Beschreibung:

Andreas Gursky Hong Kong Stock Exchange (diptych) 1994 two colour coupler prints each: 180 × 250 cm (70 7/8 × 98 3/8 in) Each signed, titled, numbered and dated ‘Hong Kong Stock Exchange ’94 A.Gursky A.P.’ on the reverse. This work is an artist’s proof from the edition of six.
Provenance Saatchi Collection, London 11 Duke Street, London Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, ‘Contemporary Art I’, 12 May 2005, lot 53 Acquired from the above sale by the present owner Exhibited Malmö, Rooseum-Center for Contemporary Art, Andreas Gursky 25 March–14 May 1995, n.p. (another example exhibited; illustrated) Tate Gallery Liverpool, Andreas Gursky Images, July 1–27 August 1995 (another example exhibited; illustrated on exhibition flyer), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Winterthur Fotomuseum, London, Serpentine Gallery, Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Turin, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Lisbon, Centro Cultural de Belém, Andreas Gursky Fotografien 1994–1998, May 1998–December 1998, pp. 58, 59 no. 56 (another example exhibited; illustrated) Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Andreas Gursky Photographs from 1984 to the present, August 29 – October 18, 1998, pp. 58-59, no. 56 (another example exhibited, illustrated) New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andreas Gursky March 4 – May 15, 2001, pp.132–33 (another example; illustrated) Donaueschingenm, Fürstenberg Sammlungen, Ahead of the 21st Century: the Pisces Collection, June 2002–October 2004, pp. 92–93, no. 66 (illustrated) Literature P. Amsellem and L. Nittve, eds., Andreas Gursky Malmö, 1995, n.p. (illustrated) C. Hagen, Art in Review, “Andreas Gursky” The New York Times, February 13,1995 U. Grosenick, ed., Andreas Gursky Fotografien 1994-1998, Wolfsburg, 1998-2000, PP. 10-11 (illustrated) M.L. Syring, ed., Andreas Gursky Photographs from 1984 to the present, Munich, 1998, pp. 58-59, no 56 (illustrated) L. Cooke, R. Pfab and M.L. Syring, Andreas Gursky Fotografien 1984 bis heute, Munich, 1998, pp. 56-57 (illustrated) D. Galloway, “The Cool Conceptualist” Artnews, February 2001, vol 100, no. 2, p. 139 (illustrated) U. Grosenick, ed., Ahead of the 21th Century: the pisces collection, Ostfildern-Ruit, 2002, pp. 92- 93, no. 66 (illustrated) D. Aaronson, ed., Photography transformed\; the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Collection, New York, 2002, pp. 102-103 (illustrated) M. Hentschel, ed, Andreas Gursky Arbeten – Works 80-08, Ostfildern, 2008, pp. 126-127 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay “Vision is an intelligent form of thought.’’ ANDREAS GURSKY “Andreas Gursky’s best pictures of the past decade knock your socks off and they’re meant to. They’re big, bold, full of colour and full of surprise. As each delivers its punch, the viewer is already wondering where it came from – and will continue to enjoy the seduction of surprise long after scrutinizing the picture in detail.” (Peter Galassi, Andreas Gursky New York, 2001, p.9) Hong Kong Stock Exchange, from 1994 is a monumental photographic diptych by the internationally renowned artist Andreas Gursky Striking, thought- provoking and artfully constructed; the artist’s iconic photographs astutely render the nature of contemporary globalization. Gursky portrays the post-modern structures of a civilized world. It is through this process that he questions the properties of our contemporary existence. Inevitably, Gursky’s poetic photographic depiction of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is preoccupied with capitalist society and the systems of exchange that form it. The work subtly scrutinizes the manifestations of the growing global economy. In Gursky’s work, it is no longer modernity that is the powerful force instilling its presence within society. Instead, this pivotal photograph reveals the nature of a humanity trapped by the perpetually shifting economic structures of the world. The present lot is an important work in Gursky’s career. It is impossible to absorb Gursky’s epic photographs in a single glance and time needs to be spent examining all of the exquisite details that Gursky captures. The fragments, which make up an overwhelming whole, reveal a fundamental tension between the minute and the monumental, the microcosmic and macrocosm. This dichotomy induces a continuous shift in focus and these