Skip to main content

Reinhard Görner

German, b. 1950
Libraries are both shelters and places of escape. It is this feeling that German photographer Reinhard Görner has been exploring for many years, in search of the most beautiful and solemn reading rooms around the world. Intimate libraries nestled in the heart of secluded abbeys or grandiose halls of prestigious universities, for the German artist, these rooms are an inexhaustible reservoir of inspiration. Let yourself be transported through architectures, styles and eras in this portrait of Reinhard Görner, a self-taught artist with a multifaceted and contagious passion. As an architectural photographer, Reinhard worked for many years for architects before deciding to focus on his passion. His goal is to explore how the great masters of architecture have created spaces that breathe beauty and silence by playing with shadows, light, proportions, rhythms. He quickly discovered that libraries have always been and still are wonderful playgrounds for architects, allowing them to focus on the question of form and emptiness: "I see myself as an ambassador trying to convey the spirit of these builders with my photographic means". The artist photographed and fell in love with his first library in 2005, as he was working with architect Sir Norman Foster and captured the philological library of Berlin’s Frei Universität. Since then, the cathedral-like atmosphere of New York’s Rose main reading room made a long-lasting impact on the artist and he started to intensify his documentation of libraries across the world. Görner’s photographs seek to convey the impact architecture has on our awareness of life : the libraries he captures open spaces, tell stories and refer to a time when one’s sense of aestethics and sense of space were identical. Görner’s photos refer to the vastness great architecture has been celebrating throughout history, bringing to mind historical periods where beauty and tranquility meet. His work pays a tribute to the Becher art school. Like other disciples’ – Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Candida Höfer – Görner’s work is strictly conceptual, combined with a fine technical approach. All their works demonstrate the same fascination for typology and record the heritage of the western cultural and industrial past.
(Biography provided by K plus Y Gallery)
Average Sold Price
$6,950
Styles
Materials
Related Artists
Biblioteca Ortopedica, Bologna, Italy
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Biblioteca Ortopedica Bologna, Italy 2022 A view of the main table and globe of the main scientific library in the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, named for Italian King Umberto I. The vista is framed between echoing frescoed arched ceilings, cases of scientific volumes, and geometric floor. These sixteenth-century rooms, where the books of the Olivetani Monks were kept, are located in the ancient complex of San Michele in Bosco. They were transformed into an orthopaedic hospital at the end of the nineteenth century. The library holds an important scientific collection...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Palazzo Zenobio I
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner, with his large format photographs orchestrates the monumentality of historical architecture, gardens, and masterpieces. An act...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

