Sale: 540 / Evening Sale, June 09. 2023 in Munich Lot 34


34
Katharina Grosse
Ohne Titel, 2000.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimate:
€ 150,000 / $ 165,000
Sold:
€ 304,800 / $ 335,280

(incl. surcharge)
Ohne Titel. 2000.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed, dated and inscribed with the work number "2000/1031L" on the reverse. 200 x 285 cm (78.7 x 112.2 in).

• Large-size work made in Grosse's characteristic spray technique.
• Radiant colors – displaying the entire range of nuances of red.
• In 2017, the acclaimed Gagosian Gallery, New York, signed Katharina Grosse.
• Currently, the Kunstmuseum Bern honors Katahrina Grosse with a grand solo show (3/3/2023 - 6/25/2023)
.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Conrads, Düsseldorf.
Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia (acquired from the above).

"It's not like a picture is just there and it is doing something. It only becomes alive through our affection, our interest and curiosity."
Katharina Grosse, quoted from: NZZ, March 11, 2023.

Katharina Grosse, who graduated from the art academies in Münster and Düsseldorf, where she studied under Gotthard Graubner, is described as a "philosophical graffiti artist". Her paintings are not based on compositions and solely determined by the color. She rarely touches a brush, instead Grosse uses an industrial spray gun to apply the paint onto all sorts of surfaces with amazing skill and inventiveness. It has been her preferred tool since 1998, helping her to develop new forms of expression. Grosse uses aerosol, a gas to which she adds color pigments. The result is a silky, transparent application of the paint with soft transitions, which can appear flowing and dripping as well as wafting like a breeze. In this way, Grosse realizes color gradations of a particular subtlety. She uncouples the application of paint from the painterly craftsmanship by letting the paint act on its own. Grosse works intuitively, following the path the pictures take her, gets carried away on her voyage. She liberates painting from the primacy of things, it depicts nothing, makes no reference to reality. The painting solely consists of itself. The sprayed works are abstract, spontaneous gestures that form amorphous appearances. The spontaneity is an expression of the inability to plan the creative process, due to the fact that the application of paint and the extent of the paint cannot be controlled as precisely as a brushstroke. Each color stands alone and remains present through the layering of the wafer-thin coats. To this day, Katharina Grosse wants to give a voice to her painting, a right to have a say. In the present work from 2000, it is red tones in all possible nuances that move across the canvas in color mists, nuanced by a few blue and yellow tones. The application of paint thrives on an exciting alternation, the wide brushstrokes in expansive swings are overlaid by clouds of color and flowing color cascades. The color as a material undulates, flows and wafts. The color immediately enters our consciousness before we even think about it. Grosse is convinced of the timeless, existential power of color, which is immediately transferred to the viewer and becomes a physical experience. In the year of its creation, Katharina Grosse was nominated for the Nationalgaleries's first prize for young art, together with Olafur Eliasson, Christian Jankowski and Dirk Skreber – who ultimately won. This prize is intended to promote young, important positions in contemporary art that reflect the internationality and vibrancy of the German art scene and have already gained importance through new artistic approaches. Today, Katharina Grosse is one of the most distinguished painters of international, abstract contemporary art. [SM]



34
Katharina Grosse
Ohne Titel, 2000.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimate:
€ 150,000 / $ 165,000
Sold:
€ 304,800 / $ 335,280

(incl. surcharge)