One of the most significant artists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, Gerhard Richter is famed for refreshing the medium of painting through his pioneering model of chromatic abstraction with which he started experimenting in the 1970s. Executed in 1997, Abstraktes Bild is a refined example of Richter’s signature abstract works, expressive of his vivid colour palette and dazzling use of the colour yellow in this particular body of work in 1997. Abstraktes Bild is a masterwork of museum quality, with another warm-hued abstract painting, Abstraktes Bild 845-5, and a more muted painting from the same body of work, Abstraktes Bild 845-8,  both currently housed in the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan. The first of eight works from the designated 845 group, Abstraktes Bild signals a development in Richter’s working process—the pioneering use of Alu Dibond, a composite aluminium surface that enhances the chromaticity of his pigments. Richter’s Abstraktes Bild paintings are of great art historical significance and are widely regarded at the forefront of the development of abstract art in the past 50 years.

The questioning of painting and the limits of representation are fundamental to Richter’s abstract practice, through which he investigates perception, planes, depth, form, colour and light. In his Abstraktes Bild paintings, Richter drags paint-covered squeegees across his painterly surface in order to achieve a final image that he had not planned. By 1997, Richter’s abstract works had evolved, giving way to paintings that were more unified and chromatically coherent in form, in which the final drag of the squeegee—a long, thin strip of plastic of the artist’s own design—served to level and unite all the previous pigments and layers of paint.

Throughout his long and celebrated career, Richter continues to reassess materials and techniques, finding new possibilities within his practice. In his early Abstraktes Bild paintings, Richter used squeegees alongside brushes, palette knives, tape and other tools to create his textured abstract surfaces, with the first full squeegee paintings commencing in the mid-1980s. By building and taking away layers of paint, Richter intensifies the pictorial and textural complexity of what renowned art critic Roberta Smith has referred to as his “signature all-over horizontal blur[s]” (Roberta Smith, “Art in Review; Gerhard Richter”, The New York Times, 5 October 2001, online). Richter’s layering of paint and complex overlapping of colours has led scholars such as Robert Storr to describe the pictorial structures of the artist’s abstract works as “geological”(Hubertus Butin, Stefan Gronert, Thomas Olbricht, Gerhard Richter; Editions 1965-2013, p. 44), emphasizing the rich texture of the impastoed oil paint that appears almost naturally-formed. Indeed, Dietmar Elger has likened Richter’s abstract works to “impasto carpet[s] of iridescent colour” (Dietmar Elger, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Chicago 2009, p. 267), with sculptural impasto accents overlaying wondrous golden ochres in Abstraktes Bild 845-1. In 1996, the year before this work’s creation, the artist began to use a smooth aluminium-composite surface as a painting support. As brilliantly demonstrated here, the metal base affects the drying qualities of oil paint, augmenting the sheer chromatic power and iridescence of the final image.

Richter describes his method of working as that of “randomness, chance, sudden inspiration, and destruction” (the artist quoted in Sabine Schütz, “Gerhard Richter (interview)”, Journal of Contemporary Art, New York, Fall/Winter 1990, p. 35), achieving a harmonious balance between accident and intention in works such as Abstraktes Bild 845-1. By wanting to end up with a picture that he hadn’t planned, each painting, like the present work, is unique. Similar to the reliance on chance in Jackson Pollock’s famous Action Paintings, Richter’s abstract works are beyond the control of reason, as the form and texture of the oil paint that is applied to the surface with a squeegee cannot be planned, allowing something unpredictable to happen on the surface. American art critic Peter Schjeldahl describes Richter’s abstractions as: “not only condoning but soliciting accident, Richter attends to the multifarious effects of layered paint that has been repeatedly smashed and dragged, wet-in-wet” (Peter Schjeldahl, “The Dark Revelations of Gerhard Richter”, The New Yorker, 16 March 2020, online).

