These rarely-exhibited townscapes, numbered 224 in Gerhard Richter's catalogue raisonné [CR: 224/6-10, 17-18], share one characteristic: the motifs are reduced to just a few shades of grey, reminiscent of stencil printing.
The townscapes do not show the extensive road networks as in aerial photography [CR: 171, 175–177-3, 249–251], nor do they depict the clear geometrical order that characterises Richter's pictures of architectural models [CR: 217–219]. Instead the paintings show houses closely built together. The diversity of the buildings indicates the structure of a town or city that has grown over the years.
The architectural forms were greatly simplified by the artist. Richter joins together grey-coloured fields with quick and impasto brushwork, while he foregoes any detailed elaboration.
Although the buildings are depicted in perspective, it is the use of contrast that is most striking to the beholder: lighter shades stand out, whereas darker ones fade into the background. The perspective effect generated this way seems to be of more importance than the depicted motif itself.
Gerhard Richter confirms that this series of paintings is above all about painterly qualities and that identifying the location of what is depicted plays only a minor role: 'towns and mountains from a bird's-eye view (abandonment of the conception of interesting content and illusionistic painting; a spot of paint should be a spot of paint, and the motif needn't have a message or allow for interpretation).'1
1 'Work Overview', 1968 in: Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961–2007, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009, p. 53
Notes prepared by editorial team
Sotheby's, London, UK: 09 December 1998
This artwork was shown in the following exhibitions:
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