1991
masterpiece
1991 Hommage à Claude Monet by Zao Wou-Ki
private collection
Zao Wou-Ki had a lifelong quest for infinity represented by the asters in the sky. Pierre Matisse, his New York dealer and agent in the 1980s, managed to inspire him also from his figurative predecessors at the border of abstraction.
While his own work remained abstract, he introduced arched framings in front of his unlimited brawls of elements. In 1986 an Hommage à Henri Matisse is more precisely inspired from La Fenêtre Ouverte à Collioure. Henri Matisse was Pierre's father. His art also became brighter after he met Zhang Daqian in Taipei in 1983.
Then went Monet, both for his impressionist touch and for his theme of La Porte d'Aval in Etretat, the spectacular rocky arch that frames the view onto the Aiguille. 29.02.88, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, is such an acbstract arch and sky composition. It was sold for HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020, lot 1016. The monumental triptych Hommage à Claude Monet, 194 x 480 cm painted in 1991, is the culmination of that trend.
While his own work remained abstract, he introduced arched framings in front of his unlimited brawls of elements. In 1986 an Hommage à Henri Matisse is more precisely inspired from La Fenêtre Ouverte à Collioure. Henri Matisse was Pierre's father. His art also became brighter after he met Zhang Daqian in Taipei in 1983.
Then went Monet, both for his impressionist touch and for his theme of La Porte d'Aval in Etretat, the spectacular rocky arch that frames the view onto the Aiguille. 29.02.88, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, is such an acbstract arch and sky composition. It was sold for HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020, lot 1016. The monumental triptych Hommage à Claude Monet, 194 x 480 cm painted in 1991, is the culmination of that trend.
1991 DOIG
1
Rosedale
2017 SOLD for $ 29M by Phillips
Just after graduating as Master from the Chelsea School of Art, Peter Doig was awarded the Whitechapel Artist Prize with an invitation to prepare a solo exhibition to be held in August and September 1991 at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.
The young artist develops an entirely new vision of the scenery, taking altogether into account the techniques of Action painting and the color balances of abstract expressionism.
His effect of presence supported by the large size of the canvases is not based on a perspective but on the masking of the remote scenery by a pattern from nature or on the difficult interpretation of a reflection in water. The horizon is not useful in such compositions and disappears as from Monet's pond.
In the previous year his Swamps recreated an atmosphere inspired by the movies. In his preparation for the Whitechapel show, Doig reuses his own winter photos in the ravines of Rosedale, a suburb of Toronto populated by rich and sumptuous mansions.
The Architect's Home in the ravine reveals an opulent villa through the trunks and leafless branches of the forest, with a very meticulous work of lines and colors. This oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm was sold for £ 14.4M by Sotheby's on March 7, 2018, lot 12.
On May 18, 2017, Phillips at lot 9 for $ 29M an oil on canvas 200 x 240 cm simply titled Rosedale. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
Even more than the Architect's Home, Rosedale opens the way to Doig's new style and technique. The classical logic would have required the building to be drawn before the elements that partially conceal it. Doig does the opposite. The image is also dotted in a white pointillism that expresses the cold of winter. The artist affirms his sensitivity to some winter scenes by Bruegel in which snow is everywhere without being preponderant.
The young artist develops an entirely new vision of the scenery, taking altogether into account the techniques of Action painting and the color balances of abstract expressionism.
His effect of presence supported by the large size of the canvases is not based on a perspective but on the masking of the remote scenery by a pattern from nature or on the difficult interpretation of a reflection in water. The horizon is not useful in such compositions and disappears as from Monet's pond.
In the previous year his Swamps recreated an atmosphere inspired by the movies. In his preparation for the Whitechapel show, Doig reuses his own winter photos in the ravines of Rosedale, a suburb of Toronto populated by rich and sumptuous mansions.
The Architect's Home in the ravine reveals an opulent villa through the trunks and leafless branches of the forest, with a very meticulous work of lines and colors. This oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm was sold for £ 14.4M by Sotheby's on March 7, 2018, lot 12.
On May 18, 2017, Phillips at lot 9 for $ 29M an oil on canvas 200 x 240 cm simply titled Rosedale. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
Even more than the Architect's Home, Rosedale opens the way to Doig's new style and technique. The classical logic would have required the building to be drawn before the elements that partially conceal it. Doig does the opposite. The image is also dotted in a white pointillism that expresses the cold of winter. The artist affirms his sensitivity to some winter scenes by Bruegel in which snow is everywhere without being preponderant.
