Gerhard Richter

From the 1960s on, while the visual arts were evolving to include a kaleidoscopic plethora of ideas, techniques and media, the German painter Gerhard Richter has continued to steadfastly explore the possibilities of painting. For him, the dichotomy between abstract and figurative was no longer particularly relevant, as he was more interested in the autonomy of colour, brushstrokes and composition. 

Richter’s work varies from clean-lined colour-field compositions and monochrome surfaces to expressionistic explosions of colour. When making his watercolours, he considers the unpredictability of the technique essential – in other words, how the water-borne paint mixes itself to make vivid hues and blotchy shapes, see Derwisch 12.3.97 and Rot-Blau 4.3.97. Richter’s figurative paintings tend to feature traditional themes such as landscapes, still-lifes and portraits. Unusually, his abstract works are sometimes borrowed directly from reality (such as colour swatch cards), while the figurative scenes are abstracted. Richter tends to achieve the latter by depicting his subjects as if ‘out of focus’. He blends the still-wet paint using a brushing motion, so that contours soften and colours merge. The result resembles the blurry image of an out-of-focus photo, see: Moritz. 

Just when painting was considered by many to be an outdated medium, Richter found new vitality in its relationship to photography. He makes paintings based on the photographs stored in his ‘Atlas’, an enormous personal photo archive. In opposition to the idea that photos reflect an objective reality, Richter prioritises the inherent reality of paint and movement on canvas. That confrontation with the photographic image has given rise to an oeuvre that explores and celebrates the specific, unique qualities of painting as an artform. In Richter’s hands, the components of a painting become its true subject.