ART-PRESENTATION: Gerhard Richter-New Paintings

Gerhard 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. On the occasion of his 85th birthday, the Gerhard Richter Archive of the Dresden State Art Collections is holding an exhibition the artist.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Albertinum Archive

Gerhard Richter is connected to the Dresden State Art Collections and his birthplace of Dresden in a unique way through the archive, which was founded here and named after him. In the exhibition “Gerhard Richter. New Paintings” at Albertinum are on presentation 32 paintings by Gerhard Richter and for the first time are on exhibition 7 recently created works. The new “Abstrakten Bilder” since 2015 are different from the work created 5 years before, with its reserved and delicately modulated surfaces. The paintings tie in with the works from the late ‘80s and impress with their vibrant and fragmented multitude of colouration. In addition to his brush and squeegee, Gerhard Richter also uses a knife to scratch animated traces into the surface of the image and reveals the multiple layers of oil paint by stripping it all the way back to the layers underneath. This process reminds us of the “Abstrakten Bilder” created around 1990. However, Richter no longer uses the knife in parallel, vertical tracks, instead, he uses free, gestural movements across the canvas. These works differ from all his other Abstract works in their pictorial gesture and signify a new dynamic pictorial beginning. The Gerhard Richter Archive is intended as a centre for research and communication concerning the works of this artist and as such it collects and documents everything that is published about Gerhard Richter or contain relevant information and contributions about him and his artistic context. The most important research project is the compilation and publication of an academic catalogue raisonné of all of Gerhard Richter’s paintings and sculptures, which will be richly illustrated and will include information about provenance, exhibitions and literature.

Info: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Albertinum, Tzschirnerplatz 2, Dresden, Duration: 20/5-27/8/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.skd.museum