2
The Architect's Home in the Ravine
2018 SOLD for £ 14.4M by Sotheby's
The Architect's Home in the Ravine is an early masterpiece by Peter Doig. It was sold for $ 3.6M by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, for £ 7.7M by Christie's on February 13, 2013, for £ 11.3M by Christie's on February 11, 2016, lot 18, and for £ 14.4M by Sotheby's on March 7, 2018, lot 12. Please watch the video shared in 2013 by Christie's.
Nature, even when it is wild, is influenced by humans, although such an interaction is sometimes difficult. Peter Doig is the best contemporary landscape painter. He creates some imaginary scenery from documents which may include photographs taken by himself.
Human figures are absent or discrete. The horizon is useless. The atmosphere is made of a subtle pattern of lines and colors by which the artist shows that he has assimilated various trends of modern art.
In 1991, aged 32, he is overwhelmed by the Cité Radieuse at Briey-en-Forêt near Metz, regarded 30 years earlier as a masterpiece by Le Corbusier. In the woods, this large dwelling unit had been difficult to maintain in its original purpose of social housing. It is threatened of destruction and rapidly loses its polychromy.
Through the tight branches, Doig may imagine everything : is the house still alive or already dead? Is it even yet accessible ? Now mixing this new emotion with his childhood memory in Canada he transfers the question onto another modernist house built by Eberhard Zeidler in a ravine at Rosedale near Toronto.
The oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm shows the imposing Rosedale house laid down in its small valley, offered or hidden through a dense network of winter twigs, similar as a figurative Pollock whose annihilation by the lines would not have been completed.
Nature, even when it is wild, is influenced by humans, although such an interaction is sometimes difficult. Peter Doig is the best contemporary landscape painter. He creates some imaginary scenery from documents which may include photographs taken by himself.
Human figures are absent or discrete. The horizon is useless. The atmosphere is made of a subtle pattern of lines and colors by which the artist shows that he has assimilated various trends of modern art.
In 1991, aged 32, he is overwhelmed by the Cité Radieuse at Briey-en-Forêt near Metz, regarded 30 years earlier as a masterpiece by Le Corbusier. In the woods, this large dwelling unit had been difficult to maintain in its original purpose of social housing. It is threatened of destruction and rapidly loses its polychromy.
Through the tight branches, Doig may imagine everything : is the house still alive or already dead? Is it even yet accessible ? Now mixing this new emotion with his childhood memory in Canada he transfers the question onto another modernist house built by Eberhard Zeidler in a ravine at Rosedale near Toronto.
The oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm shows the imposing Rosedale house laid down in its small valley, offered or hidden through a dense network of winter twigs, similar as a figurative Pollock whose annihilation by the lines would not have been completed.
3
Charley's Space
2018 SOLD for £ 11M by Christie's
In 1990 Peter Doig completes his studies at the Chelsea School of Art. He begins a painting on a daring theme that will bring together his two fascinations, for his own memory and for the strongest emotions of cinema. He associates the snowball and the Rosebud enigma of Citizen Kane to his childhood in Canada.
He constructs this work as a confrontation of worlds dominated by the central oval of a snowstorm that pushes back to the edges of his memory the cabin and the forest. The flakes are scattered on this veil altogether dark and slightly transparent. Blur enhances the dreamlike impression.
A school security agent named Charley watches and says "Huh, Space". He was seeing a starry sky and not a snowstorm. Far from discouraging the young artist, this erroneous but plausible interpretation excites his enthusiasm. The pictorial art does not reflect a reality but an emotion prepared by the artist and which can be perceived differently by the observer.
Completed in 1991 this 183 x 127 cm oil on canvas is titled Charley's Space. In 2003-2004 it will be used as the title of a solo exhibition in Maastricht : Peter Doig has not forgotten the involuntarily deep lesson received from his visitor. It was sold for £ 11M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Christie's on March 6, 2018, lot 27. Charley's Space is introduced with another snow scene in the video shared by Christie's.
Monet knew how to show the transparent surface of his pond. Doig becomes the virtuoso of the falling snow, more or less dense, within more or less fog, but from then in a more homogeneous universe. Painted also in 1991 and reusing the same cabin and forest, Pink Snow 244 x 198 cm is conserved at the MoMA.
