A wood relief by Hungarian-born Anton Prinner (1902-1983) sold for 250,000 FF (US $ 42,000) on June 5th 1998 at Drouot, Paris. The work, measuring 106 x 53 cm, dating from 1932 was sold by the Chochon-Barré, Allardi auction group.
Prinner, much sought by modern art amateurs, was a mysterious man who lived in almost seclusion. He studied art in Budapest in 1920 and came to Paris in 1928. He then gave up painting for a while and dedicated his time to studying occult sciences. He resumed his artistic activities in 1932 and worked under the influence of Mondrian and Russian constructivism producing many relief pieces.
He turned to sculpture in 1939 and to figurative art and lived in hiding during the war. After 1945 Prinner took to engraving and settled in Vallauris, Southern France in 1950. There he produced large-size statues and went back to painting in the early 60's. He used to say that he preferred to produce works which did not please anybody so as to live quietly because he did not feel that his life was interesting to anyone.