Gerhard Richter. Projekte und ausgesuchte Editionen

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, as well as proofs. It contains all original works that were made in editions, such as prints, photographic editions, artist’s books, artist’s posters, multiples and editions of paintings, which were produced before 2013.

Text contributions by Hubertus Butin and Stefan Gronert provide an insight into techniques, form, relevance and context of the editions. Butin analyses the significance of editions in Richter’s oeuvre as well as its relevance in art history. Gronert concentrates on the importance of photography in Richter’s oeuvre; not only does it play a role as a medium of reproduction but also as source of templates for his paintings.

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, as well as proofs. It contains all original works that were made in editions, such as prints, photographic editions, artist’s books, artist’s posters, multiples and editions of paintings, which were produced before 2013.

Text contributions by Hubertus Butin and Stefan Gronert provide an insight into techniques, form, relevance and context of the editions. Butin analyses the significance of editions in Richter’s oeuvre as well as its relevance in art history. Gronert concentrates on the importance of photography in Richter’s oeuvre; not only does it play a role as a medium of reproduction but also as source of templates for his paintings.

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.