Provenance
Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Exhibited
Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen, Ohne Zögern- Without Hesitation , June 3 – September 16, 2006, n.p. (another example exhibited; illustrated)
Literature
Kunsthalle Bremen, ed., Gerhard Richter: Editionen 1965-1993, Bremen, 1993, no. 68, pp. 164-165 (illustrated)
W. Schoppmann and Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen, eds., Ohne Zögern- Without Hesitation , Germany, 2001, n.p. (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
“In the photograph, I take even more focus out of the painted image, which is already a bit out of focus, and make the picture even smoother. I also subtract the materiality, the surface of the painting, and it becomes something different.” (G. Richter, from H. Butin: “Gerhard Richter and the Reflection on Images,” Gerhard Richter Editions 1965-2004, Catalog Raisonne, Germany, 2004, pp 55, 59)

Ema (Nude on a Staircase) can be considered as a “…telescoped sequence of simulacra, an inviting reality triply removed.”(Robert Storr, Gerhard Richter: Forty Years of Painting, New York, 2002). The lot at hand is a photograph of a painting of a photograph, an imagistic cull de sac: the potential exists for reading a somewhat sterilizing level self-convolution. Gerhard’s focus however, as opposed to pointing referentially back at the work’s source material, is on the visual image. “The photograph in this case looks softer, less sharply focused and thus more painterly. Its brightness is livelier, and its surface lends it a more pronounced object character.” (S. Gronert, Pictorial (Re)Production, On the Role of Photography in the Art of Gerhard Richter, ibid, p 96). The lush, pulsating depths of the lot at hand exude an uncanny tenderness--bordering on intimacy--for a work so far removed, both physically and intellectually, from the artist’s hand.
Artist Biography
Gerhard Richter
German • 1932
Powerhouse painter Gerhard Richter has been a key player in defining the formal and ideological agenda for painting in contemporary art. His instantaneously recognizable canvases literally and figuratively blur the lines of representation and abstraction. Uninterested in classification, Richter skates between unorthodoxy and realism, much to the delight of institutions and the market alike.
Richter's color palette of potent hues is all substance and "no style," in the artist's own words. From career start in 1962, Richter developed both his photorealist and abstracted languages side-by-side, producing voraciously and evolving his artistic style in short intervals. Richter's illusory paintings find themselves on the walls of the world's most revered museums—for instance, London’s Tate Modern displays the Cage (1) – (6), 2006 paintings that were named after experimental composer John Cage and that inspired the balletic 'Rambert Event' hosted by Phillips Berkeley Square in 2016.
View More Works

42

Gerhard Richter

Ema (nude descending a staircase)

1992
Cibachrome mounted on Alucobond.
75 7/8 x 49 1/2 in. (192.7 x 125.7 cm).
Signed, numbered of twelve and dated “Richter, 92” on the reverse. This work is from an edition of twelve plus one artist’s proof.

