177
Bernd and Hilla Becher
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
- Estimate
- £20,000 - 30,000♠
£40,000
Lot Details
gelatin silver print, in 4 parts
signed 'Bernd Becher Hilla Becher' on the reverse of the first sheet; numbered '1-4' on the reverse of the corresponding sheets
each 40.4 x 30.6 cm (15 7/8 x 12 in.)
Executed in 1983.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Provenance
Literature
Bernd and Hilla Becher
GermanHusband 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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