Gerhard Richter: Panorama
Tate Modern, London, UK
October 06, 2011 – January 08, 2012
This exhibition displayed Elbe, a series of monotypes created in 1957.
View the complete Elbe series here.
Plattenspieler
Record Player
1988
62 cm x 83 cm
Oil on canvas
Catalogue Raisonné: 672-2
A record player sits on the floor, shown from above. Slightly off-centre in the corner of a room, it lies surrounded by cables and a power strip. Through a transparent lid, the white label of a black vinyl disc catches the eye.
This painting depicts the record player of Andreas Baader, member of the German terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF), inside Baader’s cell at Stuttgart-Stammheim prison, and was painted after a police photograph.
Gerhard Richter's Record Player is one of the paintings within the cycle October 18, 1977 relating to Andreas Baader. Both the pictures Record Player and Cell [CR: 670], which depicts mainly Baader's bookshelves, are often considered to have portrait characteristics, since both depict the terrorist's personal things and form a counterpart to the depictions of the dead Baader in the paintings Man Shot Down 1 and 2 [CR: 669/1-2].
Whereas in the source photographs one could recognise what kind of music was listened to or which books were read, these details are obscured in Richter's pictures by the painterly blurring. These paintings only give the appearance of telling us something about Andreas Baader as an individual.
The fact that the detainee had a record player in his cell could provoke different kinds of associations. On one hand, the RAF prisoners were kept in isolation for certain periods of time, during which the listening to music was probably one of the regular activities. On the other hand, the record player can also refer to the fact that the detainees refashioned electrical devices, such as appliances for listening to music, in order to communicate between the different cells.
In this painting the record player is depicted in a non-playing state. The stillness, captured in the painting, and the fact that the record player will never be used by its owner again, stand for the death of the person who owned it.
The still life becomes even more of a memento mori if one knows that the gun used by Baader to kill himself was presumably hidden inside the record player's casing.
Notes prepared by editorial team
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
This artwork is shown in the following exhibition videos:
- Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany, 2012
- Images of an Era, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, Germany, 2011
This artwork is mentioned in the following talks:
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Gerhard Richter. Porträt Dr. Knobloch (Patrimonia 344) Elger, Dietmar / Roth, Martin / Stange, Eva-Maria 2009 
This issue of the Patrimonia series was published on the occasion of the acquisition of the painting Portrait Dr. Knobloch of 1964 by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in 2009. The history of [more]
Gerhard Richter. Abstrakte Bilder Wilmes, Ulrich / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Söntgen, Beate / Stemmrich, Gregor 2008 
The book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Abstrakte Bilder at Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Haus der Kunst, Munich. The exhibitions were dedicated to Gerhard [more]
Gerhard Richter. Large Abstracts Wilmes, Ulrich / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. / Söntgen, Beate / Stemmrich, Gregor 2008 
The book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Abstrakte Bilder at Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Haus der Kunst, Munich. The exhibitions were dedicated to Gerhard [more]
Gerhard Richter. Atlas Friedel, Helmut 2006 
At 864 pages, this monumental and comprehensive publication maps the ideas, processes, life and times of Gerhard Richter. Conceived and closely edited by Richter himself, Atlas cuts straight to [more]
Gerhard Richter. Doubt and Belief in Painting Storr, Robert 2003 
Gerhard Richter is widely recognized as one of the most significant painters working today, and he is certainly among the most influential. He has worked in a wide range of media since the early [more]
Gerhard Richter. Maler Elger, Dietmar 2002 
Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the [more]
Gerhard Richter. Forty Years of Painting Storr, Robert 2002 
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's [more]
Gerhard Richter. Malerei Storr, Robert 2002 
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. 40 Years of Painting at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this publication represents a broad range of Gerhard Richter's [more]
Gerhard Richter. 100 Bilder Obrist, Hans Ulrich / Pelzer, Birgit / Tosatto, Guy 1996 
Designed by the artist himself, this publication gives a rare insight into one of the most intensive work periods (1995–1996) of Richter’s life.
It commences by introducing [more]
Zu Richters Oktober-Bildern Butin, Hubertus 1991 
Gerhard Richter 1988/89 Schampers, Karel / Tilroe, Anna / Buchloh, Benjamin H. D. 1989 
Gerhard Richter. Atlas Zweite, Armin 1989 
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Gerhard Richter. Panorama. A Retrospective Godfrey, Mark / Serota, Nicholas / Brill, Dorothée / Morineau, Camille / Borchardt-Hume, Achim / Dickson, Amy / Haidu, Rachel / Mehring, Christine 2011 
Going Beyond What We Are Adams, Jeff 2012 
Through a Camera, Darkly Gayford, Martin 2012
Grey Panic Clark, T.J. 2011
Gerhard Richter's Dark Past, Zen Clouds Intrigue at Tate: Review Gayford, Martin 2011
Gerhard Richter Heiser, Jörg 2011
Gerhard Richter: Panorama McCartney, Nicola 2011
A Panorama of Purpose: Gerhard Richter's Diverse Virtuosity at Tate Modern McKie, Andrew 2011
The Bold Standard. A Successful Painterly Life
2011
A Stunning 'Panorama' of Gerhard Richter Bruyas, Dimitry 2012
Gerhard Richter: Panorama Cumming, Laura 2011
Gerhard Richter: Panorama Danchev, Alex 2011
From Hot to Cool on the Richter Scale Dunne, Aidan 2011
Show in London Spans Decades Gladstone, Valerie 2011
Gerhard Richter scales the heights Hamilton, Adrian 2011
Gerhard Richter's Oeuvre Shows that while Painting Changes, It Never Dies Jones, Jonathan 2011
Gerhard Richter Sees his Way to a Place Among the Greats Jones, Jonathan 2011
Alle Fragen offen. Gerhard Richter – eine Retrospektive in der Londoner Tate Modern Löhndorf, Marion 2011
Gerhard Richter triumphiert in London. Der Wichtigste unter den großen Zweiflern Lorch, Catrin 2011
Die Wirklichkeit und die Farbe Mack, Gerhard 2011
Blurred Visionary: Gerhard Richter's Photo-Paintings McCarthy, Tom 2011
Gerhard Richter, Grand Master of Our Time Melikian, Souren 2011
Interview: Nicholas Serota. The Importance of Curating Gerhard Richter Morris, Jane 2011
Tenderness and terror: the Tate's Gerhard Richter retrospective Searle, Adrian 2011
Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Tate Modern Sooke, Alastair 2011
The Richter Tale Wullschlager, Jackie 2011
Gerhard Richter: Panorama in London
2011
AO on Site – London: Gerhard Richter ‘Panorama’ at Tate Modern through January 8, 2012 Bregman, A. 2012
Gerhard Richter, Maître de l’ana-chronos Lesbats, Marie 2012
Gerhard Richter: Nowhere Man Rhodes, Richard 2012
Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Tate Modern Güner, Fisun 2011
Richter’s Paintings. How Did He Make Them? Godfrey, Mark 2011
Take a Virtual Tour of Gerhard Richter's Sweeping Tate Modern Retrospective Martinez, Alanna 2011
Gerhard Richter talks about Panorama at Tate Modern
2011
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By Mark Godfrey
Guide