Andreas Gursky's Rhine: Abstraction in Photography

Andreas Gursky's photographs Rhine I (1996) and Rhine II (1999) exemplify a move toward abstraction in photography. Captured near Düsseldorf while jogging, the images were digitally edited to remove details like dog walkers and industrial buildings, leaving horizontal bands of river, grass, and sky. The resulting compositions recall Barnett Newman's vertical abstract paintings. Gursky stated he wanted to purify the landscape to its essence. Rhine II, a variant of the same scene, sold for $4.3 million at Christie's New York in 2011, then a record for the most expensive photograph at auction, a distinction held until 2022. Gursky (born 1955 in Leipzig) studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher and is a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.