Bernd and Hilla Becher - Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation New York Thursday, April 4, 2024 | Phillips

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  • “We photographed water towers and furnaces because they are honest, they are functional, and they reflect what they do – that is what we liked.”
    —Bernd & Hilla Becher

    Iconic, austere, and rigorously standardized, Hilla and Bernd Bechers’ images of a fading industrial past have earned their place within the canon of photography. Capturing over 200 industrial structures across Europe and North America, the pair developed a consistent practice that allowed a homogenous view of architecture to naturally emerge, while also rendering their subtleties visible. To the Bechers, the camera existed as an honest and functional tool to establish their typologies. Arranged in grids, or in rows, such as the present work, this structured view reinforces the orderly approach of their practice and created a structure akin to their subject matter. The uniform approach of the same overcast lighting, angles, and size established a consistent taxonomy that is utterly timeless. Though the individual water tower may appear unremarkable, the Bechers’ systematic documentation of industrial architecture creates a compelling group portrait that has influenced a new generation of photographers. The couples’ work continues to captivate still in shows such as the 2022 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    • Provenance

      Zwirner & Wirth, New York, 2001

    • Exhibited

      La Morada Del Hombre: Colección Martin Z. Margulies / The Dwelling Life of Man: Collection Martin Z. Margulies, Fundación Foto Colectania, Barcelona, 3 June – 25 September 2011
      Shared History: Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Collection, Ritter Art Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, 24 January – 7 March 2020

    • Literature

      The MIT Press, Bernd and Hilla Becher: Water Towers, pls. 13, 16, 19, 23
      Prestel, Bernd and Hilla Becher: Basic Forms, pl. 62
      Fundación Barrié, La Morada Del Hombre: Colección Martin Z. Margulies, pp. 47-49

    • 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.

      View More Works

8

Wassertürmen (Water Towers)

1963-1972
Four gelatin silver prints, assembled 1976.
Each 15 7/8 x 12 in. (40.3 x 30.5 cm)
Overall 20 x 70 in. (50.8 x 177.8 cm)

Each signed by Bernd Becher and sequentially numbered 1A- 4A in pencil on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

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Contact Specialist

Caroline Deck
Senior Specialist, Photographs
cdeck@phillips.com

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation

New York Auction 4 April 2024