Over the last few years, Sotheby’s has shown a bit of an advantage in the market for Gerhard Richter’s abstract paintings. Seven of the top ten prices belong to Sotheby’s. But today Christie’s announces its own slate of Richter works, including a canvas from the Tate Modern show that recently played an important role in further fueling demand. Here’s Christie’s Robert Manley on making his pitch:
Christie’s is fortunate to be offering an outstanding group of major works by Gerhard Richter, including two unqualified masterworks, Seestüeck (Leicht bewölkt) and Abstraktes Bild (798-3) . The six paintings span 25 years of the artist‟s career, from 1968 to 1993 and include his classic abstractions such as Abstraktes Bild (798-3) one of the most valuable Richters to come to market. From a breakthrough period of the 1960‟s comes his sublime Seestüeck (Leicht bewölkt) one of a small series of Seascapes executed in the late 1960‟s, most of which are in museum collections, including the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Bockmann Collection, Berlin and the Kunsthalle Hamburg. Rare to market is a 1968 largescale painting Farbschlieren; sinuous, wide-brushed and vibrantly colored, it is integral to Richter‟s development of his intuitive Abstrakte Bilders which would follow in the 1980‟s. Rounding out the selection is a large Abstraktes Bild Violett (600-2) that was recently featured in the acclaimed Tate Modern retrospective, and two exquisite medium scale abstract paintings. With an aggregate low estimate of almost $40 million, the six works are primed to be a landmark event in the Richter market.”