Painted in 1994, a scene in Cobourg is a culmination of this effect of blizzard ambience. This 200 x 250 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 12.7M by Christie's on March 7, 2017.
He constructs this work as a confrontation of worlds dominated by the central oval of a snowstorm that pushes back to the edges of his memory the cabin and the forest. The flakes are scattered on this veil altogether dark and slightly transparent. Blur enhances the dreamlike impression.
A school security agent named Charley watches and says "Huh, Space". He was seeing a starry sky and not a snowstorm. Far from discouraging the young artist, this erroneous but plausible interpretation excites his enthusiasm. The pictorial art does not reflect a reality but an emotion prepared by the artist and which can be perceived differently by the observer.
Completed in 1991 this 183 x 127 cm oil on canvas is titled Charley's Space. In 2003-2004 it will be used as the title of a solo exhibition in Maastricht : Peter Doig has not forgotten the involuntarily deep lesson received from his visitor. It was sold for £ 11M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Christie's on March 6, 2018, lot 27. Charley's Space is introduced with another snow scene in the video shared by Christie's.
Monet knew how to show the transparent surface of his pond. Doig becomes the virtuoso of the falling snow, more or less dense, within more or less fog, but from then in a more homogeneous universe. Painted also in 1991 and reusing the same cabin and forest, Pink Snow 244 x 198 cm is conserved at the MoMA.
Painted in 1994, a scene in Cobourg is a culmination of this effect of blizzard ambience. This 200 x 250 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 12.7M by Christie's on March 7, 2017.
1990-1991 Sunflowers by Mitchell
2023 SOLD for $ 28M by Sotheby's
The sunflowers dazzled Joan Mitchell throughout her career, with a culmination when she became aging and ailing.
A group of blossom heads fills in parallel both sides of a diptych painted in 1990-1991 on a white background. The expressive immersion provides a synthesis of Joan's skills. This oil on canvas in two parts 280 x 400 cm overall was sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2023, lot 120.
A diptych 130 x 194 cm overall painted ca 1991 stages a flower bed of sunflowers from bloom to ground. It was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 33 B.
A group of blossom heads fills in parallel both sides of a diptych painted in 1990-1991 on a white background. The expressive immersion provides a synthesis of Joan's skills. This oil on canvas in two parts 280 x 400 cm overall was sold for $ 28M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2023, lot 120.
A diptych 130 x 194 cm overall painted ca 1991 stages a flower bed of sunflowers from bloom to ground. It was sold for $ 6.1M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 33 B.
1991 Abstraktes Bild by RICHTER
745-1
2026 SOLD for HK$ 92M by Christie's
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (745-1), 1991, was sold for HK $ 92M by Christie's, lot 8. The video is shared by the auction house.
This large-scale oil on canvas measures 200 x 180 cm (78 3/4 x 70 7/8 in.), signed, inscribed, and dated '745-1 Richter 1991' on the reverse. It is a classic example from Richter's celebrated abstract period in the early 1990s, documented in the official Gerhard Richter: Catalogue Raisonné (e.g., Volume 4, 1988–1994, illustrated p. 381). Provenance includes Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris (where it was exhibited in 1991), a French private collection since 1991, and the current owner since 2015. It appears in key literature, including Elger's catalogues and other scholarly works on Richter.
Richter's 745 series (more precisely, paintings catalogued in the 745 range from his 1991 abstracts) belongs to his broader body of Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Pictures) produced using his signature squeegee technique. In this method, Richter applies multiple layers of oil paint to the canvas and then drags a squeegee (a broad, flat tool) across the surface to scrape, blend, reveal underlying colors, and obscure others—creating complex, luminous strata where chance and control intersect. Key features of works in this period/series include:
Comparison with the 747 series (as detailed on arthitparade.net/1991.html): The 747 series comprises four large oils on canvas (each 200 x 200 cm, nos. 747-1 to 747-4), also from 1991, forming a tight cohesive group. Key distinctions and similarities include:
This large-scale oil on canvas measures 200 x 180 cm (78 3/4 x 70 7/8 in.), signed, inscribed, and dated '745-1 Richter 1991' on the reverse. It is a classic example from Richter's celebrated abstract period in the early 1990s, documented in the official Gerhard Richter: Catalogue Raisonné (e.g., Volume 4, 1988–1994, illustrated p. 381). Provenance includes Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris (where it was exhibited in 1991), a French private collection since 1991, and the current owner since 2015. It appears in key literature, including Elger's catalogues and other scholarly works on Richter.
