Gerhard Richter

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.

Works from the Böckmann, Frieder Burda and Ströher Collections, and also from other private collections are highlighted and allow an insight spanning 40 years of artistic creation. The paintings from the years 1963 – 2007 reflect both the history of post-war Germany and the development of Gerhard Richter’s painting.

With contributions by Götz Adriani and Dieter Schwarz.

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.
Besides an evaluation of numerous letters and material from the Gerhard Richter archive, the book includes conversations with the artist as well as several of his contemporaries. Dietmar Elger, director of the Gerhard Richter Archive, describes Richter’s daily studio routine and his creative process. Thanks to detailed background information, this book contributes to an understanding of Richter’s art in connection with his life.

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 that are based on photographical source images. The paintings and photographs, which were predominantly taken from magazines and advertisements of the era, are confronted with each other; Richter’s selective process is illuminated and categorised here.

Letters, which Richter wrote to his artist friends Helmut Heinze and Wieland Förster, can also be read for the first time in this publication, along with photographs of Richter’s studio at the time, and give a strong impression of his work in this period.

The cycle October 18, 1977 completes the works from the 1960s since its creative process refers to the earlier works. A comprehensive examination of the source material that lead to these paintings of members of the terrorist group Red Army Faction has also been carried out.

Contributions by Ortrud Westheider, Uwe M. Schneede, Dietmar Elger, Hubertus Butin and Dietmar Rübel.

Published to accompany the exhibition 40 | 10. 40 Jahre Sammlung – 10 Jahre Museum Frieder Burda, this catalogue looks at Burda’s collecting activities over the last 40 years. It also provides an overview of the museum’s exhibitions of the last 10 years.

One of the most comprehensive bodies of works are paintings by Gerhard Richter, whose work has played a crucial role since the beginning of Burda’s collection. Burda was particularly fascinated by the versatility of Richter's paintings, whose figurative and non-figurative art are of the same importance in his oeuvre. 

Richter’s works have featured in the majority of exhibitions held at the museum. Due to his prominent role in the collection, and with the help of loans, a large retrospective took place in the museum in 2008. The exhibition Gerhard Richter. Bilder aus privaten Sammlungen was a survey of 40 years of Richter’s work as a painter and emphasised his significance as an artist.

The catalogue contains an interview with collector Frieder Burda as well as written contributions by Hans-Joachim Müller and Wolfgang Pehnt.

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 that are based on photographical source images. The paintings and photographs, which were predominantly taken from magazines and advertisements of the era, are confronted with each other; Richter’s selective process is illuminated and categorised here.

Letters, which Richter wrote to his artist friends Helmut Heinze and Wieland Förster, can also be read for the first time in this publication, along with photographs of Richter’s studio at the time, and give a strong impression of his work in this period.

The cycle October 18, 1977 completes the works from the 1960s since its creative process refers to the earlier works. A comprehensive examination of the source material that lead to these paintings of members of the terrorist group Red Army Faction has also been carried out.

Contributions by Ortrud Westheider, Uwe M. Schneede, Dietmar Elger, Hubertus Butin and Dietmar Rübel.

In this publication, eminent American scholar and curator Robert Storr offers an authoritative consideration of September, Richter’s 2005 painting made in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center of 11 September 2001, asking “what is the meaning of a single, small, almost abstract depiction of one of the most consequential occurrences in recent world history?”

Opening with a vivid personal account of being in New York that day and paying particular attention to the role of the media, Storr deftly explores the geo-political context of the attacks, capturing the effects of the atrocity on a deeply human level while navigating the complex web of political, social, religious and cultural factors that it embodied and the discourse it has provoked.

Along with an erudite analysis of the creation of the painting, Storr’s treatise develops by means of an insightful study into the themes of terrorism, murder, violence and war in Richter’s oeuvre, from the bombing of cities during World War II to the controversial cycle of paintings October 18, 1977 (1988) depicting West German terrorists, the Baader-Meinhof group.

In 2009 September was gifted to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In making a valuable contribution to the understanding of a significant work by one of the world’s foremost artists, this publication demonstrates how vital painting and its readings can be for engaging with the complexities of major events in the world today.

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.
Besides an evaluation of numerous letters and material from the Gerhard Richter archive, the book includes conversations with the artist as well as several of his contemporaries. Dietmar Elger, director of the Gerhard Richter Archive, describes Richter’s daily studio routine and his creative process. Thanks to detailed background information, this book contributes to an understanding of Richter’s art in connection with his life.

This edition of the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler published in 2008 was slightly revised to include details of more recent events in Richter’s life.

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.
Besides an evaluation of numerous letters and material from the Gerhard Richter archive, the book includes conversations with the artist as well as several of his contemporaries. Dietmar Elger, director of the Gerhard Richter Archive, describes Richter’s daily studio routine and his creative process. Thanks to detailed background information, this book contributes to an understanding of Richter’s art in connection with his life.

This English translation of the biography Gerhard Richter, Maler by Dietmar Elger, published in 2009, was slightly revised for the Anglophone reader.

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.