Artist's Books

The artist's book War Cut, designed by Gerhard Richter focuses on Abstract Painting [CR: 648-2] of 1987, which is located at Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris.

In May 2002, Gerhard Richter took detailed photographs of the picture, in which dark colours dominate and whose rather rough appearance is striking.

Two years later, Richter takes the photographs up again for his book project War Cut. 216 close-up photographs are juxtaposed to 216 texts from the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung of 20th and 21st March 2003, the beginning of the Iraq War. Whereas Gerhard Richter assembles the pictures following aesthetical principles, the texts are mainly printed in their chronological order. The layout of the book follows a formal pattern: the photographs as well as the texts fill a space of 10 x 15 cm.

The artist's book War Cut, designed by Gerhard Richter focuses on Abstract Painting [CR: 648-2] of 1987, which is located at Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris.

In May 2002, Gerhard Richter took detailed photographs of the picture, in which dark colours dominate and whose rather rough appearance is striking.

Two years later, Richter takes the photographs up again for his book project War Cut. 216 close-up photographs are juxtaposed to 216 texts from the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung of 20th and 21th March 2003, the beginning of the Iraq War. Whereas Gerhard Richter assembles the pictures following aesthetical principles, the texts are mainly printed in their chronological order. The layout of the book follows a formal pattern: the photographs as well as the texts fill a space of 10 x 15 cm.

The artist's book War Cut, designed by Gerhard Richter focuses on Abstract Painting [CR: 648-2] of 1987, which is located at Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris.

In May 2002, Gerhard Richter took detailed photographs of the picture, in which dark colours dominate and whose rather rough appearance is striking.

Two years later, Richter takes the photographs up again for his book project War Cut. 216 close-up photographs are juxtaposed to 216 texts from the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung of 20th and 21th March 2003, the beginning of the Iraq War. Whereas Gerhard Richter assembles the pictures following aesthetical principles, the texts are mainly printed in their chronological order. The layout of the book follows a formal pattern: the photographs as well as the texts fill a space of 10 x 15 cm.

Gerhard Richter’s artist's book Sils is named after the Swiss village of the same name, which he visited regularly for many years. Richter has approached the Sils landscape from various angles with a series of overpainted photographs. The photographs are mostly arranged as pairs, and are entitled Fextal, Piz Lunghi, Piz Surlej, Piz Corvatsch or Silsersee after different places within the region. Owing to the overpainting and their orientation – some of them are printed upside down – it is difficult to recognise the different locations.

The book was first published on the occasion of a Gerhard Richter exhibition at Nietzsche-Haus in Sils in 1992, and has been reprinted repeatedly since.

Edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist, with a text by Peter André Bloch.

From the author's note to the 1980 Nova Scotia Press edition: "In the Summer of 1978 I took photographs of the surface of an oil sketch on canvas (78 x 52 cm, it had been previously exhibited in my exhibition "Pictures" at the Anna Leonowen's Gallery of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design). The photographs were taken from various sides, from various angles, various distances, and under different light conditions.

The resulting 128 photographs were organized in two versions: one, the sequential order that is presented here under the covers of a book, and a second version which is presented in grid-form (128 details from a picture II, 1978, 127 x 400 cm, photographs on board, framed, Collection Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld)".

Upon exhibiting the Halifax drawings twenty years later, Richter reworked these photographs anew, resulting in this book in which the images are beautifully printed, and presented sequentially (one to a page, recto only).

This work contains 69 different details of the surface of one abstract painting, photographed head-on. At first glance the fragmented topography suggests that Richter followed a specific plan, but the search for fixed coordinates or a sequence of the details leads nowhere. Each fragment almost fills the entire page, followed by a blank page, lending order to disorder.

This work contains 69 different details of the surface of one abstract painting, photographed head-on. At first glance the fragmented topography suggests that Richter followed a specific plan, but the search for fixed coordinates or a sequence of the details leads nowhere. Each fragment almost fills the entire page, followed by a blank page, lending order to disorder.

This work contains 69 different details of the surface of one abstract painting, photographed head-on. At first glance the fragmented topography suggests that Richter followed a specific plan, but the search for fixed coordinates or a sequence of the details leads nowhere. Each fragment almost fills the entire page, followed by a blank page, lending order to disorder.

Gerhard Richter’s artist's book Sils is named after the Swiss village of the same name, which he visited regularly for many years. Richter has approached the Sils landscape from various angles with a series of overpainted photographs. The photographs are mostly arranged as pairs, and are entitled Fextal, Piz Lunghi, Piz Surlej, Piz Corvatsch or Silsersee after different places within the region. Owing to the overpainting and their orientation – some of them are printed upside down – it is difficult to recognise the different locations.

The book was first published on the occasion of a Gerhard Richter exhibition at Nietzsche-Haus in Sils in 1992, and has been reprinted repeatedly since.

Edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist, with a text by Peter André Bloch.

From the author's note: "In the summer of 1978 I took photographs of the surface of an oil sketch on canvas (78 x 52 cm, it had been previously exhibited in my exhibition "Pictures" at the Anna Leonowen's Gallery of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design). The photographs were taken from various sides, from various angles, various distances, and under different light conditions.

The resulting 128 photographs were organized in two versions: one, the sequential order that is presented here under the covers of a book, and a second version which is presented in grid-form ("128 details from a picture II", 1978, 127 x 400 cm, photographs on board, framed , Collection Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld)".

The catalogue Gerhard Richter. Atlas von de foto’s en schetsen was published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition in Utrecht.

The first publication of Atlas by Richter displays plates in black and white exclusively. Atlas is a collection of photographs, newspaper cuttings and sketches that the artist compiled and then arranged on single sheets beginning in the mid 1960s. The plates, which often contain templates for his paintings, reflect topics with which Richter deals artistically and privately.

Designed by Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter, this artist's book was published on the occasion of the exhibition held at the Gallery h, Hannover in 1966. The book comprises of biographies and exhibition indexes as well as private photographs staged by Richter and Polke, accompanied by text collages of Perry Rhodan novels, newspaper cuttings and artists' statements by both artists.