Gerhard Richter: Painting as Mirror

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.

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.

Gerhard Richter's diverse body of work questions broadly held attitudes about the inherent importance of stylistic consistency for an artist. It ranges from photo-based pictures all across the board to gestural abstraction. The 'natural' evolution of individual artistic sensibility, the spontaneous component of creativity and the relationship of technological means and mass media imagery to traditional studio methods and formats. Richter has always kept his distance from revolutionaries and conservatives alike regarding what painting “should” be. This has resulted in what has been among the most convincing renewal of painting's vitality in late 20th- and early 21st-century art.

This publication consists of a critical essay by curator Robert Storr, a rare interview with the artist himself, a chronology, an exhibition history, and nearly 300 colour and duotone reproductions.

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.

The catalogue Gerhard Richter. Bilder / Serien accompanies Gerhard Richter’s eponymous exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler. The show is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, a longstanding friend of Richter, and looks back at 60 years of the artist’s work. The exhibition focuses on work he created since the 1960s; namely, series, cycles and interior spaces. According to Obrist, too little attention has been devoted to this specific section of his oeuvre to date. Works exhibited in groups are juxtaposed with single pieces, which act as both counterpoints characteristic of Richter’s style, yet simultaneously illuminate the similarities between the different bodies of work.

Besides illustrations of the exhibited paintings, the catalogue also includes text contributions by Sam Keller, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Dieter Schwarz. The essays by Obrist and Schwarz primarily analyse Richter’s series. An interview between the curator and Richter reveals the background of the development of the series. Furthermore, the catalogue includes a letter by George Didi-Huberman, who shares his thoughts after a visit to the artist’s studio.

The catalogue Gerhard Richter. Pictures / Series accompanies Gerhard Richter’s exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler. The show is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, a longstanding friend of Richter, and looks back at 60 years of the artist’s work. The exhibition focuses on work he created since the 1960s; namely, series, cycles and interior spaces. According to Obrist, too little attention has been devoted to this specific section of his oeuvre to date. Works exhibited in groups are juxtaposed with single pieces, which act as both counterpoints characteristic of Richter’s style, yet simultaneously illuminate the similarities between the different bodies of work.

Besides illustrations of the exhibited paintings, the catalogue also includes texts contributed by Sam Keller, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Dieter Schwarz. The essays by Obrist and Schwarz primarily analyse Richter’s series. An interview between the curator and Richter reveals the background of the development of the series. Furthermore, the catalogue includes a letter by George Didi-Huberman, who shares his thoughts after a visit to the artist’s studio.

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.

Gerhard Richter's diverse body of work questions broadly held attitudes about the inherent importance of stylistic consistency for an artist. It ranges from photo-based pictures all across the board to gestural abstraction. The 'natural' evolution of individual artistic sensibility, the spontaneous component of creativity and the relationship of technological means and mass media imagery to traditional studio methods and formats. Richter has always kept his distance from revolutionaries and conservatives alike regarding what painting “should” be. This has resulted in what has been among the most convincing renewal of painting's vitality in late 20th- and early 21st-century art.

This publication consists of a critical essay by curator Robert Storr, a rare interview with the artist himself, a chronology, an exhibition history, and nearly 300 colour and duotone reproductions.

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.

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.

Catalogue accompanying the exhibition Gerhard Richter. Zeichnungen, Aquarelle, neue Bilder at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum Krefeld (April 9–June 18, 2000).

Although throughout his career Richter has always worked in the two seemingly contrasting realms of pure abstraction and photorealism they have turned out to be complementary aspects of his vision. This inter-relation of media is especially evident in the series of paintings completed in 1999 and is brought together in this publication. Having always been a strong believer in the power of painting this series of work documents his rediscovery of this powerful and for himself unavoidable force of self-expression. The images range from abstract, expressionistic shapes, to landscapes, to portraits without losing the underlying loyalty to aesthetic beauty. Adding to the reproductions there is a perceptive text by Julian Heynen to complete this publication.

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.