It is true that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, but the photo that was sold at auction at Christie’s was worth million dollars! A photograph entitled “Rhein II” which was taken by a German artist named Andreas Gursky flaunting the Rhine river has sold for $4.3 million dollars at the auction set in New York City at Christie’s last Tuesday.
But what is exactly in the Rhine river that a single photo of it draw an unveil buyer in million dollars?
Rhine river, as you may know or if you want to know, is one of the longest and important rivers in Europe which flows from Grisons in the eastern Swiss Alps to the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. It’s not only a river, because this Rhine river is actually linked to many historical events- particularly martials, even as myths; and to name some:
- it serves as ‘Rhine border’, the natural border during the war between France and Germany.
- a poem and song “The Watch on the Rhine” was composed which is used for calling defense of the western bank of the Rhine against France and became popular during the World War I and was used in the movie Casablanca.
- a book “A Bridge Too Far” and a movie “The Bridge at Remagen” existed because of the river.
- there’s an epic poem entitled “Nibelungenlied”, tells the saga of Sigurd and the golden treasure was thrown at the Rhine river, and later became an opera named “Das Rheingold.”
- many historic castles are located along the Rhine river.
The “Rhein II” which had a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million has the chromogenic color print face mounted to acrylic gl(–foul word(s) removed–) and was the record-breaking photo sold at an auction.
Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled” was the previous record holder for the price of $3.8 million dollars in May.