Richter's 745 series (more precisely, paintings catalogued in the 745 range from his 1991 abstracts) belongs to his broader body of Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Pictures) produced using his signature squeegee technique. In this method, Richter applies multiple layers of oil paint to the canvas and then drags a squeegee (a broad, flat tool) across the surface to scrape, blend, reveal underlying colors, and obscure others—creating complex, luminous strata where chance and control intersect. Key features of works in this period/series include:
- Dynamic layering of colors with emergent harmonies or contrasts.
- Gestural traces, veils, and textured impasto from squeegee drags.
- Emphasis on the materiality of paint and the interplay of visibility/hidden depths.
- Often large-scale formats that immerse the viewer in chromatic fields.
Comparison with the 747 series (as detailed on arthitparade.net/1991.html): The 747 series comprises four large oils on canvas (each 200 x 200 cm, nos. 747-1 to 747-4), also from 1991, forming a tight cohesive group. Key distinctions and similarities include:
- Palette and intensity — The 747 series is intensely red-dominant (scarlet, crimson) with an incandescent, radiant, "fiery" effect evoking heat/energy. It often features flashes of secondary colors (e.g., yellow/green in 747-1) or focused pale areas for depth (vertical in 747-1, horizontal in 747-2). Some (like 747-4) emphasize pure red for a "torrent-of-fire" impact. In contrast, while 745-1 shares the 1991 squeegee-driven abstraction and likely chromatic layering, it is not highlighted as part of this ultra-red-focused quartet—suggesting potentially broader or less uniformly intense color dominance.
- Format and cohesion — 747 works are uniformly square (200 x 200 cm) and explicitly a set of four, emphasizing rhythmic repetitions and musicality in gesture/color. 745-1 is rectangular (200 x 180 cm) and stands more individually within the catalogue sequence.
- Technique and effect — Both rely on squeegee layering for chance/control balance, materiality, and immersive fields (comparable to Rothko-like contemplation). The 747 series achieves explosive yet meditative impact through dominant reds and striations; 745-1 aligns in process but may vary in specific color interplay or emergence (no red-dominant rarity emphasized for 745-1 like some 1991 reds noted elsewhere).
747 Series
The Abstraktes Bild 747 series consists of four large-scale oils on canvas, each measuring 200 x 200 cm (approximately 78 3/4 x 78 3/4 inches), painted by Gerhard Richter in 1991. Catalogued as nos. 747-1 through 747-4 in his official catalogue raisonné, these works form a cohesive yet individually distinct group within his ongoing exploration of abstraction using the squeegee technique.
Richter's mature abstractions from this period, including the 747 series, emphasize the materiality of paint, layered application, and the interplay of chance and control. The artist applies thick layers of oil paint—often building up saturated fields—then drags a squeegee across the surface to scrape, blend, reveal, and obscure previous strata. This process creates dynamic, luminous surfaces with veils of color, gestural traces, and unexpected harmonies or dissonances.
The 747 series is particularly noted for its dominant, intense red palette, featuring rich, saturated scarlet and crimson tones that dominate the canvas and produce an incandescent, almost radiant effect. This chromatic intensity evokes a sense of heat, energy, and depth, with the squeegee pulls generating vertical and horizontal striations, subtle undertones (such as hints of other colors emerging through scraped areas), and a textured impasto in places. Critics and auction houses have described works like 747-1 (the most documented and celebrated of the group) as embodying radiant heat from an incandescent core, with a palpable emotive power that places Richter in dialogue with historical masters of color like Titian, Rubens, Matisse, and Mark Rothko. While Richter has not explicitly cited Rothko as a direct influence in interviews for these specific works, the comparison arises naturally from the series' immersive, glowing fields of color and their capacity to evoke contemplative or sublime responses—qualities central to Rothko's color-field abstractions.
The series achieves a form of musicality in abstraction through rhythmic repetitions of gesture, layered contrasts, and the way colors resonate and interact across the surface, akin to polyphonic or harmonic structures without literal representation. This quality aligns with Richter's broader interest in abstraction as a means to explore perception, emotion, and the limits of visual language.
