newsfromsothebys201102

Gerhard Richter (1932)
Abstraktes Bild,
Signed, dated 1990 and numbered 725-1 in the reverse
Oil on canvas (225x200cm)

Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium £7,209,250 _ $11,547,056 _ €8,607,827 (Sotheby's London, February 15th 2011, Lot 13)
Estimate £5,000,000-£7,000,000
Lot sold to Anonymous

«Gerhard Richter's artistic contribution is internationally considered within the highest tier of this era; his inimitably diverse canon evidencing more than five decades of philosophical enquiry into the core natures of perception and cognition. Indeed, with its poignant critical reflections and groundbreaking advancements, it is undeniable that his output has opened up a wealth of possibilities for the future course of Art History. Since the early 1960s he has considered all genres of painting, delving into and pushing the boundaries of theoretical and aesthetic levels of understanding whilst exploring and challenging the fundamentals of their development. However, his extraordinary odyssey into the realm of abstract painting is often regarded as the culmination of his artistic and conceptual enquiries into the foundations of visual understanding. After decades of exploring the role of painting in relation to competing visual cultures; film and photography; and even painting itself, the emergence of the Abstraktes Bild stands as the crowning achievement of his oeuvre. As Benjamin H. D. Buchloh has highlighted, and as there can be absolutely no doubt, Richter's position within the canon of abstraction is one of 'incontrovertible centrality' (in: Exhibition Catalogue, Cologne, Museum Ludwig and Munich, Haus der Kunst, Gerhard Richter Large Abstracts, 2009, p. 9) [...]

Provenance:
_ Property of a Private American Collector (acquired directly from the previous owner by the present owner in 2007)
_ Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco
_ Private Collection, Korea
_ Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco
_ Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Collection, Dallas
_ Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London
_ Private Collection, Dublin
_ Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London