{{Short description|Photograph by Andreas Gurksy}} {{Use British English|date=November 2011}} {{Infobox artwork | image_file = Rhein II.jpg | caption = | painting_alignment = | image_size = 350px | title = Rhein II | alt = A photograph of the Lower Rhine river flowing horizontally through green fields under an overcast sky in Germany | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | other_language_2 = | other_title_2 = | artist = Andreas Gursky | year = 1999 | type = Photograph | medium = C-print mounted to acrylic glass | height_metric = | width_metric = | length_metric = | height_imperial = 73 | width_imperial = 143 | length_imperial = | diameter_metric = | diameter_imperial = | dimensions = <ref name=christies/> | metric_unit = cm<!--don't leave this parameter blank—either don't include it, or include the default cm. Not including it will default it to cm.--> | imperial_unit = in<!--don't leave this parameter blank—either don't include it, or include the default in. Not including it will default it to in.--> | city = | museum = | coordinates = <!-- Only use for the exact coordinates of the artwork itself (and only where known) and not for the coordinates of the museum. Leave blank if coordinates are not known. --> | owner = Anonymous }}
'''''Rhein II''''' is a colour photograph made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999.<ref name="bbc"/> In the image, a river (the Lower Rhine) flows horizontally across the field of view, between flat green fields, under an overcast sky.<ref name=time/> Extraneous details such as dog walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist using digital editing.<ref name="guardian"/>
In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million (then £2.7m), making it the most expensive photograph sold.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abad-Santos |first=Alexander |date=2011-11-09 |title=The Most Expensive Photo in the World |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/11/most-expensive-photo-world/335687/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> ''Rhein II'' held the record until 2022, when its price was exceeded by ''Le Violon d'Ingres''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Villa |first=Angelica |date=2022-05-14 |title=Man Ray’s Famed Photograph of Kiki de Montparnasse Sells for Record $12.4 M. |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/man-rays-famed-photograph-of-kiki-de-montparnasse-sells-for-record-12-4-m-1234628663/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Production== The photograph was produced as the second (and largest) of a set of six depicting the river Rhine.<ref name="bbc"/> In the image, the Lower Rhine flows horizontally across the field of view, between flat green fields, under an overcast sky.<ref name=time/> It was taken near Düsseldorf, at a location Gursky had previously photographed in 1996.<ref name=tate/> 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".<ref name=tate/>
Extraneous details such as dog walkers and a factory building were removed by the artist using digital editing.<ref name="guardian"/> 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."<ref name=telegraph/> Gursky produced a very large chromogenic colour print of the photograph, mounted it onto acrylic glass, and then placed it in a frame.<ref name=telegraph/> The image itself measures {{convert|73|x|143|in|cm}}, while the frame measures {{convert|81|x|151|in|cm}}.<ref name=christies/>
==Reception and sale== The print was originally acquired by the Galerie Monika Sprüth in Cologne, and subsequently bought by an anonymous German collector.<ref name=christies/> 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.<ref name=christies/> It actually sold for $4,338,500<ref name=christies/> (then about £2.7m); the identity of the buyer has not been revealed.<ref name="guardian"/>
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"<ref name=waters/> and by journalist Maev Kennedy in ''The Guardian'' as "a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies".<ref name=guardian/>
==Public collections== Gursky's fifth print of the photograph, which is identical but slightly smaller at {{convert|156.4|x|308.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}, was acquired in 2000 by Tate, a British group of art museums.<ref name=tate/> It remains in their collection but is not on public display.<ref name="tate">{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Rachel |title='The Rhine II', Andreas Gursky, 1999 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gursky-the-rhine-ii-p78372 |publisher=Tate |access-date=23 November 2020 |date=February 2004}}</ref> Another print of the same size is held at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York; it is also not on public display.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/88067 |title= Andreas Gursky. Rhine II. 1999 |publisher=Museum of Modern Art, New York |access-date=12 February 2021}}</ref>
==See also== * List of most expensive photographs
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name=guardian>{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Maev|authorlink=Maev Kennedy|title=Andreas Gursky's Rhine II photograph sells for $4.3m|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph?newsfeed=true|accessdate=13 November 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 November 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|title=Andreas Gursky's Rhein II sets photo record|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15689652|accessdate=13 November 2011|newspaper=BBC News|date=11 November 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=time>{{cite news|last=Skarda|first=Erin|title=And Here's the Most Expensive Photograph in the World|url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/11/and-heres-the-most-expensive-photograph-in-the-world/|access-date=13 November 2011|newspaper=Time|date=11 November 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|last=Waters|first=Florence|title=Photograph by Andreas Gursky breaks auction record|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8883330/Photograph-by-Andreas-Gursky-breaks-auction-record.html|accessdate=13 November 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=11 November 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=christies>{{cite web|title=Sale 2480 / Lot 44|url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5496716|publisher=Christie's|accessdate=13 November 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=waters>{{cite news|last=Waters|first=Florence|title=Why is Andreas Gursky's Rhine II the most expensive photograph?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8884829/Why-is-Andreas-Gurskys-Rhine-II-the-most-expensive-photograph.html|accessdate=13 November 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=11 November 2011}}</ref>
}}
==External links== * [http://www.andreasgursky.com/en/works/1999/rhein-2 Andreas Gursky | works - Rhine II]
{{Andreas Gursky}} {{Authority control}} Category:Color photographs Category:Rhine Category:Photographs by Andreas Gursky Category:Landscape photographs Category:1999 photographs Category:Photographs in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Category:Photographs in the Tate galleries