A Perspective on Contemporary Art: Painting – Singular Object

Gerhard Richter. Zur Entstehung der Abstrakten Bilder is the 5th volume of publications from the Gerhard Richter Archive Dresden. The volume includes a lecture by Ulrich Wilmes and his interview with Richter, which took place on the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Abstract Paintings at Museum Ludwig, Cologne and Haus der Kunst, Munich. The lecture examines the creative process behind Richter’s abstract paintings.

Photographs document the work in progress of paintings such as Cage [CR: 897/1-6] and Red [CR: 821]. The question that becomes apparent is: When does the artist consider a painting to be finished? The interview offers insights into Richter’s own understanding of his abstract works.

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, which form approximately one third of his œuvre.

However, this publication is not an overview of the development of his abstract works, but rather singles out selected large format works for discussion. These works, executed between 1986 and 2006, show a similar complexity that originates from a multitude of layers of paint.

Edited by Ulrich Wilmes, with text contributions by Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, Beate Söntgen and Gregor Stemmrich.

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. In his pictures based on photographs - blurred overpaintings, grey paintings, and landscape and abstract compositions - he makes clear that nothing perceived by our senses can ever be found in a picture. The outer world is not portrayable and the inner one resists any comparison. While his painted works based on photographs illustrate painting's superiority, his glass works - glass panes, paintings on glass, mirrors and sculptures - question the interaction of viewer and picture and, like the paintings, offer a window onto the world. This publication takes account of all the important stages of Richter's oeuvre.

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, which form approximately one third of his œuvre.

However, this publication is not an overview of the development of his abstract works, but rather singles out selected large format works for discussion. These works, executed between 1986 and 2006, show a similar complexity that originates from a multitude of layers of paint.

Edited by Ulrich Wilmes, with text contributions by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Beate Söntgen and Gregor Stemmrich.