Gerhard Ritchter´s abstract painting sold for more than 20 MM.
Today I read than one of Gerhard Ritcher abstract paintings belonging to his Abstraktes Bild´series, was sold last night for more than 21 USD MM. To see how this happens check this Gerhard Richter´s painting auction at Christie´s
I just don´t care about how much his paintings are worth (though I´m sure that news like this affect my inner valuation of his original and world wide valued art).
I have already writen several interesting posts that included Gerhard Richter´s abstract art. I did it because I really admire many of the peaces he creates and beacuse his art is so “universal” that his paintings can be continually included in contemporary art articles of any kind.
The more I see them, the more I like them. They have lots of color, they have visual power, they are trully abstract, there´s movement on them, they are original, the are lines as well as undetermined forms and shapes, and as you can see in the below video there´s fun in the rational and repetitive making process. What else do you need?
The above is a short sequence of an interesting more than an hr video filmed at his studio. What about you, what do you think about Richter´s abstract art? Do you think he adds something to the history of art?. Please add your comments, thoughts, ideas and knowledge below. Thanks
Ps: as you read the above article, a new Richter price record has been achieved. According to artmarketblog (Oct 14 2012) “A painting by Gerhard Richter from the collection of Eric Clapton has been sold for 21,321,250 GBP ($34.19 million) at auction in London setting a new auction record for a work by a living artist. Acquired by Clapton from Sotheby’s New York Contemporary Art Part One sale in November 2001 for 3,415,750 USD against an estimate of 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 USD, Abstraktes Bild (809-4) sold to an anonymous buyer after three telephone bidders competed for the work for over 5 minutes”
May 9, 2012 - 7:19 pm
Sure. I think he adds the casuality and the possibility . A high technical painter as Richter takes a stepback and allows his canvas to take a risk and express itself. Then, he contemplates what’s happening, half viewer, half creator, analyse and determine by taking the control again in a very confident way.
May 10, 2012 - 12:49 pm
Hello, thanks a lot for your wide answer. I agree with you in that he takes risks. I wonder if the first painting he made of this abstract series was a rational, unconsciuos or simply a try and error execution. Anyways the resulting pieces are captivating as well as the making process. Best Regards.
Antonio
May 10, 2012 - 7:08 pm
To answer your first question, Richter is not adding anything to Art History.What he is doing is what a Silk-screener has been doing since the fisrt person who discovered doing a Splt fountainor Blend. which is what Richter does only on a larger scale.. Its all ABOUT MARKETING AND TIMIING.
AS I PAINTER MYSELF, WHAT I find in common with him IS HIS SENSE OF Serarch and DISCOVERY , more so in his middle career,
The Squeege paintings are his late commercial trip, I feel that once you do a number of them like I did in my days as a serigrapher, is repeating yourself…( Repeating is not Creative ),which is presicely what galleries are interested in a marketable item , nice colors,the BLENDING THATHappens in the process is Visually stimulating but a far cry fom being anything new or transcendant in the history of Painting. I saw this kind of painting back in the 60’s in New York where the craze was “happening” with artists doing this but in small sizes.
I always ask myself What transcendence will most of the ART work being passed as HiGH ART in the last 60 yeras will have in a 100 years. from now ??? Look at the financial Markets, and what happened to them, its all about Speculation, and ,… making a Fast Buck No matter what ……
Guys like Picasso, Duchamp,Dali plus many more who were pioneers, they have merit and their prices could even go much higher, but others are gallery Inflated well planned SCAMS….
GABRIEL SENCIAL
May 10, 2012 - 8:02 pm
Hello Gabriel, quite interesting your reasoning. So, according to you, most of what is being made know a days in the art scene is not adding anything and it is a reinterpretations of prevoius pionering artists. Is this right?. I sometimes ask my self the same type of questions you ask yourself. What is really valuable art?. How to make it?.
International art markets have to do with money and speculation (like any other asset class), while art issolated only in terms of artist creation is another thing. The problem I find is that the line that separates both is so thin that it is easy to mix them up.
Any way, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts here and see you around soon.
Antonio Basso
May 11, 2012 - 5:55 am
Parece mas facil realizar este estilo de pintura que un cuadro impresionista .Esto parece un poco una explosion interior Sin tiempo a recapacitar antes de hacerlo.pero los cuadros de Richter me parecen impactantes
May 11, 2012 - 6:21 am
Hola Queta, en lo que respecta a la ejecución, como tú dices parece más fácil este estilo que el de los impresionistas. Pero yal y como comentas, el impacto que recibes después de observar uno de estos cuadros de Richter es probablemente más fuerte. Hablamos de dos estilos pictóricos totalmente diferentes y por lo tanto pienso que no deben compararse. Otra cosa son las preferencias de “gusto personal” y “criterios de belleza” que cada uno pueda tener sobre un estilo u otro.
Yo pienso que probablemente Richter no debía recapacitar en los primeros cuadros que hizo de esta serie, pero como artista que soy también te digo que cuando has hecho mucho de algo ya sabes “más o menos” como puede ser el resultado final. Yo pienso, y aquí ya se ha debatido, que Richter arriesgó realmente en los primeros. Si él sigue haciéndolos hoy en día, tengo mis dudas sobre si en esa acción hay riesgo.
Gracias por compartir tus ideas y enriquecer este debate.
Saludos
Antonio
May 12, 2012 - 6:07 pm
i love the works : bold and fluent.
May 12, 2012 - 10:50 pm
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Frans.
Rgds
May 13, 2012 - 12:07 pm
IT ALL DEPENDS OF WERE YOU ARE
May 13, 2012 - 12:08 pm
What do you exactly mean Nina?
Rgds
May 13, 2012 - 12:14 pm
Imagine the same pigments / kind of same Guts , thougts… temperament … – in a injured country , in a modest village … etc – the body of the Artist match the Time /space and it matters were he/she is
May 13, 2012 - 1:52 pm
Now I understand. Thanks for commenting. Rgds
August 30, 2012 - 4:24 pm
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