- 171
Gerhard Richter
Estimate
13,000 - 18,000 GBP
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Description
- Gerhard Richter
- Untitled (Self Portrait with Head Turning)
- signed and dated 71 on the reverse
- gelatin silver print
- 17.8 by 24.2cm.; 7 by 9 1/5 in.
Provenance
Private Collection, Germany
Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin
Private Collection, USA
Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin
Private Collection, USA
Condition
Colour:
The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is less sepia in the original.
Condition:
This work is in very good condition. Close inspection in raking light reveals a few minute hairline surface scratches in places, as well as a minute speck of media accretion towards the centre of the left edge.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Photography lies at the very heart of Gerhard Richter’s practice. Considered the greatest artist living and working today, it is through the lens of photography that Richter’s career-long scrutiny of painting has evolved: the examination of photographic analogies in paint has truly driven and informed the gamut of protean inquiries that are today considered groundbreaking. The present collection of seven rare early photographs and photo-collages together underlines the magnitude of photography for an artist whose fundamental intent for over 60 years has been to ‘paint like a camera’.
Dated between 1965 and 1971 these works illuminate a formative period of Richter’s career. Accompanying the iconic corpus of black and white Photo Paintings, these photographs harbour many of the themes expanded upon in his contemporaneous and even future painterly production. Where works such as Untitled (Self Portrait with Head Turning) echo the archetypal distortive-blur of his black and white paintings, others such as Untitled (Found Erotic Photograph) mimic the denial of expressive intent inherent to his early choice of found source imagery whilst foreshadowing the body of over-painted photographs taken up in practice much later in the mid-1980s. Furthermore, these works narrate an experimental period during the mid-1960s informed by his personal relationships and involvement in the Capitalist Realist group in Dusseldorf - Germany’s answer to the Anglo-American Pop Art movement. As photographic works existing aside from Richter’s monumental and encompassing archival compendium/artwork Atlas, these pieces provide a rare glimpse into the formative concerns of an artist whose innovations in painting have utterly dominated the later Twentieth and early Twenty-First century.
Dated between 1965 and 1971 these works illuminate a formative period of Richter’s career. Accompanying the iconic corpus of black and white Photo Paintings, these photographs harbour many of the themes expanded upon in his contemporaneous and even future painterly production. Where works such as Untitled (Self Portrait with Head Turning) echo the archetypal distortive-blur of his black and white paintings, others such as Untitled (Found Erotic Photograph) mimic the denial of expressive intent inherent to his early choice of found source imagery whilst foreshadowing the body of over-painted photographs taken up in practice much later in the mid-1980s. Furthermore, these works narrate an experimental period during the mid-1960s informed by his personal relationships and involvement in the Capitalist Realist group in Dusseldorf - Germany’s answer to the Anglo-American Pop Art movement. As photographic works existing aside from Richter’s monumental and encompassing archival compendium/artwork Atlas, these pieces provide a rare glimpse into the formative concerns of an artist whose innovations in painting have utterly dominated the later Twentieth and early Twenty-First century.