Gerhard Richter

£690,000-£1,010,000 VALUE (EST.)

$1,250,000-$1,840,000 VALUE (EST.)

$1,150,000-$1,690,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥5,790,000-¥8,470,000 VALUE (EST.)

€790,000-€1,150,000 VALUE (EST.)

$6,600,000-$9,650,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥111,200,000-¥162,770,000 VALUE (EST.)

$840,000-$1,230,000 VALUE (EST.)

7% 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

January 2010

Lempertz, Cologne - Germany

Hund - Signed Print

Meaning & Analysis

Released in a limited edition of 8, Hund is a screen print by internationally renowned painter Gerhard Richter. Created in 1965, the artwork is a unique example of Richter's engagement with a figurative subject matter before he moves in the direction of monochrome art and radically reduces his visual language.

The artwork depicts a dog as it lies down on the ground against the background of plants and a building. The peaceful scene clashes with the mood of Richter’s later works, such as Grey Paintings, a series of canvases consisting exclusively of smooth, uninterrupted layers of grey oil paint, giving expression to Richter’s distrust in the possibility of knowing and representing reality.

As so often in Richter’s works, the technique of blurring has been employed in Hund, reflecting Richter’s desire to deconstruct traditional artistic methods. Richter commented on the function of the blurring technique: “I blur things so that they do not look artistic or craftsmanlike but technological, smooth and perfect. I blur things to make all the parts a closer fit. Perhaps I also blur out the excess of unimportant information.”