Not anymore. Today their intense emotionalism seems incredibly modern, partly because collector preferences have moved beyond the formalist views of the 20th century, which valued abstraction, Minimalism and postmodernism, and partly because of the lack of any coherent “ism” in contemporary art. “This art has a humanistic content,” says Kallir, alluding to its concern with common human conditions like dignity and rationality, “and we hunger for that.”

One thing in favor of German Expressionist works is their bright Fauve-like colors. Another is their strong line, and a third is their wide-ranging subject matter. Some, like Emil Nolde’s flowery paintings, are pretty and decorative and yet attain the highest artistic level. Others, like Kirchner’s pictures, are stark commentaries. “A Kirchner street scene is a documentary of the time it was painted in,” says Rumbler. “It stands for a period of German life.”  

The revival of interest in the German Expressionists has been fueled as well by the new popularity and high prices of their Austrian neighbors and predecessors, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, and by recent museum exposure. In 2003 the Museum of Modern Art in New York drew wide acclaim for its huge retrospective of Max Beckmann, the first since 1964 to honor this emotionally charged and introspective painter. In 2001 the Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis, staged “Franz Marc and the Blue Rider,” also winning praise. Gordon VeneKlasen, a partner in Michael Werner Gallery, in New York and Berlin, also credits the opening in 2001 of the Neue Galerie, the New York showcase for German and Austrian art founded by Ronald Lauder. This spring Werner mounted the first New York exhibition of Kirchner’s late works, drawn from the artist’s estate, on view through June 14.

“Fifteen years ago, the taste for these pictures was almost exclusively in Germany,” says Sotheby’s Newman. Now, she says, collectors of all nationalities who are building strong holdings in 20th-century art believe they must include some works by German Expressionists.

At the same time, the supply of top-notch Impressionist paintings has dried up. That, say dealers and auction experts, means that the demand for Expressionist pictures is coming from collectors of 19th-century and of contemporary art. What’s more, says Rumbler, “Expressionism attracts the widest range of ages, from young people to people in their 80s.”

The good news for prospective buyers is that values haven’t escalated as far and as fast as in other categories. “For the best of the German Expressionists, prices are where they should have been 15 years ago,” Rumbler says. “But they haven’t reached their peak yet. The best could still make 50 percent to 100 percent more in a few years time.”

He and others expect good Kirchners, especially the artist’s street scenes, to reach $50 million to $60 million, way above the record $38.1 million achieved in 2006. Great works by Marc, who died at age 36 in the Battle of Verdun, are scarce, with the majority owned by museums, and are thus destined to set further records. “A really good painting by Marc is an unparalleled event,” says Newman. She calls the horse painting sold in February a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” A great Kandinsky would likely fetch $50 million or more.

Beckmann’s paintings provide another example of the market escalation in German Expressionism. His oeuvre is less colorful, more fraught, and his biggest crossover appeal is to contemporary, not 19th-century, collectors. In 2001, Lauder bought the artist’s Selbstbildnis mit Horn (“Self-portrait with Horn”), from 1938, for $22.6 million. Today it would likely go for $30 million or more, while a Beckmann triptych would likely bring $40 million, according to Robert Landau, of Landau Fine Art in Montreal.  

But the dealer sounds a note of caution: Not everything on offer is a masterpiece. “Major paintings are scarce,” he says, noting that most of the works at Maastricht were minor. He brought to the fair what he terms “a great Kandinsky”—the 1927 Pfeile (“Arrows”), depicting the artist himself as the central arrow—priced at $8.5 million, as well as a “great Jawlensky”—Mädchen mit violetter Bluse (“Girl with Violet Blouse”) from around 1912—for $4.5 million. Both generated a lot of interest, but neither sold. “The right person hasn’t come along,” he says.