Mirror, glass and light
Adolf Luther’s art captures motion, unites the internal and the external into a new whole, and blends spatial facts with layers of distortion and multiplication. Luther’s objects are expansive games of perception that invite the viewer to discover each one individually.
Adolf Luther’s reflective objects are popular items at Dorotheum auctions, and in past years many works have been sold successfully. A kinetic reflective relief as well as two concave reflective objects led the way in 2015, achieving outstanding results.
Spherical concave mirror object, price realised at Dorotheum € 125.000
The upcoming Contemporary Art Auction on 1st June 2016 will count two mirror objects by Luther among its top lots.
The items by this member of the Düsseldorf-based ZERO-group boldly bear the name “Luther”. They unmistakeably illustrate the artist’s impulse to make visible the realities that lie beyond the boundaries of perception.
Adolf Luther (born on 25th April 1912 in Uerdingen, died 20th September 1990 in Krefeld, Germany) was active as a judge up until the end of the 1950s, when he finally devoted himself fully to art. Perhaps it is due to this rational, legalistic outlook on the world that Luther took such a unique, scientific approach to art – an approach that forms a relationship between technical process and physical appearance.
A self-taught artist, Luther turned away from the medium of flat canvas towards the physical phenomenon of light. He thus coined the term “light artist;” his paintbrush was metal, glass, mirrors, lenses, smoke, and laser beams, and rooms and spectators were his canvas. Independent of the artist, his works develop new dimensions according to where and how they are hung and how the spectator approaches them. It is therefore worth visiting the auction preview (starting on the 21st May in the Palais Dorotheum in Vienna) to view the two works on offer in all their facets, as photos of Luther’s unique work can rarely do the real thing justice.
On his 100th birthday, which Luther never lived to see, his light “phenomena” suddenly underwent an international renaissance on the art market, one that has continued to rise in his favour ever since.
ZERO art is in demand like never before and is strongly represented at Dorotheum by a number of artists. Works by Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, and Günther Uecker, among others, will feature in the major auction of Contemporary Art on the 1st June.
Contemporary Art Auction Part 1
Wednesday 1st June, 6pm
Palais Dorotheum, Vienna
Contemporary Art Auction Part 2
Thursday 2nd June, 5pm
Palais Dorotheum, Vienna
Our Client Advisory Service would be happy to answer any further questions about the auction.
Tel +43-1-515 60-570, Fax -489
client.services@dorotheum.at