Bernd and Hilla Becher - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session New York Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Leo Koenig Inc., New York
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • 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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415

Chemische Fabrik Wesseling Bei Köln

(i) signed, titled, numbered and dated "Bernhard Becher Hilla Becher 1 CHEMISCHE FABRIK WESSELING BEI KÖLN 1998 AP" and inscribed with a diagram on the reverse
(ii, iv) each signed, titled, respectively numbered and dated "Bernhard Becher Hilla Becher [2, 4] CHEMISCHE FABRIK WESSELING BEI KÖLN 1998 AP" on the reverse
(iii) signed, titled, numbered and dated "Bernhard Becher Hilla Becher 3 CHEMISCHE FABRIK WESSELING BEI KÖLN 1983 AP" on the reverse

gelatin silver print, in 4 parts
each 19 3/4 x 24 1/2 in. (50.2 x 62.2 cm.)
(i-ii, iv) Executed in 1998, this work is an artist's proof aside from an edition of 5.
(iii) Executed in 1983 this work is an artist's proof aside from an edition of 5.

Estimate
$40,000 - 60,000 

Sold for $72,500

Contact Specialist
Rebekah Bowling
Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session
New York
+ 1 212 940 1250
rbowling@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session

New York Auction 15 May | On View at 450 Park Avenue