Bernd and Hilla Becher - Photographs New York Wednesday, October 11, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    The MIT Press, Water Towers, pl. 25, pl. 66, pl. 141, pl. 146
    The MIT Press, Bernd and Hilla Becher: Life and Work, p. 171, pl. 51
    Te Neues, Bernd and Hilla Becher: Basic Forms, pl. 61
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bernd & Hilla Becher, p. 122, p. 182
    Each citation for various prints

  • Catalogue Essay

    The photographs included in this lot are as follows:

    Wassserturm Zeche Concordia Oberhausen
    Wasserturm Verviers Belgien
    Wasserturm Kirkhamgate Bei Leeds England
    Wasserturm Greencastle Pennsylvania USA
    Waserturm Dusburg-Meiderich
    Wasserturm Verschiebebanhof Mannheim

  • 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

125

Sechs Wassertürme

1976
Six offset lithographs, printed later.
Each approximately 16 x 12 1/2 in. (40.6 x 31.8 cm)
Each signed and dated in pencil on the verso; printed title in the lower margin.

Estimate
$8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for $20,320

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com

 

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

Photographs

New York Auction 11 October 2023