Bernd and Hilla Becher - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Thursday, March 9, 2017 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Andre Simoens Gallery, Knokke
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Literature

    Bernd & Hilla Becher, Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples, Munich, 1991, no. 58 (i), no. 50 (ii), no. 55 (iii), no. 53 (iv) (other examples illustrated)

  • Artist Biography

    Bernd and Hilla Becher

    German • Bernd 1931-2007 - Hilla 1934-2015

    Husband and wife Bernd and Hilla Becher began photographing buildings and relics of the Industrial Revolution, such as coal mines and cooling towers, in 1959. Like objective scientists removing a specimen from the field, the Bechers framed their subject in a manner that isolated it from its environment. Often, these stark, beautifully detailed prints were then displayed in grid-like structures, forming stunning 'Typologies'.

    By the time Bernd Becher became a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1976 (policy would not allow Hilla to be a simultaneous appointment), the Bechers' photographs, with their seemingly neutral point of view and serial display, were already being applauded by the international art world as important works of Minimal and Conceptual Art.

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177

Four works: (i) Zimmermann Coal Co., Ravine, Schuylkill Country; (ii) Scade Coal Co., Goodspring Mountains, Schuylkill Country; (iii) Scheib & Walacavage, No. 2, Joliett, Schuykill Country; (iv) Minnich Coal Co., Goodspring Mountains, Schuykill Country

signed 'Bernd Becher Hilla Becher' on the reverse of the first sheet; numbered '1-4' on the reverse of the corresponding sheets
gelatin silver print, in 4 parts
each 40.4 x 30.6 cm (15 7/8 x 12 in.)
Executed in 1983.

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 

Sold for £40,000

Contact Specialist
Tamila Kerimova
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+ 44 20 7318 4065

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 10 March 2017