Gerhard Richter: “Abstraktes Bild”, 1990
Estimated at £14-20 million
Gerhard Richter’s ‘Abstraktes Bild’ at Sotheby’s London Sotheby’s London Contemporary Art Evening auction on 10 February 2016 will be led by one of only a handful of truly spectacular examples of Gerhard Richter’s Abstrakte Bilder remaining in private hands.]]>
January 17, 2016, source: Sotheby’s
Painted in 1990, “Abstraktes Bild” (725-4) remained in the artist’s private collection, away from the public eye, until 1996 when it was unveiled at an exhibition of his personal paintings at the Carre d’Art in Nimes: “Gerhard Richter: 100 Pictures”. The work has not been exhibited publically since.
Acquired by the current owner via Marian Goodman and Anthony d’Offay in 1996, “Abstraktes Bild” will now be offered at auction for the very first time, with an estimate of £14-20 million (US$ 21.1-30.1 million).
The world’s most valuable living painter, Gerhard Richter has seen his auction record broken three times in the past four years, most recently at Sotheby’s in London when an Abstraktes Bild from 1986, estimated at £14-20m, sold for £30.4m ($46.4m) in February 2015. This price exceeded the previous auction record for the artist by 25% and the previous record for an abstract by Richter by 43%. He continues to be the world’s most valuable living painter, and Europe’s most valuable living artist.
The record for abstract works by Richter has been broken ten times in the past eight years, and momentum continues: last year four abstract works by the artist sold for over $20 million.
Related content
Gerhard Richter’s ‘Abstraktes Bild’ sells for £21,3 million at Sotheby’s (October 2012)
Follow us on:
