The Abstract That Set Gerhard Richter's Auction Record
3 min read · 14 Oct 2025
Abstraktes Bild. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (1986), sold for $46.3m (£30.39m) at Sotheby's in London on February 10, 2015. The oil on canvas work, numbered 599 on the reverse, had been traded three times before.
The last time the painting had been consigned to auction was in May 1999, when it had sold for $607,500 at Sotheby’s New York.
Measuring just over 300cm high, Abstraktes Bild (1986) is one of Richter's largest abstract paintings. It is also regarded as one of his masterworks.
Richter requested that his monumental and many layered work was on extended loan to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, where it hung in the 1990s.
The artist created the abstract by dragging a "squeegee" over an underpainted canvas. In 2012, the filmmaker Corinna Belz was given unique access by Richter to his studio. She recorded the artist, then in his late 70s, creating an abstract painting using a plexiglass squeegee. "It’s a process of building up a situation and then destroying it," Belz said, adding. "It’s also a very emotional thing."
Cathedral Square, Milan. Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The sale beat Richter’s previous auction record by $9.18m, a 24% rise. His previous record was set by Cathedral Square, Milan (1968), which sold for $37.12m at Sotheby's on May 14, 2013. The work had been traded 3 times in the past.
A Brief History of Gerhard Richter at Auction
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015-02-10 | Abstraktes Bild | $46.3m | 25 % | Sotheby's | London |
2013-05-14 | Cathedral Square, Milan | $37.12m | 9 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2012-10-12 | Abstraktes Bild | $34.19m | 57 % | Sotheby's | London |
2012-05-08 | Abstract Painting | $21.81m | 5 % | Christie's | East |
2011-11-09 | Abstract Painting | $20.8m | 26 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2011-10-14 | Candle | $16.48m | 6 % | Christie's | London |
2008-02-27 | Candle | $15.48m | 7 % | Sotheby's | London |
2008-02-06 | Two Couples | $14.52m | 29 % | Christie's | London |
2007-11-13 | Düsenjäger | $11.24m | 81 % | Christie's | New York |
2007-05-16 | Abstract Painting | $6.2m | 12 % | Christie's | New York |
2007-02-07 | Abstraktes Bild | $5.55m | 3 % | Sotheby's | London |
2001-05-15 | Three Candles | $5.4m | 9 % | Sotheby's | New York |
2000-11-15 | Portrait Prof. Zander | $4.96m | 36 % | Christie's | New York |
1998-12-09 | Cathedral Square, Milan | $3.65m | 44 % | Sotheby's | London |
1998-06-03 | Seascape (Contre-jour) | $2.53m | 162 % | Christie's | New York |
1995-11-15 | Barn | $965,000 | 46 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1995-05-02 | Cathedral Corner | $662,500 | 8 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1990-05-09 | Spanish Nudes | $616,000 | 75 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1990-05-07 | Abstract Painting | $352,000 | 39 % | Christie's | New York |
1989-11-07 | Catapult | $253,000 | 110 % | Christie's | New York |
1987-07-03 | Corsica | $120,400 | - | Christie's | London |
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