Estimate
$200,000 - 300,000

Sold for $374,400

Contemporary Art Part I

16 Nov 2006, 7pm
New York

1
Mark Handforth
Starman
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $114,000
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2
Jim Lambie
Green Door
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $144,000
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3
Wilhelm Sasnal
UFO
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $216,000
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P346)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $307,200
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5
Ugo Rondinone
Out of reach until it’s magic we are crossing our own stony ocean
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $84,000
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6
Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $744,000
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7
Tim Noble and Sue Webster
Vicious
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $192,000
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8
Tom Friedman
Untitled
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $856,000
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9
Barnaby Furnas
Blown to Bits
Estimate $200,000 - 201,000
Sold for $198,000
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10
Cecily Brown
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $396,800
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11
Karen Kilimnik
Planning the Attack of Malta, the Mastermind
Estimate $450,000 - 451,000
Sold for $408,000
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12
Paul McCarthy
Hammer Head
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $553,600
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13
Mike Kelley
Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites
Estimate $3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for $2,704,000
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14
Piotr Uklański
Untitled (Skull)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $228,000
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15
Richard Prince
Pro Street
Estimate $700,000 - 900,000
Sold for $744,000
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16
Christopher Wool
Hole in Your Fuckin Head (W31)
Estimate $2,200,000 - 2,201,000
Sold for $1,696,000
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17
Banks Violette
Untitled (Scoreboard)
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $117,600
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18
Matthew Barney
Cremaster 2: Korihor
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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19
Paul McCarthy
Rocky
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $108,000
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20
Matthew Barney
Away Gown
Estimate $180,000 - 220,000
Sold for $156,000
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21
Mike Kelley
Memory Ware Flat #3
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $576,000
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22
Charles Ray
Revolution Counter-Revolution
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,584,000
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23
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #212
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $180,000
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24
Maurizio Cattelan
La Nona Ora
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $464,000
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25
Wilhelm Sasnal
Gym Lesson at School
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $180,000
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26
Dirk Skreber
Beyond Taxes
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $251,200
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27
Matthias Weischer
Untitled (Red Table)
Estimate $180,000 - 220,000
Sold for $307,200
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28
Martin Kippenberger
Antikriegsmuseum- Befehl im Museum für unnötige Kriegsforchung
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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29
Jack Pierson
Lust
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Sold for $352,000
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30
Richard Prince
Tender Nurse
Estimate $2,000,000 - 2,001,000
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31
Fred Tomaselli
Colorado River
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $192,000
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32
Elizabeth Peyton
Piotr’s first I.D. Photo
Estimate $400,000 - 450,000
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33
Hernan Bas
Dionysus Bestowing Midas His Touch
Estimate $200,000 - 201,000
Sold for $168,000
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34
Neo Rauch
Füller (Pen)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $329,600
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35
Albert Oehlen
Untitled
Estimate $180,000 - 220,000
Sold for $273,600
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36
Thomas Scheibitz
Dubai
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
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37
Thomas Struth
Paradise 2 (Pilgrim Sands) Daintree / Australia
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $120,000
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38
Andreas Gursky
99 Cent II Diptychon
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,480,000
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39
Georg Baselitz
Das Motif: Abendstimmung (The Motif: Evening Atmosphere)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $216,000
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40
Gilbert & George
Black Buds (in 16 parts)
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $240,000
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41
Anselm Kiefer
Nossis
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $408,000
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42
Gerhard Richter
Ema (nude descending a staircase)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $374,400
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43
Julian Schnabel
Bob's World
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $822,400
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44
Ross Bleckner
Fallen Sky
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $96,000
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45
David Salle
Midday
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
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46
Kenny Scharf
Red Jello Fello
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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47
Alighiero Boetti
Mappa (argento)
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $688,000
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48
Joseph Beuys
Untitled (swan flying over the landscape)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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49
Frank Stella
Sunapee III
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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50
Sol LeWitt
Untitled
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $307,200
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51
Agnes Martin
Untitled #4
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,808,000
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52
Dan Flavin
the diagonal of May 25
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $632,000
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53
Andy Warhol
Jackie
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $856,000
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54
George Condo
Electric Angel
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $228,000
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55
Richard Prince
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $329,600
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56
Qiu Shihua
Wooded Pasture
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $138,000
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57
Rosemarie Trockel
Untitled (in two parts)
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $108,000
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58
Daniel Richter
Elvis
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $419,200
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59
Elizabeth Peyton
Brett and Rob New York 1999
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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60
Zhang Xiaogang
Bloodline Series: No. 10
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $180,000
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61
Piotr Uklański
Untitled (Room as a face)
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
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62
Damien Hirst
Mental Escapology
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
Sold for $408,000
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63
Yang Shaobin
2002-10, No. 3
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $180,000
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64
Francesco Vezzoli
Four Fabulous Faces: Joan and Gloria
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $108,000
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65
Paul Pfeiffer
Race Riot
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $144,000
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66
Tom Friedman
Untitled
Estimate $120,000 - 121,000
Sold for $81,600
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67
Charles LeDray
Untitled
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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68
Charles Ray
All My Clothes
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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