Andreas Gursky's Rhine II: The Most Expensive Photograph and Its Platonic Ideal
Back in 2011, Andreas Gursky's Rhine II, a piece made in 1999 and displayed on plexiglass, sold for an astonishing $4 million, making it the priciest photograph ever at that point. This work is part of a series that includes six Rhine images, with four prints showcased in major museums like New York's Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern in London. Gursky, who was born in Leipzig in 1955 and moved to Düsseldorf in 1957, studied under Berndt and Hilla Becher, which greatly influenced his style. In the '90s, he began incorporating color and digital techniques. The Rhine, a key European river, has seen extensive industrial changes, and Gursky's work removes human elements, creating a serene yet artificial landscape that encourages viewers to think about our impact on nature.
Key facts
- Rhine II by Andreas Gursky sold for $4 million in 2011, becoming the most expensive photograph at the time.
- The photograph is a 1999 plexiglass-mounted print, measuring 350 cm x 200 cm (73 in × 143 in).
- It is part of a series of six Rhine photographs, with only six prints made; four are in museums: MoMA, Tate Modern, Pinakothek der Moderne, and Glenstone.
- Gursky was born in Leipzig in 1955 and moved to Düsseldorf in 1957, where he studied at the Kunstakademie under Berndt and Hilla Becher.
- The Rhine is one of Europe's largest rivers, heavily industrialized and significant in German culture as Vater Rhein.
- Gursky digitally removed human elements like runners and industrial buildings to create a fictitious, idealized view.
- The composition defies traditional photography rules with a central horizon and abstract horizontal stripes.
- The work explores human control over nature, contrasting with Romantic depictions of nature's ferocity.
Entities
Artists
- Andreas Gursky
- Berndt Becher
- Hilla Becher
- Caspar David Friedrich
- Joseph Anton Koch
- Anselm Kiefer
- Gerhard Richter
- Richard Wagner
- Barnett Newman
- Piet Mondrian
- Bernd Becher
Institutions
- Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
- Museum of Modern Art
- Tate Modern
- Pinakothek der Moderne
- Glenstone
- Christie's
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Proximus Art Collection
- Artists Rights Society (ARS)
- VG Bild-Kunst
Locations
- Leipzig
- Germany
- Düsseldorf
- Rhine
- Europe
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Munich
- Potomac
- New York City
- USA
- Brussels
- Belgium
- East Germany
- The Hague
- Netherlands
- Bonn