Vibrating with vital energy, Abstraktes Bild is a dazzling example of Richter’s distinct use of yellow in 1997, emanating a vibrant, almost autumnal warmth. In this painting, warm tones of yellow and orange appear as the dominant colour, through which glimpses of jewel-tone blues, purples and a deep red emerge. The shimmering elements of blue that seem to peek out from under the yellow and orange pigment hint at a hidden landscape, an oasis that Richter conceals with richly impastoed layers. There is a clear horizontal movement in the image created by the yellow pigment that has been dragged horizontally. At the same time, there is a striking downward motion, indicative of paint that has been dragged from the top of the aluminium surface to the bottom, forming thick globular elements that almost drip down. Additionally, there is a vertical smear that runs down the left side of the canvas – a strong, tactile element that reminds us of the artist’s presence. Harmoniously coming together, Richter’s application of paint creates a mesmerising dynamism in the image. Roberta Smith refers to the inherent motion in Richter’s abstract works: “these works reflect an artist who approaches painting as an elaborate and fascinating game, like chess, and seems to move effortlessly in several directions at once” (Roberta Smith, “Art in Review; Gerhard Richter”, The New York Times, 5 October 2001, online). Further, many scholars have likened Richter’s chromatic abstract blurs to photography, testament to the artist’s continual interrogation of the medium and questioning its limits and means of representation: “His abstract paintings, seemingly gestural as they are, always hint at the photographic” (Roberta Smith, “Art: at two galleries, Gerhard Richter works”, 13 March 1987, online).

Gerhard Richter’s innovative abstraction, exemplified by Abstraktes Bild, stands at the pinnacle of his long, prolific career, during which the artist ceaselessly interrogated the limits of representation, the nature of perception, and the operations of visual cognition. Richter’s abstract paintings have often been considered as the culmination of his diverse bodies of work, including his Photo Paintings, Grey Paintings, Colour Charts, Photorealist Paintings, Landscapes, Seascapes, and Photorealist Abstract Paintings, among others. Richter’s diverse oeuvre has received unprecedented international attention and acclaim, and he has been honoured with numerous retrospectives and solo shows at notable institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

格哈德・里希特是二十及二十一世紀享負盛名的藝術家，他在1970年代開創色彩抽象主義，以別樹一幟的媒材運用獨步藝壇。《抽象畫 》作於1997年，屬於里希特抽象作品中的典型傑構，畫面色澤明豔，洋溢燦然生機，裡面亮眼的黃色為1997年的一組作品所特有。這幅佳作與博物館典藏的里希特作品不相伯仲，另外一幅色彩溫暖的《抽象畫 845-5》以及同系列中較為沉鬱的《抽象畫 845-8》目前均收藏在日本金澤21世紀美術館。里希特創作了一組八幅標題帶有數字「845」的作品，其中《抽象畫 》是這組作品的第一幅，標誌著他在創作手法上的里程碑。他率先使用 Alu Dibond 鋁塑板代替畫布，借助複合鋁板的表面來提升顏料的色彩表現力。里希特的抽象畫在藝術史上地位超然，一般被認為是過去五十年抽象藝術發展的其中一股先鋒力量。其抽象手法的根本在於質疑繪畫本身以及表現方式的局限。他在創作抽象畫系列時，將覆蓋著顏料的刮板拖曳過作畫媒材的表面，希望帶出計劃之外的作品，藉此探討視覺感知、平面、深度、形式、顏色與光影。及至1997年，里希特的抽象畫演變成更著重形式的統一感和顏色的協調。他用自己設計的長條形塑膠刮板在畫面上作出最後一次拖曳，將所有顏料和顏料層推至並排而且連貫的狀態。

里希特在漫長的藝術生涯裡反覆嘗試、評估各種物料和技巧，試圖從中尋找新的可能。他在早期的抽象畫中同時使用刮板及畫筆、調色刀、膠帶等工具，製造出具有紋理的抽象表面，直到1980年代中期才創作出第一幅完全只用刮板的作品。他堆疊出層層顏料，再用刮擦的方式把它們部分移除，令圖案和質感變得更加複雜，知名藝評家蘿伯塔・史密斯將這種效果形容為里希特「標誌性的滿幅水平模糊感」（蘿伯塔・史密斯撰，〈藝評：格哈德・里希特〉，《紐約時報》，2001年10月5日，網上版）。里希特把顏料與顏色層層堆疊的手法，讓諸如羅伯特・施托爾等學者將其抽象畫的表面結構比喻為「地質構造一般」（胡貝圖斯・布廷、斯特凡・格羅內爾及湯瑪斯・奧布里奇合編，《格哈德・里希特：1965-2013年》，頁44），強調堆疊油彩肌理之豐富，有如天然形成那樣。里希特研究專家迪特馬爾・埃爾格也曾將他的抽象畫稱為「色彩斑斕的厚塗地毯」（迪特馬爾・埃爾格，《格哈德・里希特：繪畫人生》，芝加哥，2009年，頁267），《抽象畫 》的黃色與赭色油彩同樣厚厚地堆疊出立體的效果，彷如一面金華璀璨的浮雕。本作誕生的前一年，即1996年，里希特開始在平滑的複合鋁板上作畫，本作也使用了同一種媒材。金屬表面令油彩在乾燥過程中發生轉變，讓最後的畫面迸發出全然的色彩力量，燦爛奪目。

