A Selection of Abstract Paintings 1960 – 2008
With a few exceptions these paintings have no titles. They are here identified by Richter's CR-number. The majority are sets or cycles of several paintings, in which the historical order is denoted by a -number following the CR of the entire set. His catalogue raisonné was created and is maintained by Richter himself, an unusual process. Normally such a catalogue is assembled by an art historian after the fact in an attempt to establish the historical order of the objects. More surprising is that Richter does not list all of his work in his CR, apparently includes unrelated paintings under one CR entry, and occasionally changes the historical order of his paintings. Whether he did this to lead the confounded art critics astray or to further “camouflage” his thought process is not clear. In any case, this reviewer feels entitled to occasionally doubt or alter the order of objects in a CR subset. |
1981 - 1984 oil on canvas, various sizes In
the early 1980s Richter painted a number of large, single
oil canvases each with a title of its own in the
conventional manner. Here are a few of the most striking
ones. |
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1992 Beginning in the 1990s Richter began to experiment with, in general un-named sets of several paintings, each set in effect forming a single spatial unit. Painted in rapid succession within a few days, the individual panels of a set depict different aspects of his vision. They are not conventional “stages” in the painterly progress and do not lead to the last painting in the series. They are separate entities of the same spatial or mental image, as it were in time. In an interview (see video 1) he describes this process as not being consciously rational: “Otherwise they would be worthless.” The process is in fact completely spontaneous. As I will try to show this spontaneity is the source of their inherent beauty. To illustrate Richter's visualisation process I reproduce several complete sets spatially as one painting with their varying space-time components next to each other. This is done in disregard of the painterly details of the individual panels. I will try to show that the details are by comparision less important. |
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2000 CR:
869-1 to 9 Between 2000 to 2004 Richter painted a number of abstracts on laminated aluminum di-bond. The reason is not clear, but I surmise that this material, besides delivering a texturally and colorwise different back-surface compared to canvas, allows a faster execution. The panels are also much smaller than his canvases of the same period. |
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2001 CR:
871-1 to 10 |
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2004 CR:
889-1 to 14
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CR: 889-13, oil on canvas, 200x200 cm, 2004 |
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2006 In 2006 Richter painted a series of nine bleak, small monochromes called “White” on aluminum di-bond followed under the same CR number by the large oil on canvas shown below. Its title, Haggadah, referers to the instructions for the traditional Jewish Passover Seder. Technically this painting allows an unusual peek into the structure of the layers of underpantings to the right and left of the rectangular sheet of greens, reds and yellows. In fact this gives the painting a three-dimensional appearence, which one can perceive, if one stares at the painting for a while. The connection of the nine white monochromes (which I omitted) to this canvas, its title, and its three-dimensionality remain unexplained. - Compared to the “Forest” set the painting exudes a serious melancholy if not a sombre mood with no relief in sight. |
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2006 Together with “Forest” this set constitutes the culmination of Richter's abstract oeuvre. Its title “Cage” - in the singular – is by Richter himself. The title has given rise to a number of nonesensical interpretations by the non-plussed art critics: “Richter's cages, etc....” Fortunately Robert Storr and the Tate Modern, who owns the set, have given us a detailed account of the origin of the painting(s): It was conceived as a unit in homage to the composer John Cage. The conclusions from this revelation are manifold. In addition the “Cage” set raises the question whether Richter has a synesthetic gift, that is, whether he sees involuntary images when listening to music. I discuss this and other ramifications of the “Cage” paintings in my introduction. |
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2007 oil
on acrylic, various sizes, 2007 |
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Once again there is a question as to which of the 6 paintings belong to the same conceptual series and which have been included in this set by Richter for unknown reasons. I have omitted CR 903-1, a photo-realist painting of a young woman, which the reader can find on Richter's website . “Gestein” (rocks or minerals) appears also elsewhere in another CR. The two “Dickicht” (thicket) canvases may be the only coherent parts of CR 903. |
2007 |
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The most important work of this period, the window in the Cologne Cathedral, is not found in Richter's catalogue raisonné. The window was commissioned by the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen and the City of Cologne. The window's unveiling caused a scandal. The archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner boycotted the inaugural celebration with the official statement that "it could as well have been placed in a mosque or a synagogue." - This is exactly one strong point in vavour of the window. - Read the comments by the photographer-journalist. Richter's design is based on his eminently successful study “4096 Colors” (1974) shown below. |
“4096 Colors” CR: 350-1, enamel on canvas, 254x254 cm, 1974 |
“4096 Colors” sold for $ 3,703,500 at Christie's, New York, in 2004. |
Except
as otherwise noted, all images were downloaded from Richter's
official website
http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/
All
copyrights rest with Gerhard Richter