This approach to "musical" abstraction finds further development in Richter's slightly later works, such as the four monumental Abstraktes Bilder nos. 785–788 (each 300 x 300 cm), painted in 1992. These have been subtitled Bach (1) through Bach (4) in the catalogue raisonné, explicitly referencing Johann Sebastian Bach. They feature more pronounced confrontations and contrasts in color—often sharper juxtapositions and varied palettes—while maintaining the squeegee-driven layering. The Bach titles suggest an intentional parallel to musical composition, structure, and emotional depth, reinforcing the interpretive thread of musicality that can be traced back to the vibrancy and rhythmic energy already evident in the 747 series.
Overall, the 747 group represents a high point in Richter's 1986–1992 "golden years" of abstraction, a period that produced many of his most valuable and critically acclaimed works. These red-dominated canvases combine technical mastery with visceral impact, balancing chance operations with deliberate chromatic intensity to create paintings that feel both explosive and meditative.
Richter's mature abstractions from this period, including the 747 series, emphasize the materiality of paint, layered application, and the interplay of chance and control. The artist applies thick layers of oil paint—often building up saturated fields—then drags a squeegee across the surface to scrape, blend, reveal, and obscure previous strata. This process creates dynamic, luminous surfaces with veils of color, gestural traces, and unexpected harmonies or dissonances.
The 747 series is particularly noted for its dominant, intense red palette, featuring rich, saturated scarlet and crimson tones that dominate the canvas and produce an incandescent, almost radiant effect. This chromatic intensity evokes a sense of heat, energy, and depth, with the squeegee pulls generating vertical and horizontal striations, subtle undertones (such as hints of other colors emerging through scraped areas), and a textured impasto in places. Critics and auction houses have described works like 747-1 (the most documented and celebrated of the group) as embodying radiant heat from an incandescent core, with a palpable emotive power that places Richter in dialogue with historical masters of color like Titian, Rubens, Matisse, and Mark Rothko. While Richter has not explicitly cited Rothko as a direct influence in interviews for these specific works, the comparison arises naturally from the series' immersive, glowing fields of color and their capacity to evoke contemplative or sublime responses—qualities central to Rothko's color-field abstractions.
The series achieves a form of musicality in abstraction through rhythmic repetitions of gesture, layered contrasts, and the way colors resonate and interact across the surface, akin to polyphonic or harmonic structures without literal representation. This quality aligns with Richter's broader interest in abstraction as a means to explore perception, emotion, and the limits of visual language.
This approach to "musical" abstraction finds further development in Richter's slightly later works, such as the four monumental Abstraktes Bilder nos. 785–788 (each 300 x 300 cm), painted in 1992. These have been subtitled Bach (1) through Bach (4) in the catalogue raisonné, explicitly referencing Johann Sebastian Bach. They feature more pronounced confrontations and contrasts in color—often sharper juxtapositions and varied palettes—while maintaining the squeegee-driven layering. The Bach titles suggest an intentional parallel to musical composition, structure, and emotional depth, reinforcing the interpretive thread of musicality that can be traced back to the vibrancy and rhythmic energy already evident in the 747 series.
Overall, the 747 group represents a high point in Richter's 1986–1992 "golden years" of abstraction, a period that produced many of his most valuable and critically acclaimed works. These red-dominated canvases combine technical mastery with visceral impact, balancing chance operations with deliberate chromatic intensity to create paintings that feel both explosive and meditative.
1
747-1
2021 SOLD for HK$ 140M by Christie's
747-1 was sold for £ 2.8M by Sotheby's on February 7, 2007, lot 17 and for HK $ 140M by Christie's on December 1, 2021, lot 6.
The incandescent reds are interrupted by flashes of yellow and green. A pale focusing vertical area is representing the lower paint layers and provides an effect of tridimensionality.
This opus had been selected by Richter for his retrospective solo exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1991.
The incandescent reds are interrupted by flashes of yellow and green. A pale focusing vertical area is representing the lower paint layers and provides an effect of tridimensionality.
This opus had been selected by Richter for his retrospective solo exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1991.
2
747-2
2018 SOLD for $ 16.6M by Sotheby's
747-2 was sold for $ 16.6M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018, lot 16.
