Beschreibung:

Bernd and Hilla Becher Kühltürme (Cooling Towers) 1963-1967 Three gelatin silver prints. Each approximately 40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.) Each signed and dated in ink by Bernd Becher on the recto; copyright credit stamp on the verso.
Provenance Acquired directly from the artist, circa 1968 Sotheby's, London, Contemporary Art, Evening, 23 June 2004, lot 18 Literature B. and H. Becher, Anonyme Skulpturen: Eine Typologie Technischer Bauten, Art Press, 1970, pp. 23, 44, 58 T. de Duve, Bernd & Hilla Becher Basic Forms, teNeues, 1999, cover and pl. 8 Bernd & Hilla Becher Typologien Industrieller Bauten, Schirmer/Mosel, 2003, pls. 20, 23 Bernd & Hilla Becher Basic Forms of Industrial Buildings, Thames & Hudson, 2005, p. 33 S. Lange, Bernd and Hilla Becher Life and Work, MIT, 2007, p. 163, pl. 4 Catalogue Essay Left to right: (i) Herne, Germany, 1965 (ii) Essen, Germany, 1963 (iii) Montceau-les-Mines, France, 1967 ‘All we did was to turn back the time to a photography of precision which is superior to the human eye.’ Bernd Becher Read More Artist Bio Bernd and Hilla Becher German • Bernd 1931-2007 - Hilla 1934-2015 Husband and wife Bernd and Hilla Becher began photographing buildings and relics of the Industrial Revolution, such as coal mines and cooling towers, in 1959. Like objective scientists removing a specimen from the field, the Bechers framed their subject in a manner that isolated it from its environment. Often, these stark, beautifully detailed prints were then displayed in grid-like structures, forming stunning 'Typologies'. By the time Bernd Becher became a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1976 (policy would not allow Hilla to be a simultaneous appointment), the Bechers' photographs, with their seemingly neutral point of view and serial display, were already being applauded by the international art world as important works of Minimal and Conceptual Art. View More Works