Mel Bochner’s Blah, Blah, Blah, Work by Gerhard Richter Lead Phillips’ Upcoming Editions & Works on Paper Sale

As one of America’s greatest conceptual artists, Mel Bochner has developed groundbreaking pieces by analyzing photography, painting, and sculpture, intellectually and materially. For most of his career, the artist was involved in exploring the interplay between linguistics and visual representation. A significant part of this investigation is the thesaurus paintings he produced. This series of paintings features lists of synonyms arranged in colorful palettes, often with a singular word repeated in painterly capitals. This upcoming Editions & Works on Paper sale, offered by Phillips, will feature Mel Bochner’s seminal monoprint with collage, titled Blah, Blah, Blah. This quintessential work by Mel Bochner combines the artificial with the organic elements of art and language. Reading and looking, as well as representation and abstraction, are woven into the work. 

Schwarz, Rot, Gold III (Black, Red, Gold III) by German artist Gerhard Richter also leads the listings. In Richter’s oeuvre, abstraction has recurred across all styles. By incorporating photography effects into his abstractions and figurative works, he explores the relationship between painting and photography. Berlin’s German Bundestag commissioned this edition to coincide with Black, Red, and Gold. To view the catalog and register to bid online in the upcoming Editions & Works on Paper sale, visit Phillips auction.