ART CITIES:Cologne-Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter, Fünf Türen, 1967, Oil on canvas235 x 550 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig CologneGerhard Richter has worked on a dazzling renewal of painting for over 50 years. The wide- ranging oeuvre of perhaps the most famous artist of our time presents a fascinating tension between Figuration and Abstraction, significance and banality. Since the late ‘70s, abstract pictures have predominated in the work of the artist, who was born on 9/2/1932, in Dresden and has lived in Cologne since 1983.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Museum Ludwig Archive

Celebrating Gerhard Richter’s 88th birthday the Museum Ludwig presents the exhibition “Gerhard Richter: New Paintings”, in which are on presentation 21 abstract paintings for the first time, all of which were created last year. These new works, most of which were painted on canvases of very different sizes, feature bright colors and detailed, multilayered compositions. The artist used a paintbrush, a palette knife, a squeegee, and a knife to shape these paintings built up in several layers of oil paint, his many years of experience (during which he has often made use of chance in the creation of his works) result in detailed and extremely complex compositions. Richter’s work is based on doubts about the representability of reality and the question of the meaning of the painted picture. Alongside the exhibition, pioneering works by Gerhard Richter from the collection of the Museum Ludwig are presented, including: “Ema (Nude on a Staircase)” (1966), ”48 Portraits” (1971-72), the abstract painting “War” (1981), and the glass work “11 Panes” (2003). The presentation, which was also designed by Richter, also features many editions in which the artist further expands his means and his questions about the picture and the likeness. Some of these editions have long been part of the Museum Ludwig collection, while others are gifts that collectors from the Rhineland and the artist himself presented to the museum on the occasion of his eighty-fifth birthday.

Info: Curator: Rita Kersting, Museum Ludwig, Hein­rich-Böll-Platz, Cologne, Duration: 9/2-1/5/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.museum-ludwig.de

Left: Gerhard Richter, 11 Scheiben, 2003, Installation, 259 x 180 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne. Right: Gerhard Richter, Ema (Akt auf einer Treppe), 1966, Oil on canvas, 200 x 130 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne
Left: Gerhard Richter, 11 Scheiben, 2003, Installation, 259 x 180 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne. Right: Gerhard Richter, Ema (Akt auf einer Treppe), 1966, Oil on canvas, 200 x 130 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne

 

 

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (947-2), 2016, Oil on wood,40 x 50 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (947-2), 2016, Oil on wood,40 x 50 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne

 

 

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (946-3), 2016, Oil on canvas, 175 x 250 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (946-3), 2016, Oil on canvas, 175 x 250 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne

 

 

Gerhard Richter, Krieg, 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 320 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne
Gerhard Richter, Krieg, 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 320 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne

 

 

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (946-5), 2016, Oil on aluminum, 27 x 35,5 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (946-5), 2016, Oil on aluminum, 27 x 35,5 cm, © Gerhard Richter 2016 (221116), Courtesy Museum Ludwig Cologne