Kanarische Landschaften II (complete set)

The Kanarische Landschaften portfolios – Richter's photographic prints of the Canary Islands, produced in two series in 1971 – represent a significant and often underappreciated body of work within his output. Made from the artist's own photographs rather than found imagery, the prints occupy a position between photography and the artist's print, sitting outside the category of either the snapshot or the commercial edition.

Series II works in monochrome throughout, a decision that transforms the visual character of the landscape relative to the colour works of Series I. Without the warm amber and ochre tones of the volcanic earth, the images resolve into studies of tonal organisation – the dark mass of rocky peaks pressing into cloud, or the pale openness of a high plateau extending to the horizon. Each print in the portfolio offers a distinct spatial arrangement of the same essential material: the same volcanic territory, the same restless weather, approached from different distances and vantage points.

Produced in an edition of 50 – tighter than Series I's 100 – the Kanarische Landschaften II portfolio is among the more tightly held of Richter's early photographic works. As a complete set, the prints carry more weight together than individually: the landscape accumulates across the sequence into a sustained and considered engagement with a single place.