A painting with only a white background by artist Robert Ryman was hammered for $1.29 million.
The figure, which included taxes and fees, fell short of the $1.5 million estimate, according to the Ketterer Kunst auction house in Berlin, Germany. The painting was created in 1970 using white enamel and modified enamel on a cotton canvas. The two paints create a fragile surface, so Ketterer Kunst did not ship the painting for display before the sale.
"Even the smallest scratch on this perfect surface can devalue the piece," the unit said.
Ms. Simone Wichmann - an expert at Ketterer Kunst - commented that white helps viewers easily see light, movement and structure of materials, helping them ''become creators of art''.
Robert Ryman (1930-2019) was a minimalist painter. He was born in Nashville, USA. He studied at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute and George Peabody Teachers College, then served in the US Army before moving to New York in 1953.
Ryman, a jazz musician by training, began painting as a hobby after working as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. With no formal training, Robert Ryman created highly valuable works of art and is one of the most respected artists of his generation.
He is best known for his paintings on white backgrounds. Answer Art News In 1986, he said: ''White is just a means to expose other elements.'' Curator Robert Storr commented: 'In the same way that he makes every element of a work of art visible, he also wishes to make the world more beautiful through the presence of that painting.''
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