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The landscape-format painting Volker Bradke depicts a young man with horn-rimmed glasses, wearing a patterned shirt and a jacket. With a light smile on his lips, he looks past the viewer. In contrast to this, an older man and a girl in the middle distance look directly at the beholder, underlining the snapshot character of the image. Further passers-by stand or sit in front of a stone wall in the background.
The young Volker Bradke, portrayed here in larger than life size, sought to make connections in the Düsseldorf art scene of 1966, and could be found at numerous private views or art events. The photographic source image was taken by Gerhard Richter himself, at an art festival in Büdingen.
The picture was the starting point for a whole exhibition with Volker Bradke as its subject and was part of Hommage à Schmela at Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf. The series of exhibitions took place before the gallery moved to another location and comprised one-day shows by several artists – Joseph Beuys, Konrad Lueg and Sigmar Polke, amongst others.
Gerhard Richter's Volker Bradke exhibition took place on 13th December 1966. On a floral wallpaper installed by Konrad Lueg, Richter displayed not only the painting but also around 30 photographs, a banner and a film, all focusing on Volker Bradke.
The principle of blurring – executed here by Richter in his characteristic manner – is apparent in the blurred photographs and is also transferred into the medium of film.
For Gerhard Richter and his artist friends, Volker Bradke embodied the conformist man in the street, who the artist lifts out of normality by representing him in a large-scale oil painting, in accordance with the ideas of Pop Art.
In the exhibition this approach is raised to the level of the staging of a personality cult: paintings, photographs, banner and film are dedicated to one person. However, in this case this staged “cult” does not refer to any famous person, but to the unknown Volker Bradke. Gerhard Richter challenges the meaning of the adoration of such so-called icons and unmasks the superficiality of celebrity culture.
Notes prepared by editorial team
Christie's, London, UK: 09 February 2005
£ 960,000 (incl. buyer’s premium) | |
USD 1,781,076 |
Sotheby's, New York, USA: 14 November 2001
This artwork was shown in the following exhibitions:
This artwork is included in the following publications:
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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.
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Originally published in German as "Theorie der Form: Gerhard Richter und die Kunst des pragmatischen Zeitalters", 2013.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The catalogue of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, London in 2009 focuses on Richter's portraiture.
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The catalogue of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, London in 2009 focuses on Richter's portraiture.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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- 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
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- 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 1963–1986, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 1986
- Gerhard Richter: Paintings 1962–1985, Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 1986
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- New Realism: 16 German Painters, Galerie Osterweil, Hamburg, Germany, 1967
- New Realism: 16 German Painters, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Haus Salve Hospes, Braunschweig, Germany, 1967
- New Realism: 16 German Painters, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany, 1967
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