Name: Halfmannshof
Brand: Gerhard Richter
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Gerhard Richter's Halfmannshof (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,950 and £4,450. This lithograph print, created in 1968, has shown consistent value growth. The artwork has an auction history of six total sales since its entry to the market on 14th June 2012. Over the past 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £2,544 in February 2025 to £4,296 in June 2021. The average annual growth rate of this piece is -9%. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 150.

Meaning & Analysis

Halfmannshof is a signed, offset lithograph by internationally renowned German painter, Gerhard Richter. Released in an edition of 150, the artwork attests to Richter’s longstanding concern with the relationship between art, memory, and time.

Rendered in monochrome, Halfmannshof confronts the viewer with a blurred picture of two dimly visible houses. The titular Halfmannshof refers to a farm in Essen, Germany. Based on a photograph taken from a moving train by Richter, the artwork does not depict the place named in the title. The tension between the title and the representation captures the artist’s grappling with the impossibility of fully restoring the memory of people and places. The artist teases the viewer to approach the photographic image as a testimony to physical space and personal experience. Ultimately, the picture does not betray anything specific or personal about the depicted space. Instead, it strikes us with a sense of oblivion and anonymity.

The problem of memory has been key to Richter’s works, including the Atlas series, his ongoing collection of photographs and newspaper clippings, and October 18, 1977, a series of paintings commemorating the members of a German left-wing terrorist group. Created in 1968, Halfmannshof anticipates the key motifs and concerns of Richter’s most famous works.

Hailing from Germany, Gerhard Richter has not been confined to one visual style. A testament to versatility and artistic diversity, Richter's work spans from photorealism to abstraction and conceptual art, and his portfolio is rich in varied media. From creating bold canvases to working on glass to distort the lines between wall-based art and sculpture, Richter has honed in on the blur technique to impart an ambiguity on his creations. To this day, Richter is one of the most recognised artists of the 20th century with his art having been presented in exhibitions worldwide. His global impact underscores his legacy as a trailblazer of artistic exploration.