里希特認為自己的創作手法充滿「隨機性、偶然性、突發靈感和破壞」（格哈德・里希特，引述自莎賓娜・舒特茲，〈格哈德・里希特（訪談）〉，《當代藝術期刊》，紐約，1990年秋冬號，頁35），在偶然與刻意之間取得彼此協調的平衡，《抽象畫 》就是箇中典例。每幅畫都是隨興而為，因此每幅畫都是獨一無二。正如波拉克依靠偶然性的行動繪畫，里希特的抽象畫脫離了理性的主宰，經刮板帶到媒材表面的油彩形態和肌理都是隨機生成，完全不在意料之中。美國藝評家彼得・史耶道爾寫道，里希特的抽象畫「不但容忍意外，還對此甘之如飴。他不斷在還沒乾透的顏料上摔抹、拖曳濕潤的新顏料，層層製造出千變萬化的效果」（彼得・史耶道爾，〈格哈德・里希特的黑暗啟示錄〉，《紐約客》，2020年3月16日，網上版）。

《抽象畫 》的黃色常見於里希特1997年的作品，它們流溢著明亮閃耀的光輝，恰似秋日暖陽。溫暖的黃色與橘色鋪滿畫面，底下透出寶石般的藍、紫與深紅。蔚藍的顏色裡似乎隱藏著一個里希特用豐富油彩遮蔽起來的秘密綠洲。本作蘊含著如琴弦般絲絲震顫的能量。黃色的顏料被橫拖過畫面，留下一道道清晰的水平痕跡。畫面上同時有從上而下的痕跡，暗示鋁板上顏料曾被拖至底部，形成呈向下流淌的滴狀凝固。另外，畫面左側有一道垂直抹痕，實實在在地將藝術家的存在呈現在觀眾眼前。所有元素都在這裡融為一體，里希特自如地駕馭顏料，在畫面營造出一股扣人心弦的活力。蘿伯塔・史密斯曾經如此評論里希特抽象畫的內在動勢：「這些作品反映了藝術家像對待一盤令人著迷的精密遊戲那樣對待繪畫，就如象棋，在同一時間遊刃有餘地縱橫移動」（蘿伯塔・史密斯撰，〈藝評：格哈德・里希特〉，《紐約時報》，2001年10月5日，網上版）。不少學者也將里希特模糊的色彩抽象畫比作攝影，可見他依然繼續探索這種媒材的局限與表現方式，有評論道：「他的抽象畫看起來充滿動態，卻總是隱約浮現出攝影的特質」（蘿伯塔・史密斯撰，〈藝術：兩個畫廊的格哈德・里希特作品展〉，1987年3月13日，網上版）。

本作是里希特的抽象畫佳構之一。他在漫長、多產的創作生涯裡孜孜不倦地對表現手法的限制、人類感知的本質以及視覺認知的運作提出探詢，最後淬煉出自成一家的抽象風格，成就自身的藝術巔峰。里希特的抽象畫通常被視為是他多種風格的集大成者，包括照片畫、灰階單色畫、色表畫、照相寫實主義繪畫、風景畫、海景畫及照相寫實抽象主義繪畫等。風格多元的作品為他帶來國際聲譽和好評，紐約現代藝術博物館、倫敦泰特現代藝術館及巴黎龐畢度中心等世界頂尖藝術機構紛紛為他開辦個展和回顧展。