A focusing pale horizontal stripe supersedes a similar vertical field of the previous opus 747-1, assessing the experimental intention of the series for an increased depth effect.
In the -3 and -4 the lower layers look canceled.
A focusing pale horizontal stripe supersedes a similar vertical field of the previous opus 747-1, assessing the experimental intention of the series for an increased depth effect.
In the -3 and -4 the lower layers look canceled.
3
747-4
2014 SOLD for $ 21.4M by Sotheby's
747-4 was sold for $ 21.4M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2014, lot 8. The lack of secondary focusing hues makes this opus like a torrent of fire.
4
748-5
2026 SOLD for £ 7.6M by Christie's
Abstraktes Bild 748-5, oil on canvas 112 x 102 cm painted by Richter in 1991, was sold for £ 7.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4.5M by Christie's on March 5, 2026, lot 9.
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild 748-5 (1991) is an oil on canvas abstract painting measuring 112 x 102 cm (approximately 44 1/8 x 40 1/8 inches). It is signed, numbered, and dated '748-5 Richter 1991' on the reverse. This work is currently offered for sale by Christie's as lot 9 in their 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale (auction date March 5, 2026). It has a strong provenance, starting with Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert in Paris (where it was exhibited in 1991), then a private collection in Spain from 1992, and to the current owner. It is documented in key Richter catalogues, including the 1993 Werkübersicht (vol. III, illustrated in color) and Dietmar Elger's Catalogue Raisonné Volume 4 (2015, no. 748-5, illustrated in color p. 400).
Richter's Abstraktes Bild series from the late 1980s and early 1990s represents a peak in his exploration of abstraction, using a squeegee to drag and layer oil paint across the canvas. This technique creates chance-based effects—blurring, veiling, scraping, and revealing underlying colors—balancing control and indeterminacy, often evoking landscapes, atmospheres, or emotional states without literal representation.
Visual characteristics of 748-5: The painting is dominated by intense, vibrant red as the primary field, creating a bold, fiery overall presence. Horizontal and vertical squeegee drags produce streaked, blurred passages, with accents of green, hints of blue/gray, and subtle yellow or other undertones emerging through the layers. The surface shows dynamic texture—scraped veils, drips, and accretions—giving a sense of depth and movement, as if the red is pulsating or dissolving. It has a luminous yet veiled quality, typical of Richter's mature abstractions where color and gesture suggest something obscured or in flux.
Comparison to the series 747-1 to 747-4 (all 1991): These works belong to the same tight numeric sequence in Richter's catalogue raisonné (nos. 747-1 through 748-x), painted in 1991 during a highly productive phase of his squeegee abstractions. They share the core technique: multi-layered oil dragged with a squeegee to create chance harmonies and conflicts in color and form.
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild 748-5 (1991) is an oil on canvas abstract painting measuring 112 x 102 cm (approximately 44 1/8 x 40 1/8 inches). It is signed, numbered, and dated '748-5 Richter 1991' on the reverse. This work is currently offered for sale by Christie's as lot 9 in their 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale (auction date March 5, 2026). It has a strong provenance, starting with Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert in Paris (where it was exhibited in 1991), then a private collection in Spain from 1992, and to the current owner. It is documented in key Richter catalogues, including the 1993 Werkübersicht (vol. III, illustrated in color) and Dietmar Elger's Catalogue Raisonné Volume 4 (2015, no. 748-5, illustrated in color p. 400).
Richter's Abstraktes Bild series from the late 1980s and early 1990s represents a peak in his exploration of abstraction, using a squeegee to drag and layer oil paint across the canvas. This technique creates chance-based effects—blurring, veiling, scraping, and revealing underlying colors—balancing control and indeterminacy, often evoking landscapes, atmospheres, or emotional states without literal representation.
Visual characteristics of 748-5: The painting is dominated by intense, vibrant red as the primary field, creating a bold, fiery overall presence. Horizontal and vertical squeegee drags produce streaked, blurred passages, with accents of green, hints of blue/gray, and subtle yellow or other undertones emerging through the layers. The surface shows dynamic texture—scraped veils, drips, and accretions—giving a sense of depth and movement, as if the red is pulsating or dissolving. It has a luminous yet veiled quality, typical of Richter's mature abstractions where color and gesture suggest something obscured or in flux.
