If one stands close to the three-metre-wide painting, only light and dark grey tones can be recognised, patches strung together and horizontally smudged. From a greater distance, one starts to distinguish a crowd of people, lining a path.

The large-format painting Funeral by Gerhard Richter depicts the burial of Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe, German terrorists from the Red Army Faction (RAF). Thousands of supporters, journalists and bystanders gathered in Stuttgart on 27th October 1977, when the three terrorists were buried at Dornhalden cemetery.

In the centre of the picture are three light-coloured coffins, which are carried in a diagonal line towards the background of the painting. Some individuals stand more spread-out in the foreground whereas most of the participants are crowded together in the middle distance as far as the lighter boundaries of the cemetery in the background.

This painting from the cycle October 18, 1977 is based on a press photograph that was selected by Richter and captures the event from some distance. The painterly modification is distinctly darker than the source image, an effect intensified by the denser line of trees appearing in the background.
In contrast to the static snapshot on which the work is based, Richter generates the impression of movement by applying a uniform horizontal blur. The painted motion blur emphasises the fact that the event is characterised by progression: the funeral procession on the one hand, and the process of parting on the other hand.
According to Gerhard Richter the other pictures of the cycle also illustrate a kind of parting: "the pictures are also a leave-taking, in several respects. Factually: these specific persons are dead; as a general statement, death is leave-taking. [...]" (Notes, 1989 in: Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961–2007, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, p. 213)

The painting Funeral is often used as a reference for Gerhard Richter's engagement with the genre of history painting. As the largest picture within the series, it satisfies a formal criterion of traditional history painting like none of the other paintings.
However, Gerhard Richter transfers this classic genre into the present: in contrast to traditional history painting depicting heroes of historic events, Richter shows the funeral of failed terrorists. Traditionally the events were reproduced in detail in order to propagate a certain viewpoint; Richter, however, blurs all details.
The purpose of Richter's history painting is not to create a detailed depiction of an event or a historical truth; rather, it is to remind of a certain event. Gerhard Richter does not stipulate how the beholder should remember the event, but he invites the beholder to recall it.

Notes prepared by editorial team