Gerhard Richter

£19,000-£28,000 VALUE (EST.)

$35,000-$50,000 VALUE (EST.)

$30,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥160,000-¥240,000 VALUE (EST.)

€21,000-€30,000 VALUE (EST.)

$180,000-$270,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥3,070,000-¥4,520,000 VALUE (EST.)

$23,000-$35,000 VALUE (EST.)

-1% AAGR

This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

Auction Date

Auction House

Artwork

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

Sotheby's London - United Kingdom

Fingermalerei - Signed Mixed Media

March 2018

Sotheby's New York - United States

Fingermalerei - Signed Mixed Media

March 2015

Christie's New York - United States

Fingermalerei - Signed Mixed Media

July 2009

Christie's London - United Kingdom

Fingermalerei - Signed Mixed Media

Meaning & Analysis

Fingermalerei is a signed mixed media artwork by internationally renowned German painter, Gerhard Richter. Created in 1972, the artwork captures how the mood of Richter’s paintings and prints fluctuates across different periods of his career, ranging from simplistic sombreness to the buoyancy of colours and shapes.

Released in a limited edition of 150, the artwork displays a grey background that bears traces of the finger’s movements across the canvas. Barely visible swirls cover the surface of the painting, constituting a curious example of the artist’s direct reference to his creative process. Created two years before the iconic Grey Paintings series, Fingermalerei anticipates the artist’s recourse to the neutral tones as a way of manifesting his doubt in the possibility of knowing and representing reality. The artist commented on the symbolic function of the grey colour in his 1970s artworks: “It was the ultimate possible statement of powerlessness and desperation. Nothing, absolutely nothing left, no figures, no colour, nothing. Then you realise after you’ve painted three of them that one’s better than the other and you ask yourself why that is… I wanted to avoid painting. I forbade it. But I also wanted to avoid representing life in any way; nevertheless I did represent it.”