?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 100,000 - $ 150,000
BECHER, BERND (1931-2007) & HILLA (1934- ) Suite of 12 photographs titled "Industrial Facades." Silver prints (12), each measuring 12x15 3/4 inches (30.5x40 cm.) and on 16x20 inch mounts, the first print in the series with the Bechers' signatures and a numbered diagram of the intended layout of the series, in pencil, on mount verso, and each with a number corresponding to the layout, in pencil, on mount verso; each print is framed; the artwork measures approximately 133 1/2x37 inches (339.1x94 cm.) overall. 1978
From the André Simoens Gallery, Knokke, Belgium; Acquired from Swann Galleries, December 9, 2003, Sale 1987, lot 583.
Bernd (1931-2007) and Hilla (1934- ) Becher, a husband-and-wife team, are widely considered two of the most important photographers of the 20th-century. The Bechers' photographs depict architectural forms throughout northern Europe and the U.S. referred to as "anonymous sculpture." Their extensive series of water towers, blast furnaces, coal mine tipples, industrial facades, and other vernacular industrial architectural sites comprise an in-depth study of the intricate relationship between form and function, a principle that has dominated modernity since the 1920s.
Their distinct signature style relies on a frontal depiction of a building or structure against a cloudless sky. Using a large-format (film) view camera for absolute clarity and precision, each unit is centered in the picture frame and printed in a neutral tone. The cool objectivity of the pictures recalls the dynamic visual presentations of engineers. The prints were frequently arranged in grids, a standardized presentation that facilitates a comparative analysis of form.
The Bechers taught at the Dusseldorf Academy of Art, in Germany, where they influenced Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Candida Hofer and Thomas Ruth. Since her husband's death, Hilla Becher has continued to photograph and exhibit their work.
