Andreas Gursky

German, b. 1955

14k followers

Andreas Gursky

Bio

German, b. 1955

Followers
14k
Biography

In his resplendent large-scale photographs, Andreas Gursky captures the modern world, and its landscapes, people, architecture, and industries, in seductive detail. Shot from an elevated perspective and produced on an epic scale, Gursky’s images show the individual or granular—supermarket products, soccer players, windows on a building, or islands in the sea—subsumed by the masses or the environment. Drawing influence from his schooling under Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gursky rigorously composes his expansive views to envelop viewers with dizzying scale, detail, and color—effects he often heightens through digital manipulation. “In the end I decided to digitalize the pictures and leave out elements that bothered me,” he said of his “Rhine” photographs (1999), one of which set the record in late 2011 for the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction. Gursky bears a close comparison to other members of the Dusseldorf School, particularly Thomas Struth, Axel Hütte, and Candida Höfer.

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Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Auction
High auction record
$4m, Christie's, 2011
User
Solo show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 8 more
Group
Group show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 23 more
Institution
Collected by a major institution
Tate, and 1 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
Artforum, and 4 more
Fair
Included in a major biennial
Venice Biennale International Exhibition, and 1 more
Biography

In his resplendent large-scale photographs, Andreas Gursky captures the modern world, and its landscapes, people, architecture, and industries, in seductive detail. Shot from an elevated perspective and produced on an epic scale, Gursky’s images show the individual or granular—supermarket products, soccer players, windows on a building, or islands in the sea—subsumed by the masses or the environment. Drawing influence from his schooling under Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gursky rigorously composes his expansive views to envelop viewers with dizzying scale, detail, and color—effects he often heightens through digital manipulation. “In the end I decided to digitalize the pictures and leave out elements that bothered me,” he said of his “Rhine” photographs (1999), one of which set the record in late 2011 for the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction. Gursky bears a close comparison to other members of the Dusseldorf School, particularly Thomas Struth, Axel Hütte, and Candida Höfer.

Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Auction
High auction record
$4m, Christie's, 2011
User
Solo show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 8 more
Group
Group show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 23 more
Institution
Collected by a major institution
Tate, and 1 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
Artforum, and 4 more
Fair
Included in a major biennial
Venice Biennale International Exhibition, and 1 more
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Articles Featuring Andreas Gursky
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The Big Picture
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