Jeff Wall’s originality in the field of contemporary art lies in his use of photography not as a tool for documentation but as an alternative paintbrush for creating evocative multi-layered artwork. His works are often presented as light boxes, as seen in the present lot, and are composed from memories of moments and scenes that he experienced, the grand and the insignificant, infused with references to art history. In Basin in Rome 2, Wall constructs an image of a person refilling their water bottle from one of the many public water fountains throughout Rome fed by the city’s ancient aquifers. By showing just the figure’s hand, Wall creates an open-ended narrative, shifting the image from the real to the conceptual.