Archival Pigment

Biblioteca Classense, Ravenna
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Biblioteca Classense Ravenna, Italy 2022 62.5 x 50 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 75 x 60 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 87 x 70 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso The...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Biblioteca Classense, Ravenna
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Biblioteca Classense Ravenna, Italy 2022 62.5 x 50 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 75 x 60 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 87 x 70 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso The...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Sala dei Fiumi I (Hall of Rivers), Ducal Palace of Mantua
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Embark on a visual journey into the heart of Italian architectural grandeur with Reinhard Görner's 2022 photograph, Sala dei Fiumi I. This breathtaking image captures the impressive "Hall of the Rivers" within the Ducal Palace of Mantua, a historic complex recognized as the sixth largest palace in Europe. Built between the 14th and the 17th century by the noble Gonzaga family, the Ducal Palace of Mantua serves as a testament to Italy's rich architectural heritage and royal history. The palace complex, featuring an impressive assortment of more than 500 rooms, corridors, galleries, inner courts, and extensive gardens, spans an area of approximately 34,000 m2. While the palace is widely recognized for Mantegna's frescos in the Camera degli Sposi (Wedding Room), the Sala dei Fiumi offers its unique allure. Created during the Habsburg rule in Mantua, this hall showcases distinctive wall paintings where the rivers of the Mantuan territory are anthropomorphized as giants. Reinhard Görner's photograph is more than a visual delight; it's a historical journey into Italy's cultural past. Ideal for art enthusiasts, history lovers, and those with a keen eye for architectural beauty, this piece promises to enhance any collection. Allow the grandeur of the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova and the majesty of the Sala dei Fiumi to resonate within your space with this stunning image. signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner records cultural and industrial heritage through his series of photographs depicting contemporary and historical architecture, landscapes, parks, and plants. Best known for his photographs of libraries and reading rooms from around the world—in works such as George Peabody Library II, Baltimore (2017) and Riggs Library I, Washington DC (2017)—Görner captures the atmosphere of absolute silence and concentration the spaces embody while also revealing their almost cathedral-like sense of grandeur. Görner’s images have a vivid sense of depth and dimension that convey an impression of intimacy, as in Isaac Newton, Cambridge (2017), or monumentality via his precise and skilful use of framing and perspective. Reinhard Görner, with his large format photographs orchestrates the monumentality of rooms. An active architecture photographer since 1985, is a master of perspectives and precise spatial compositions, and he thus considers classical sculpture, in all of its possible facets, a special challenge. "Görner’s photographs sometimes open the doors to another world and take the viewer with them on a journey through time. Here the palace is no longer a museum but both royal residence and a site steeped in history. The viewer does not have to share the halls with the masses of visitors; instead the images offer him exclusive impressions of the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) and the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles) as even the king of France was probably never granted. The halls are empty of people, yet they seem to be able to unfurl their individual characters of their own accord. These places practically breathe history, and this aspect is also part of the essence captured in the photographs. King Wilhelm of Prussia was named German Emperor Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors after France was defeated in 1870–1871 in the Franco-German War. The Treaty of Versailles following World War I was also signed there in 1919. In this sense, the architectural photographs of Versailles...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Sala dei Fiumi I (Hall of Rivers), Ducal Palace of Mantua, Italy
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Embark on a visual journey into the heart of Italian architectural grandeur with Reinhard Görner's 2022 photograph, Sala dei Fiumi I. This breathtaking image captures the impressive "Hall of the Rivers" within the Ducal Palace of Mantua, a historic complex recognized as the sixth largest palace in Europe. Built between the 14th and the 17th century by the noble Gonzaga family, the Ducal Palace of Mantua serves as a testament to Italy's rich architectural heritage and royal history. The palace complex, featuring an impressive assortment of more than 500 rooms, corridors, galleries, inner courts, and extensive gardens, spans an area of approximately 34,000 m2. While the palace is widely recognized for Mantegna's frescos in the Camera degli Sposi (Wedding Room), the Sala dei Fiumi offers its unique allure. Created during the Habsburg rule in Mantua, this hall showcases distinctive wall paintings where the rivers of the Mantuan territory are anthropomorphized as giants. Reinhard Görner's photograph is more than a visual delight; it's a historical journey into Italy's cultural past. Ideal for art enthusiasts, history lovers, and those with a keen eye for architectural beauty, this piece promises to enhance any collection. Allow the grandeur of the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova and the majesty of the Sala dei Fiumi to resonate within your space with this stunning image. signed and numbered on label, verso Reinhard Görner records cultural and industrial heritage through his series of photographs depicting contemporary and historical architecture, landscapes, parks, and plants. Best known for his photographs of libraries and reading rooms from around the world—in works such as George Peabody Library II, Baltimore (2017) and Riggs Library I, Washington DC (2017)—Görner captures the atmosphere of absolute silence and concentration the spaces embody while also revealing their almost cathedral-like sense of grandeur. Görner’s images have a vivid sense of depth and dimension that convey an impression of intimacy, as in Isaac Newton, Cambridge (2017), or monumentality via his precise and skilful use of framing and perspective. Reinhard Görner, with his large format photographs orchestrates the monumentality of rooms. An active architecture photographer since 1985, is a master of perspectives and precise spatial compositions, and he thus considers classical sculpture, in all of its possible facets, a special challenge. "Görner’s photographs sometimes open the doors to another world and take the viewer with them on a journey through time. Here the palace is no longer a museum but both royal residence and a site steeped in history. The viewer does not have to share the halls with the masses of visitors; instead the images offer him exclusive impressions of the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) and the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles) as even the king of France was probably never granted. The halls are empty of people, yet they seem to be able to unfurl their individual characters of their own accord. These places practically breathe history, and this aspect is also part of the essence captured in the photographs. King Wilhelm of Prussia was named German Emperor Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors after France was defeated in 1870–1871 in the Franco-German War. The Treaty of Versailles following World War I was also signed there in 1919. In this sense, the architectural photographs of Versailles...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Biblioteca Classense, Ravenna
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Biblioteca Classense Ravenna, Italy 2022 62.5 x 50 inches ed. of 10 $6,000 75 x 60 inches ed. of 7 $9,000 87 x 70 inches ed. of 5 $11,000 signed and numbered on label, verso The sunlit entrance to the Sala delle scienze e delle arti (Hall of sciences and arts) with the bust of Teresa Gamba (Lord Byron’s lover) in background. The vista is framed by a rhythmic repetition of gleaming wooden doorways and archways, housing shelves of antique tomes. Reinhard Görner records cultural and industrial heritage through his series of photographs depicting contemporary and historical architecture, landscapes, parks, and plants. Best known for his photographs of libraries and reading rooms from around the world—in works such as George Peabody Library...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

Lambda, C Print

Biblioteca Piccolomini, SIenna, Italy
By Reinhard Görner
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Biblioteca Piccolomini Siena, Italy 2022 Immerse yourself in the grandeur of history and art with this captivating photograph of the Biblioteca Piccolomini by acclaimed photographer...
Category

2010s Conceptual Reinhard Görner

Materials

C Print, Lambda

Browse all Art from Reinhard Görner
Shop Now

Artists Similar to Reinhard Görner

Reinhard Görner art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Reinhard Görner art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Reinhard Görner in digital print, lambda print, laser print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Reinhard Görner art, so small editions measuring 40 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of William Wegman, xulong zhang, and Joseph Beuys. Reinhard Görner art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,400 and tops out at $11,000, while the average work can sell for $9,000.

Recently Viewed

View All