Very Good Result for LICHTFELD (1959) of Günther UECKER at Sotheby's London

At the Contemporary Art Evening Auction at Sotheby's London of February 15th the work "Lichtfeld" by Günther Uecker was sold for 735,650 GBP. It was estimated 300,000 - 400,000 GBP.

cit. Catalogue Sotheby's:

A pioneering and extremely early paragon of Günther Uecker's extraordinary art of nails, Lichtfeld of 1959 emblematises the courageous artistic innovation that characterised the artist's work at this time and that gave rise to the hugely influential ZERO movement to which he was so foundational. Having been widely exhibited in the major groundbreaking ZERO shows that swept across Europe in the early 1960s, from Amsterdam to Stockholm to Hanover, and proved to be so important to generations of later artists, Lichtfeld is of historic importance in its devotion to kineticism and the effects of light and movement. Early and experimental installations of this work, such as at Modern Museet, Stockholm in 1971, positioned it horizontally atop a vertical axis and set spinning, while a dangling lightbulb simultaneously circled around it, creating rapid and ever-changing effects of shadows cast by the thousands of nails that punctuate its remarkably animated surface. Subsequently installed as a hanging painting, it is a sublime exemplar of Uecker's famous worknig method, whereby he hammered his nails spontaneously without premeditated design, moving rapidly outwards from the centre and spacing the nails at approximately the width of his finger. This sensational piece testifies to an intense and immensely focused physical action, as well as preserving the serene purity of his inimitable aesthetic. With its evolving patterns of vertiginous movement governed by changes in light and viewpoint, Lichtfeld remains a resoundingly vibrant and kinetic work.

Info on the work:

GÜNTHER UECKER (B.1930)

LICHTFELD
signed and dated 59 on the reverse
acrylic and nails on canvas laid down on panel
Measurements 85 by 85cm.

PROVENANCE Hans Möller, Hubbelrath (acquired directly from the artist circa 1960)

EXHIBITED

Düsseldorf, Galerie Schmela, Licht und Bewegung, 1961

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum; Stockholm, Moderna Museet; Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Bewogen Beweging, 1961

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Nul, 1962

Krefeld, Museum Haus Lange, Uecker Mack Piene, 1963 Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Günther Uecker: Bildobjekt 1957-1970, 1971, p. 13, no. 9, illustrated in installation view (titled Lichtfelt and Lichtfeld)

Hanover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Günther Uecker, 1972, n.p., no. 85.89 and no. 14

Braunschweig, Kunstverein, Uecker: Bilder und Zeichnungen, 1979, no. 30, illustrated


LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Exhibition Catalogue, Hanover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Mack Piene Uecker, 1965, nos. 203 and 234 (titled Lichtstruktur and Lichtkasten)

Willoughby Sharp, Günther Uecker : 10 Years of a Kineticist's Work, New York 1966, p. 37, illustrated (titled White White)

Dietrich Helms, Günther Uecker, Recklinghausen 1970, p. 36, illustrated (titled Weiss Weiss Lichtartikulation)

Exhibition Catalogue, Lodz, Museum Sztuki, Günther Uecker: Struktury, 1974-75

Dieter Honisch, Uecker, Stuttgart 1983, p. 53, no. 149, illustrated twice in installation view