Gerhard Richter's Striking Abstraktes Bild Leads Phillips’ Hong Kong 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Association with Yongle Auction
Abstraktes Bild (774-1) Painted at the Peak of Richter’s Celebrated Abstract Series Comes to Auction for the First Time
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild (774-1), 1992
oil on canvas, 200 x 180.3 cm.
Estimate: HK$ 80,000,000 - 120,000,000/ US$ 10,260,000 - 15,380,000
Hong Kong – 9 November 2022 – On 1 December, Phillips’ Hong Kong Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art in association with Yongle Auction will be led by Gerhard Richter’s prominent Abstraktes Bild (774-1), 1992, estimated at HK$80-120 million/ US$10.2-15.3 million. Coming to the auction market for the very first time, this visually arresting masterpiece is an exquisite example of Richter’s technical and conceptual approach in painting. Executed in 1992 following his breakthrough retrospective at London’s Tate Modern the previous year, the present work exemplifies the purest articulation of Richter's finest period of abstraction.
Jonathan Crockett, Chairman, Asia, Phillips, said: “We are delighted and honoured to present Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (774-1), painted during a climactic moment in the artist’s career as he achieved unprecedented critical acclaim. The early 1990s is widely regarded as the height of the artist’s aesthetic enquiry into the nature of abstraction, and his reputation as one of the most influential living artists was cemented in a series of major exhibitions held during the period. With top prices for works by Gerhard Richter at Hong Kong auctions having all been achieved in the past two years, it is clear the demand from Asian collectors for exceptional artworks by this German master is stronger than ever. We are proud to offer this masterpiece from the artist’s most highly celebrated abstract cycles as the leading highlight of our Fall season in Asia.”
The magnificent striations of Abstraktes Bild represent an innovative development in Richter's technique in the 1990s. He repeatedly returned to striped and gridded compositions, suggesting his exploration into unifying bright colours with the more muted, melancholy palette to which he was periodically drawn towards. In the present work, this is shown in the visual interplay between layers of deep red and brighter blues and greens. The foundational layer of Abstraktes Bild (774-1) is executed in a deep red pigment, highly characteristic of Richter’s work from this period. The artist’s Abstraktes Bild series celebrates his mastery of the squeegee technique, widely considered one of his greatest contributions to art history. His left-to-right, stop-and-go motions of the squeegee stimulate the viewer's tactile senses by producing build-ups of paint, lining and rising above the hypnotic and aqueous columns like tides, giving form to yet another dimension of the work.
One of the most significant contemporary artists working today, Gerhard Richter’s innovative approach is currently being celebrated in a major retrospective at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art in Japan. Having just celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year, Richter’s work was the subject of shows across three cities in his home country Germany and his first grand solo exhibition in Tokyo. Garnering formidable institutional acclaim for decades, numerous Richter abstracts already belong to major museums and public collections worldwide.
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Phillips in Association with Yongle 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
Auction: 30 November, 2022 11am HKT
Phillips in Association with Yongle 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Auction: 1 December, 2022 6pm HKT
Location: JW Marriott Hong Kong, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Asia Previews:
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City |
Dates and Time |
Location |
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Shanghai |
VIP preview 10 November 2-8pm
11 November 1-8pm
Public viewing 12-13 November 11am – 6pm |
2022 Art021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair,
Shanghai Exhibition Center - Booth s45 S46 D01 E02
No. 1000 Middle Yan An Road Jingan District, Shanghai
*Art021 VIP invitation or tickets are required |
|
Taichung |
9 November 11am-6pm |
Fong-Yi Art Gallery, B1F., No. 110, Sec. 1, Wuquan W. Rd., West Dist., Taichung City
|
|
Taipei |
12-13 November 11am-6pm |
Bellavita B1 Art Gallery B1F., No. 28, Songren Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City |
|
Hong Kong |
27-30 November 10am to 7pm
1 December 10am to 6pm |
JW Marriott Hong Kong, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong |
Yongle in Association with Phillips: Global Vision – Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Auction: Early December, 2022 (the exact date will be announced in due course)
Location: Four Seasons Beijing, 48 Liang Ma Qiao Road, 100125 Chaoyang District, Beijing
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