- Paintings
- Atlas
- Editions
- Drawings
- Overpainted Photographs
- Oil on Paper
- Watercolours
- Artist's Books
- Prints
- Other
Microsites
The landscape-format painting depicts a designer table with white plate and dark construction. The upper half of the picture's background is light grey, whereas the lower part is executed in a darker grey. The centre of the image is worked over with paint thinner using circling motions.
In contrast to the neatly painted table, the background was worked on dynamically using different means. Some passages, painted with thin fluid paint, differ from those painted with a pastose application of paint, and the paint appears to have been scraped off in some areas so that the lighter tones of the undercoat are visible; light and dark dashes of paint appear all over the canvas.
Gerhard Richter describes the development of the painting as follows: 'The photo for Table came, I think, from an Italian design magazine called Domus. I painted it, but was dissatisfied with the result and pasted parts of it over with newspaper. One can still see by the imprint where the newspaper was stuck to the freshly painted canvas. I was dissatisfied because there was too much paint on the canvas and became less happy with it, so I overpainted it. Then suddenly it acquired a quality which appealed to me and I felt it should be left that way, without knowing why.'1 In the painting Table one of Richter's characteristic ways of working is already evident: the critical approach towards his own paintings, which get painted over if they do not satisfy him completely.
Table can be associated with the painting Folding Dryer [CR: 4], which also has an everyday object for a motif and an advertising photograph as its source image. In both cases the chosen motif can be understood as a reflection on magazine advertising in the free-market Federal Republic of Germany, contrasting with Richter's East-German homeland, on which he had turned his back only the previous year.
Whereas the folding dryer was affordable for everyone, the table was a design object by the Italian brand Gardella. From the three images pictured in Domus, Richter chose a view showing the tabletop; the sophisticated construction of the lower part of the table, emphasised in the other images, was seemingly of no interest to him.
Although Table was not his first painting of 1962, Richter saw it as the first in his catalogue raisonné: 'I wanted to make a new start after my work in East Germany, but also after the many pictures I had painted in the West, among which were a number of photo-paintings. I wanted to draw a line, indicating that these paintings were in the past, and so set Table at the top of my worklist.'2 Table therefore marked a turning point in Richter's œuvre.
The painting started out as a figurative depiction of a table. By partially painting it over, Richter undoes this depictive aspect – an effect similar to the painterly blurring in his later works. The painting thus anticipates another artistic approach that along with figuration would play a role in Richter's œuvre: abstraction.
1 Comments on some works, 1991 in: Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961–2007, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, p. 259.
2 Ibid.
Notes prepared by editorial team
Christie's, London, UK: 04 December 1996
£ 249,000 | |
USD 415,207 |
This artwork was shown in the following exhibitions:
This artwork is included in the following publications:
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition "Gerhard Richter. Verborgene Schätze: Werke aus rheinischen Privatsammlungen" in Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, 5 September 2024 - 2 February 2025.
Exhibitions
More DetailsPublisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Series 'Schriften des Gerhard Richter Archiv Dresden ; vol. 21' This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition "Gerhard Richter. Übermalte Fotografien = Gerhard Richter. Overpainted Photographs", Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany, 26 August 2023 - 19 November 2023.
Exhibitions
More DetailsPublisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
More DetailsPublisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Published on the occasion of the exhibition “Vija Celmins | Gerhard Richter: Double Vision”. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Galerie der Gegenwart, 12.5. - 27.8.2023.
Exhibitions
More DetailsPublisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Originally published in German as "Theorie der Form: Gerhard Richter und die Kunst des pragmatischen Zeitalters", 2013.
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
This catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition "Gerhard Richter: Painting After All", 4 March 2020 - 5 July 2020, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and 14 August 2020 - 19 January 2021, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Exhibitions
More DetailsPublisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
A series of seven interviews between art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and visual artist Gerhard Richter.
