The painting Cell belongs to the cycle October 18, 1977 and depicts the empty prison cell of Andreas Baader, one of the leading members of the RAF, who was found shot in his cell in Stuttgart-Stammheim on 18th October 1977.
As all paintings of the cycle this work refers back to a photographic source image. In this case it is a police photograph taken after the discovery of Baader’s suicide whose coloured original can be found in the archives of the public prosecution department in Stuttgart. The original shows more details like books and a typewriter standing on the floor in front of the big book shelf as well as a triangular red flag hanging on the wall left to the shelf. Furthermore, the outlines of Baader’s dead body, sketched on the floor with chalk, and the titles of several books can be discerned. The chalk markings as well as the coat hanging in the left corner point to the former inmate of the cell and his ominous absence[1]. This connection is mitigated in Richter’s painting because of the heavy blurring but nonetheless still perceptible.
The painting is divided by a vertical line in the middle: the right side is occupied by a wall-high shelf which provides space for rows and rows of books. The left side is dominated by the bright wall and a coat hanging over a folding screen that is shielding the sink from view.
Cell is characterised by an especially strong, vertical blurring of all outlines that causes the wall of books to flicker in the viewers eyes. Every object in the room seems to be in motion, entraining the viewer (and the inmate respectively). The cell thus becomes the image of a death trap[2]. As the floor is very dark it almost seems as if it is not there at all, leaving a black hole and literally taking the ground from under the prisoner although the book shelf should theoretically be both an intellectual and physical support. The general menacing impression is reinforced by the flag that, rendered in black and white, almost seems like a guillotine. The blurring and concomitant haziness of the subject matter hence also reflect how the public dealt with the events[3].
Unlike Man Shot Down 1 and 2 [CR: 669/1-2] this painting also references Baader’s everyday life in prison. Even if a lot of the personal objects cannot be clearly identified, the abundance of books is informative in itself. Among the identified tomes are mostly political works of revolutionary nature but also books about art and history. In total Baader had 974 books in his cell that can provide an insight into his life as a prisoner and prove that he worked on his intellectual education in spite of having dropped out of school[4]. The volumes also point to the attempts of the RAF to justify their politically motivated actions with ideological documents. These are mostly attributed to the former journalist Ulrike Meinhof however[5].
Repeatedly Richter remarked upon the dangers inherent in believing in ideologies of any sort: “[…] Without a doubt, ideologies are harmful, and we must therefore take them very seriously: as behaviour, and not for their content (in content they are all equally false). […] The pictures are also a leave-taking, in several respects. […] and then ideologically: a leave-taking from a specific doctrine of salvation and, beyond that, from the illusion that unacceptable circumstances of life can be changed by this conventional expedient of violent struggle (this kind of revolutionary thought and action is futile and passé).'[6] This painting as well can be seen as a manifestation of the dangers immanent in ideologies. The bookshelf in Baader’s cell represents the variety of political ideologies and their dangerous consequences visually, both for the individual whose death is epitomised by the empty room, as well for society in general[7]. Concurrently, the normality represented with this subject appears especially alarming[8].
[1] Robert Storr (ed.), Gerhard Richter. October 18, 1977, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2000, p. 107.
[2] Birgit Richard, Todesbilder. Kunst, Subkultur, Medien, Werner Fink, Munich, 1995, pp. 233-234.
[3] Martin Henatsch, Gerhard Richter – 18. Oktober 1977. Das verwischte Bild der Geschichte, insel, Frankfurt, 1998, pp. 82-83.
[4] Storr 2000, p. 117.
[5] Stefan Aust, Der Baader-Meinhof-Komplex, 3rd ed., Hamburg, 2008, pp. 243-244; p. 406-408.
[6] Notes, 1989 (translated by David Britt) in: Gerhard Richter. Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961-2007, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, p. 213.
[7] Ortrud Westheider, “Eine Idee, die bis zum Tod geht. Der Zyklus 18. Oktober 1977“, in: Uwe M. Schneede (ed.), Gerhard Richter. Bilder einer Epoche, exh. cat. Bucerius Kunst-Forum, Munich, 2011, p. 175.
[8] Kai-Uwe Hemken, Gerhard Richter 18. Oktober 1977, Fischer, Frankfurt/Leipzig, 1998, p. 88.
Notes prepared by editorial team
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
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