Comparison to the series 747-1 to 747-4 (all 1991): These works belong to the same tight numeric sequence in Richter's catalogue raisonné (nos. 747-1 through 748-x), painted in 1991 during a highly productive phase of his squeegee abstractions. They share the core technique: multi-layered oil dragged with a squeegee to create chance harmonies and conflicts in color and form.
- The 747 series (especially 747-1, which has been highlighted in auctions and exhibitions for its rich red hues and dynamic surface) often features bold chromatic intensity similar to 748-5, with dominant reds or warm palettes, layered drags producing vertical/horizontal veils, and a sense of energetic motion or "calculated chaos."
- 748-5 appears as a continuation or variant within this close-knit group, maintaining the red-dominant palette but potentially with distinct variations in the balance of accents (e.g., more prominent green/teal undertones visible in scraped areas) or the rhythm of the squeegee pulls.
- Overall similarities across 747-1 to -4 and into 748-5 include vibrant, high-contrast layering; no overt figuration; and an immersive, atmospheric effect. Differences arise from Richter's iterative process—each canvas varies in how much underlying color is revealed or obscured, the direction/intensity of drags, and subtle tonal shifts, making 748-5 feel like a refined evolution within the same chromatic and gestural family.
1991 Large Vase of Flowers by Koons
2024 SOLD for $ 8.2M by Christie's
After the great success of his two breakthrough exhibitions, Statuary in 1986 and Banality in 1988, Jeff Koons appreciates that other figures or toys much stylized and disproportionately enlarged will have a considerable impact on the public. That deliberate kitsch assault on taste is intended to please the bourgeois.
Large Vase of Flowers, a polychromed wood 132 x 110 x 110 cm, was edited in 1991 in three units plus one artist's proof in a top European sculpture craftsmanship. The kitsch effect is brought by large size, cartoonish exaggeration and buoyant colors.
The 1/3 was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on November 10, 2009, lot 8. The artist's proof was sold for $ 8.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 21, 2024, lot 11B.
The Made in Heaven exhibition was held simultaneously from November 1991 in Cologne and New York. The artist's proof was exhibited in Cologne. Heaven was an attempt to stage Adam and Eve in a lush surrounding of flowers through pictures of explicit sex of the artist with his risque newlywed wife Cicciolina. In that sense Koons' vase of flowers is an appeal for procreation.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 22, 2024
After lively bidding in the room and on the phones, Jeff Koons’ institutionally celebrated and critically acclaimed ‘Large Vase of Flowers’ blooms, achieving US$8,230,000 during our 21st Century Evening Sale in New York. #2021NY
Large Vase of Flowers, a polychromed wood 132 x 110 x 110 cm, was edited in 1991 in three units plus one artist's proof in a top European sculpture craftsmanship. The kitsch effect is brought by large size, cartoonish exaggeration and buoyant colors.
The 1/3 was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on November 10, 2009, lot 8. The artist's proof was sold for $ 8.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on November 21, 2024, lot 11B.
The Made in Heaven exhibition was held simultaneously from November 1991 in Cologne and New York. The artist's proof was exhibited in Cologne. Heaven was an attempt to stage Adam and Eve in a lush surrounding of flowers through pictures of explicit sex of the artist with his risque newlywed wife Cicciolina. In that sense Koons' vase of flowers is an appeal for procreation.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 22, 2024
After lively bidding in the room and on the phones, Jeff Koons’ institutionally celebrated and critically acclaimed ‘Large Vase of Flowers’ blooms, achieving US$8,230,000 during our 21st Century Evening Sale in New York. #2021NY
- The sale of Jeff Koons' "Large Vase of Flowers" for $8.23 million at Christie's 21st Century Evening Sale in November 2024 reflects a growing market for contemporary art, with Koons' works often fetching high prices due to his innovative use of materials like stainless steel and porcelain, as noted in a 2021 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics on art value drivers.
- This auction occurred amidst a notable shift in the art market, with Artsy's 2025 Art Market Trends report indicating that over 50% of galleries expanded online sales channels by early 2025, suggesting digital platforms influenced the visibility and pricing of pieces like Koons' vase.
- The artwork's vibrant, oversized floral design challenges traditional sculpture norms, aligning with Koons' history of provocative pieces, such as his 2013 "Balloon Dog" sold for $58.4 million, highlighting his ability to blend kitsch with high art, a trend supported by artnet's auction data tracking his consistent market success.
