €45,000
Acrylic on canvas. 2015. Ca. 200 x 150 cm. Signed and dated on the reverse of the canvas.
Karl & Faber
Oct. 03, 2023
Untitled (85)
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
Michael Krebber b. 1954 Untitled (85) signed and dated 2007 (on the reverse) acrylic and lacquer on canvas 41⅜ by 29½ in. 105.1 by 74.9 cm. Executed in 2007.
Sotheby's
Sep. 16, 2023
Michael Krebber (1954 Köln – lebt in New York City und Köln)
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
Ohne Titel. 1995. Mappenwerk mit 7 Radierungen, jeweils auf Velin. Jeweils unterhalb der Darstellung signiert, datiert und nummeriert: Krebber, 95, 9/10. Blattmaß jeweils: 35 x 25 cm.
AaG Auktionshaus am Grunewald
Jun. 30, 2023
Michael Krebber (1954 Köln) – MK311 (MK311)
Est: €40,000 - €50,000
Mixed media with varnish and oil on canvas. 2015. Ca. 160 x 120 cm. Signed and dated on the reverse on the canvas. • Using the reduced formal vocabulary typical of this artist's oeuvre • Acquired from Greene Naftali in New York and subsequently in a private collection • Works by Krebber can be found today in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, Hamburg Bahnhof, Berlin, the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, and the Museum Brandhorst, Munich among many others
Karl & Faber
Mar. 01, 2023
MICHAEL KREBBER (B. 1954) Untitled (8) lacquer on canvas 41 3/8 x 33 1/4in.
Est: £35,000 - £45,000
MICHAEL KREBBER (B. 1954) Untitled (8) lacquer on canvas 41 3/8 x 33 1/4in. (105 x 84.5cm.)
Christie's
Oct. 26, 2022
Michael KREBBER (Allemand - Né en 1954) Sans titre - 1993 Huile sur toile
Est: €20,000 - €30,000
Michael KREBBER (Allemand - Né en 1954) Sans titre - 1993 Huile sur toile Signée et datée au dos Oil on canvas ; signed and dated on the back h: 40 w: 50 cm Provenance : Galerie Christian Nagel, Cologne Collection particulière, Paris Estimation 20 000 - 30 000 €
Artcurial
Jun. 01, 2022
Michael Krebber: Untitled
Est: €7,000 - €9,000
KREBBER, MICHAEL 1954 Cologne Title: Untitled. Date: 2004. Technique: Acrylic on printed fabric. Measurement: 60 x 50cm. Notation: Signed and dated verso on the folded fabric: Michael Krebber 2004. Provenance: - Kunstverein Hamburg - Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia Explanations to the Catalogue
Van Ham Kunstauktionen
Mar. 02, 2022
MICHAEL KREBBER (B. 1954) Untitled acrylic on canvas 33 3/8 x 41 1/2in. (84
Est: £35,000 - £55,000
MICHAEL KREBBER (B. 1954) Untitled acrylic on canvas 33 3/8 x 41 1/2in. (84.8 x 105.3cm.)
Christie's
Mar. 06, 2020
MICHAEL KREBBER | Ohne Titel
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Feb. 13, 2020
Michael Krebber (b. 1954) Untitled oil on canvas 27 5/8 x 19 ½in. (70.2 x 49.5cm.)
Est: £18,000 - £25,000
MICHAEL KREBBER (B. 1954) Untitled signed and dated 'Krebber 91' (on the stretcher); signed and dated 'Krebber 91' (on the reverse) oil on canvas 27 5/8 x 19 1/2 in. (70.2 x 49.5cm.) Painted in 1991
Christie's
Jun. 26, 2019
Michael Krebber (b. 1954) MK.314 acrylic on canvas 47 ½ x 35 3/8 in. (120.7 x 89.9 cm.)
Est: £30,000 - £50,000
Michael Krebber (b. 1954) MK.314 signed and dated 'Michael Krebber 2015' (on the reverse) acrylic on canvas 47 ½ x 35 3/8 in. (120.7 x 89.9 cm.) Painted in 2015
Christie's
Oct. 06, 2018
MICHAEL KREBBER | Ohne Titel
Est: £80,000 - £120,000
acrylic and oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Mar. 08, 2018
MICHAEL KREBBER | Untitled
Est: £30,000 - £40,000
acrylic on canvas
Sotheby's
Sep. 29, 2016
Michael Krebber (B. 1954) Untitled acrylic and lacquer on canva
Est: £12,000 - £18,000
Michael Krebber (B. 1954) Untitled acrylic and lacquer on canvas 29 ½ x 41 3/8in. (75 x 105cm.)
Christie's
Jun. 10, 2016
Michael Krebber - Ohne Titel (Biche dans un sous-bois, 6/6).
Est: €12,000 - €15,000
Öl auf Leinwand. (19)91. Ca. 30 : 40 cm. Verso auf der Leinwand signiert und datiert. Ausstellung:∆"Unbound. Possibilities in Painting". The South Bank Centre, Hayward Gallery, London 1994, Kat.-Seite 109, o. Abb.∆∆Provenienz:∆Sammlung Birgit Küng, Zürich;∆Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zürich (verso mit dem Galerieetikett);∆Privatsammlung.∆ Michael Krebber hegt notorischen Zweifel an der Malerei, es habe sie jedoch immer gegeben, dafür könne er nichts. Im Kreis von Künstlerkollegen wie Albert Oehlen oder Martin Kippenberger, dessen Assistent er zeitweise war, ist er von Anfang an mittendrin in der Diskussion, ob man überhaupt noch ein Bild malen könne. Trotz seiner experimentellen Anfänge im Bereich der Konzeptkunst ist die Malerei Krebbers Medium. Zweifel und Skepsis sind seinen Werken eingeschrieben, gängigen Vorstellungen verweigert er sich und dennoch nimmt er die Herausforderung ein Bild zu malen immer wieder an. In dieser Komposition sind die Grundzüge eines Stilllebens, wie es klassischer kaum vorstellbar ist, angelegt. Mit teils luftigem, teils zögerlichem Pinselstrich formuliert Krebber das Sujet, lässt es jedoch in der Schwebe zwischen aufgelöst und unvollendet.
Karl & Faber
Nov. 28, 2015
Michael Krebber, Untitled, 1991
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
Signed and dated 'Krebber 1991'.
Kunsthaus Lempertz KG
May. 12, 2015
Michael Krebber (b. 1954) Untitled acrylic and chalk on canvas 32 x 74 1/2
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Michael Krebber (b. 1954) Untitled acrylic and chalk on canvas 32 x 74 1/2 in. (81.2 x 189.2 cm.)
Christie's
Sep. 23, 2014
Untitled
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
Michael Krebber (B. 1954) Untitled signed and dated 'Michael Krebber 99' (on the reverse) emulsion paint and acrylic on canvas 47¼ x 37 in. (120 x 94 cm.) Painted in 1999.
Christie's
Oct. 23, 2012
Michael KREBBER (Né en 1954) SANS TITRE, (56), 2007 Acrylique et laque sur toile
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
Michael KREBBER (Né en 1954) SANS TITRE, (56), 2007 Acrylique et laque sur toile datée au dos "Nov 07" h: 105 w: 75 cm Provenance : Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris
Artcurial