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Rhein II
Rhein II
Artist	Andreas Gursky
Year	1999
Type	Photograph
Medium	C-print mounted to acrylic glass
Dimensions	190 cm × 360 cm (73 in × 143 in);
Owner	Anonymous

Rhein II is a colour photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999.^[2] In the image, a river (the Lower Rhine) flows horizontally across the field of view, between flat green fields, under an overcast sky.^[3] Extraneous details such as dog walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist using digital editing.^[4]

In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million (then £2.7m), making it the most expensive photograph sold.^[5] Rhein II held the record until 2022, when its price was exceeded by Le Violon d'Ingres.^[6]

Production

The photograph was produced as the second (and largest) of a set of six depicting the river Rhine.^[2] In the image, the Lower Rhine flows horizontally across the field of view, between flat green fields, under an overcast sky.^[3] It was taken near Düsseldorf, at a location Gursky had previously photographed in 1996.^[7] Dissatisfied with his earlier image, Gursky "thought about whether I ought perhaps to change my viewpoint ... In the end I decided to digitalise the pictures and leave out the elements that bothered me".^[7]

Extraneous details such as dog walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist using digital editing.^[4] Justifying this manipulation of the image, Gursky said "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine cannot be obtained in situ, a fictitious construction was required to provide an accurate image of a modern river."^[8] Gursky produced a very large chromogenic colour print of the photograph, mounted it onto acrylic glass, and then placed it in a frame.^[8] The image itself measures 73 by 143 inches (190 cm × 360 cm), while the frame measures 81 by 151 inches (210 cm × 380 cm).^[1]

Reception and sale

The print was originally acquired by the Galerie Monika Sprüth in Cologne, and subsequently bought by an anonymous German collector.^[1] The collector sold the print by auction at Christie's New York on 8 November 2011, who estimated it would fetch a price of $2.5–3.5m.^[1] It actually sold for $4,338,500^[1] (then about £2.7m); the identity of the buyer has not been revealed.^[4]

The work has been described by arts writer Florence Waters in The Daily Telegraph as a "vibrant, beautiful and memorable – I should say unforgettable – contemporary twist on [...] the romantic landscape"^[9] and by journalist Maev Kennedy in The Guardian as "a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies".^[4]

Public collections

Gursky's fifth print of the photograph, which is identical but slightly smaller at 156.4 cm × 308.3 cm (61.6 in × 121.4 in), was acquired in 2000 by Tate, a British group of art museums.^[7] It remains in their collection but is not on public display.^[7] Another print of the same size is held at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York; it is also not on public display.^[10]