Gerhard Richter

Hans-Joachim Gross, Stuttgart

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Rome, Galleria La Tartaruga, Gerhard Richter, 1966

Zürich, Galerie Bischofberger, Gerhard Richter, 1966

Hannover, Galerie h, Polke / Richter, 1966

Berlin, Galerie René Block, Gerhard Richter, 1966

Exhibition Catalogue, Venice, XXXI Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte (Gerhard Richter), 1972, p. 47, no. 80/1, illustrated

Jürgen Harten, Gerhard Richter Paintings 1962-1985, Cologne 1986, p. 33, no. 80/1, illustrated

Angelika Thill, et al., Gerhard Richter Catalogue Raisonné, 1962-1993, Vol. III, Ostfildern-Ruit 1993, no. 80/1, illustrated 

During the last decade, Gerhard Richter’s growing stature as one of the most gifted painters and progressive thinkers in the Post Modern era has flourished in the auction arena. However it was actually as long ago as the late 1960s, when Richter’s experimentation with the boundaries of ‘style’ in painting laid the ground for the maturing of his grand concept. Having emerged from the shadows of his Pop Art heritage, the years between 1965 and 1970 saw Richter cultivating a wide variety of painterly styles in his own hands. In a world which was increasingly dominated by the diversity of consumer choice, art after the Modernist era was also following multiple paths and Richter devised an approach to painting which crossed all styles, techniques and viewpoints with accomplished and masterful skill. The enigmatic stylistic progression of Gerhard Richter’s oeuvre is beautifully illustrated in lots ?, ?, ? and ????. Providing a visual record of his dynamic shift from figurative to abstract representation, the present group of works reveals Richter’s passion for the processes of painting as he sought to engage with issues of perception and illusion in his art.

In his Photopaintings of the early 1960’s, Richter used images appropriated from local newspapaers and magazines as the basis for his paintings - a technique that had its roots with the ‘Duchampian readymade’. Just as Rembrandt used drawing or Vermeer the camera obscura, Richter used photographs as a starting point from which he would develop an image. One can already sense the gradual shift in his ideas even within these two apparently similar, highly figurative paintings from the same year - 1965. Lassie (Lot ?) is a stunning rendition of that most renowned of pet celebrities. Expertly reproduced on canvas with an almost super-real image, Richter ensures that we remain aware that this is a painting by his slight blurring of the subject and subtle feathering of the surface which he executes with a light brush over the wet paint. The picture-postcard form of Niagara Falls (Lot ?) takes this gradual integration of abstract techniques into the figurative frame one stage further. Emerging from within a mist-like shroud, the diaphanous brushmarks and ephemeral tones appear as if suspended in time on their journey down the hypnotic falls. However, Richter here appears to become consumed by the gradual abstraction of the water as it travels down the waterfall. As the viewer’s eye journeys down, it becomes increasingly aware of the distance between the illusion of painting and the material of paint itself.

In a further development, the 1968 Stadtbild (M7)(Lot ??) comes from Richter’s renowned series in which he used reconnaissance photography of cities as a means of exploring the proximity between figuration and abstraction. From a distance this painting represents an extraordinarily super-real view of the Piazza del Duomo in Milan. However, as one moves closer to scrutinize the scene, it dissolves into thick strident vertical and horizontal marks, creating a wide and richly textured expanse. Barely discernible, the canvas becomes a series of interlocking tones of light and dark, a pure abstract field.

Painted in 1966, Farbtafel (Lot ???) is one of the earliest examples from this celebrated series and represents a radical departure away from his figurative Photo-paintings. Still based on an original image of a paint sample card, Richter has here blown the image up and turned it into an abstract painting. With the sequential squares of different colours in equal blocks, Richter here masterfully merges Minimalism and Pop within his own brand of Conceptual Art.

Eventually, in the early 1970s Richter embraced pure abstraction, again borrowing styles and processes to create an entirely new aesthetic which has ironically become his signature. Painstakingly applied, the variety of techniques and lively colours which build the layers of Abstraktes Bild (Lot ???) testify to a rich history of abstract painting whilst also developing new visual and conceptual spaces.