Name: Fragment 4
Brand: Bridget Riley
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Bridget Riley's Fragment 4 (signed) is estimated to be worth between £40,000 and £60,000. This screenprint, created in 1965, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 33%. Over the past 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £23,496 in March 2021 to £28,224 in September 2021. This work has an impressive auction history, having been sold 6 times at auction since its entry to the market in October 2005. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 75.

Meaning & Analysis

Fragment 4 (1965), by British Op-Artist Bridget Riley, was released in a signed edition of 75 screen prints. Redolent of binary code, Riley constructs a grid of zeroes only to skew the number with each repetition, creating a shifting illusion that defies any impression of regularity.

Achieving notoriety with her use of black and white, this print and the series it derives from is seminal in Riley’s oeuvre, demonstrating the artist's ability to disorient viewers by using the simplest of geometric forms.

Riley experiments with basic structural units in her works to explore the physical and psychological responses of the eyes. The strain the viewer's eyes are placed under when trying to focus on this work frustrates the viewer: Riley’s works do not enable the eyes to settle but leave them frantically trying to adjust to what they are witnessing. Deceptively simple, great complexity lurks beneath the surface of these works as they are the result of lengthy preparatory sketching and planning.