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
As part of a comprehensive scholarly reassessment, in 2017 art historian and director of the Gerhard Richter Archive Dresden Dietmar Elger published the second of five planned volumes of Gerhard Richter's Catalogue Raisonné. ...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: New Paintings, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, 2017
- Gerhard Richter: Neue Bilder, Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany, 2017
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: About Painting, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium, 2017
- Gerhard Richter: About Painting - Early Works, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 2017
- Gerhard Richter: Early Works, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2017
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
The publication Gerhard Richter. Editions 1965 – 2013 updates the catalogue raisonné of his editions that was published ten years earlier. This book includes additionally 35 new and hitherto unknown works
...Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
The publication Gerhard Richter. Editionen 1965 – 2013 updates the catalogue raisonné of his editions that was published ten years earlier. This book includes additionally 35 new and hitherto unknown works
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Bilder einer Epoche was published on the occasion of the exhibition at Bucerius Kunstforum in Hamburg in 2011. Both the exhibition and the catalogue focus on Richter’s paintings of the 1960s
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Tate Modern, London, UK, 2011
- Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Neue und Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2011
- Gerhard Richter: Panorama, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 2011
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Images of an Era was published on the occasion of the exhibition at Bucerius Kunstforum in Hamburg in 2011. Both the exhibition and the catalogue focus on Richter’s paintings of the 1960s
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
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.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Gerhard Richter has been widely regarded as a publicity shy artist. However, the biography Gerhard Richter. A Life in Painting gives an insight into Richter’s personal history as well as into the development of his artistic œuvre.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Abstract Paintings, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, 2008
- Gerhard Richter: Abstract Paintings, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, 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 Richter’s abstract pictures
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
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 Richter’s abstract pictures
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Corrected and extended new edition.
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 development of his artistic œuvre.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings from Private Collections, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany, 2008
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings From Private Collections, MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany, 2008
- Gerhard Richter: Retrospective, Albertina, Vienna, Austria, 2008
The catalogue Gerhard Richter: Bilder aus privaten Sammlungen was published to coincide with exhibitions in Baden-Baden, Beijing, Edinburgh, Vienna and Duisburg in 2008 and 2009.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Portraits is the first publication that focuses solely on Richter’s portraits, many of which have now gained both recognition and veneration across the globe.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
Gerhard Richter. Portraits is the first publication that focuses solely on Richter’s portraits, many of which have now gained both recognition and veneration across the globe.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, 2005
- Gerhard Richter, K20 Grabbeplatz, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2005
This catalogue raisonné records Richter’s works in the years 1999-2004. In his work, Gerhard Richter calls into question painting's boundaries, and the labels applied to painting and theories connected with them.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Revised edition of 'Texte. Schriften und Interviews', first published in 1993.
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, 2005
- Gerhard Richter, K20 Grabbeplatz, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2005
This catalogue raisonné records Richter’s works in the years 1993-2004. In his work, Gerhard Richter calls into question painting's boundaries, and the labels applied to painting and theories connected with them.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artist's Books, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artist's Books, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland, 2004
The catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richters editions 1965–2004 was published to coincide with exhibitions in Bonn, Lucerne, Emden, Tübingen and Salzburg.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artist's Books, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artists' Books, Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany, 2004
- Gerhard Richter: Printed! Prints, Photo Editions and Artist's Books, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland, 2004
The catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richters editions 1965–2004 was published to coincided with exhibitions in Bonn, Lucerne, Emden, Tübingen and Salzburg.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
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 1960s,
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
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 development of his artistic œuvre.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA, 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 paintings of the last 40 years.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA, 2002
- Gerhard Richter: 40 Years of Painting, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, 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 paintings of the last 40 years.
...Publisher
Year
Editor
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
This book includes 100 overpainted photographs.
For nearly 40 years Gerhard Richter has been examining the ways we perceive reality and the effects of different forms of representation on the viewer.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
For nearly 40 years Gerhard Richter has been examining the ways we perceive reality and the effects of different forms of representation on the viewer. 'For me,' he has said,
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
This catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richter's drawings encompasses works in pencil, India ink, ballpoint pen, and other drawing media, on both paper and canvas since 1964.
...Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Notes
Vol. 1: Bilder und Objekte in der Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst München
Vol. 2: Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik in der Staatlichen Graphischen Sammlung München
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Atlas of Photographs, Collages and Sketches, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, 1989
- Gerhard Richter: Atlas of Photographs, Collages and Sketches, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, 1989
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Focus on Düsseldorf 1962–1987: Joseph Beuys and his Students, Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Denmark, 1987
- Focus on Düsseldorf: Joseph Beuys, the Academy, the General Beginning, 1962–1987, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1987
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Museum moderner Kunst/Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, Austria, 1986
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1986
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1986
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1963–1986, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 1986
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
ISBN
Language
Category
Notes
Monographien zur rheinisch-westfälischen Kunst der Gegenwart, Volume 50.
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
Publisher
Year
Details
Language
Category
Exhibitions
...
This artwork is shown or mentioned in the following videos: