Andreas Gursky
A Retrospective
BIOGRAPHY
INDEX
The Rhein 1999 Ratingen Swimming Pool 1987 Sha Tin 1994 Times Square, New York 1997 Toys “R” Us 1999 Tote Hosen 2000 Bahrain 2005 Bagknok 2005 Review 2015 May Day 2006 Sao Paulo, Sé 2002 Les Mées 2016 99 Cent 1999 Amazon 2016 Chicago Board of Trade I 1997 Hong Kong Stock Exchange II 1995 SH III 2014 Madonna 2001 Pyongyang IV 2007 Greeley 2002
BIOGRAPHY Gursky was born in Leipzig, East Germany in 1955. His family relocated to West Germany, moving to Essen and then Düsseldorf by the end of 1957. From 1978 to 1981, he attended the Universität Gesamthochschule Essen, where he studied visual communication, led by photographers Otto Steinert and Michael Schmidt. Gursky is said to have attended the university to hear Otto Steinert, however Steinert died in 1978 and Gursky only got to attend a few of his lectures. Andreas Gursky is known for his large-scale digitally manipulated images. Similar in scope to early 19th-century landscape paintings, Gursky’s pho-
report on reality, but should be looking at what’s behind something.”
tographs capture built and natural environments on a grand scale. Often taken from a lofted vantage point, the artist latter splices together multiple images of the same scene. This dizzying repetition of elements creates a surreal monumentality, as seen in his 99 Cent (1999). “In retrospect I can see that my desire to create abstractions has become more and more radical,” he mused. “Art should not be delivering a
Emerging in the 1990s, the artist established himself as an important figure in contemporary German art, going on to be the subject of retrospectives at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 1998 and in 2001 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. On November 8, 2011, his photograph Rhein II sold at Christie’s New York for $4.3 million, making it the most expensive photograph ever sold.
The Rhein (1999)
Ratingen Swimming Pool (1987)
Sha Tin (1994)
Times Square, New York (1997)
Toys “R” Us (1999)
Tote Hosen 2000)
Bahrain (2005)
Bagknok (2005)
Review (2015)
May Day V (2006)
Sao Paulo, Sé (2002)
Les Mées (2016)
99 Cent (1999)
Amazon (2016)
Chicago Board of Trade I (1997)
Hong Kong Stock Exchange II (1995)
SH III (2014)
Madonna I (2001)
Pyongyang IV (2007)
Greeley (2002)