Name: Fence (P13)
Brand: Gerhard Richter
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Gerhard Richter's Fence (P13) (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,900 and £4,400. This digital print, created in 2015, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 5%. This work has an auction history of 27 total sales since its entry to the market on 6th April 2016. In the last 12 months, there have been no sales, however, over the past five years, the hammer price has ranged from £2,199 in July 2022 to £4,960 in September 2020. The average return to the seller for this piece is £2,954. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 500.

Meaning & Analysis

Created by Gerhard Richter in 2015, Fence (P13) is a signed artwork representing the Dresden-born artist’s foray into the medium of digital prints. Coupling an engaging simplicity with technical sophistication, the artwork depicts fragments of a fence against the darkness of a forest. While such details in Richter’s paintings as fences, bridges or solitary buildings usually hint at the human presence, this landscape appears charged with a sense of oblivion and abandonment.

Richter’s most famous digital print is Strip (921-6), a large work composed of thin horizontal strips in various colours. While the 2011 artwork strikes with its spectrum of bold colours, Fence (P13) lacks lively tones entirely. The darkness of the forest behind the fence looms over the scene, endowing it with an eerie dimension. Through the effect of soft blurring, Richter creates an image that goes beyond specific timeframes and topographies. The fragment of a landscape in Fence (P13) confronts the viewer with a unique sense of commonality and timelessness. The artist commented in this context: “Paintings are all the better the more beautiful, intelligent, crazy and extreme, the more clearly perceptible and the less decipherable metaphors they are for this incomprehensible reality”.

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.