Sale: 520 / Evening Sale, June 18. 2021 in Munich Lot 328

 

328
Günther Uecker
Energiefeld, 2009.
Nails, white paint on canvas, on panel
Estimate:
€ 500,000 / $ 540,000
Sold:
€ 1,285,000 / $ 1,387,800

(incl. surcharge)
Energiefeld. 2009.
Nails, white paint on canvas, on panel.
Signed, dated, titled and with a direction arrow on the reverse. 120 x 200 x 16 cm (47.2 x 78.7 x 6.2 in).

• Exceptionally large and impressive landscape format - unprecedented on the international auction market.
• "Energiefelder" are extremely rare in Uecker's work, they stand for power and energy.
• Uecker specified the perfect height for mounting with a distance of 107.5 cm between floor and lower edge
.

This work is registered at the Uecker Archive with the number GU.09.031 and is earmarked for inclusion into the forthcoming Uecker catalog raisonné.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Germany.

"If you view my works you will notice that they obtain their reality through light. Their intensity changes with the light incidence and the observer's perspective. These objects call for activity through which they become vital."
Günther Uecker, quote after: Dieter Honisch/Museum Folkwang Essen (editor): Lenk, Mack, Pfahler, Uecker, XXXV Biennale di Venezia. Padiglione Tedesco, Stuttgart 1970, edition "Uecker", p. 4.

"My body played a role for the proportions of my works right from the start. The spacing of the nails, for example, which I use as a means of articulating light, had its origin in the proportions of my hands."
(Günther Uecker 1977, quote from Günther Uecker - Eine Retrospektive, ex. cat., Munich 1993, no page).

Günther Uecker’s energetic nail fields are always fascinating. These characteristic works have a dynamic energy that puts us under its spell over and over again. Uecker's unique artistic creations, whose formal restraint and monochrome rigor was increasingly broken up from the 1980s onward, repeatedly evoke new associations, which are also supported by the accompanying titles. The "Energiefeld" from 2009 is characterized by an impressive vibrancy and presence and is reminiscent of swirls of iron filings in a magnetic field. The whole work stands for energy and strength and at the same time possesses a contemplative beauty.

When looking at it one enters into interaction with the work: When strolling along the field of nails a fascinating movement and dynamic is set in motion. The imposing large-format composition allows us to immerse ourselves in the work of art. It is particularly convincing for the dense and powerful center that gently flows out to the edges, it is energetic and at the same time poetic. The "Energiefeld" flows in a gentle wave motion. Work and observer enter into a dialog: Action results in counter-action. The static danger owed to the material is dissolved by the movement of the viewer and the play of light and shadow. A visual dynamic begins, a fascination one cannot escape. Despite the massiveness of the material, the play of light and shadow on the surface of Uecker's creations makes them appear mesmerizing and weightless, while the dense entanglement of the nail heads ads rhythm to the creation. Uecker's nail pictures, which are considered the most important and most sought-after works by the artist, transform the violent process of creation into beauty. In a physically strenuous method Uecker drives carpenter's nails into the wood. Every nail corresponds to the previous one. The artist does not determine the direction they will take beforehand. A mystical, virtually divine power seems to bring the nails into order, seems to guide their inclination. Nevertheless, Uecker creates his work with great attention to detail. The artist himself arranged the "Energiefeld" in a perfect position at its owners by defining a perfect height for viewing with a distance of 107.5 cm from the floor to the bottom edge. This is how the composition works best and unfolds its full fascination. In terms of origin and effect, Uecker's powerful and poetic creations bring balance to seemingly opposites, they merge action and contemplation, calm and movement into a fascinating artistic whole with a powerful beauty. [SM]



328
Günther Uecker
Energiefeld, 2009.
Nails, white paint on canvas, on panel
Estimate:
€ 500,000 / $ 540,000
Sold:
€ 1,285,000 / $ 1,387,800

(incl. surcharge)