''Rhein'', also known as ''Rhein I'', is a colour photograph created by the German photographer
Andreas Gursky in 1996. The photograph had a six copies edition. This was the first version of a photograph that become better known with his second version, ''
Rhein II'', in 1999.
The photograph was created using digital manipulation, which removed several human references, including people and buildings. The final result, showing the river flowing across green fields, beneath a blue cloudy sky, has similarities with the abstract paintings of
Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American artist. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense o ...
. Peter Galassi stated that: "Behind Gursky's taste for the imposing clarity of unbroken parallel forms spanning a slender rectangle lies a rich inheritance of reductivist aesthetics, from
Friedrich Friedrich may refer to:
Names
* Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
* Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
* Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
to
Newman
Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people:
The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere.
A
*Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer
*Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people
*Al Newman (born 1960) ...
to
Richter to
Donald Judd... (with) images that read like horizontal versions of Newman paintings." This version has less vivid colors and a narrower field of vision than ''
Rhein II''.
Three prints of this photograph are among the most expensive ever sold. A print was sold by $2,098,500 at
Sotheby's,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, at 10 May 2011, and another by $1,925,000 at
Phillips
Phillips may refer to:
Businesses Energy
* Chevron Phillips Chemical, American petrochemical firm jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66.
* ConocoPhillips, American energy company
* Phillips 66, American energy company
* Phil ...
, at 16 May 2013. A third sold by $1,805,000 at
Sotheby's,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, at 12 November 2014.
Rhein, at Sotheby's Catalogue
/ref>
A print of the photograph is held at the Samsung Museum of Art
The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is a museum in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea, run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It consists of two parts that house traditional Korean art and contemporary art. Museum 1 is designed by Swiss ...
, in Seoul.
References
{{Authority control
Color photographs
Rhine
Landscape photographs
1996 in art
1990s photographs
Photographs by Andreas Gursky