Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (Abstract Painting) 1992 oil on canvas 92 x 82.1 cm. (36 1/4 x 32 3/8 in.) Signed and numbered 'Richter 1992 776-1' on the reverse.
Provenance Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London Exhibited Tokyo, Fuji Television Gallery, 5 European Artists (Baselitz, Clemente, Kiefer, Kounellis, Richter), September – October 1994 Literature Pagé, Suzanne , Jacob, Wenzel, Springfield, Björn, König, Kasper, Buchloh, Benjamin H. D, Catalogue Raisonné 1962 - 1993, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit (1993), Catalogue Raisonné: 776-1 Catalogue Essay One of the most prized and influential figures in Contemporary art, Gerhard Richter’s holds a legacy rivaled by few. His art demonstrates a masterly and experimental approach to oil-painting, fusing tradition and modernity and making for a myriad of interpretations. Oscillating between figurative, constructive and abstract designations, Richter returns to and builds upon his own archive of creative production, continually referring to and assembling techniques with heightened awareness. Born in Dresden in 1932, the artist trained at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1951-1956 before later attending the Dusseldorf Academy between 1961-1961. Having explored a number of styles during his artistic training, Richter rose to prominence in the early 1960s with his photographic paintings, works in which the artist reproduced photographs in oil. Focusing on figurative works throughout the early-part of his career, Richter nonetheless held a clear interest in the abstract, producing a number of non-figurative paintings during these formative years. In the 1980s the artist returned to abstract with a newfound zeal. Created in 1991 Abstraktes Bild marks Richter’s finest period of abstraction. Radiant and lyrical, in the work, sinuous blue columns ripple seductively down the canvas. Behind these seeming vertebrae, rows of scratched lines create a subtle weave- like pattern. Set against a deep, murky background, the iridescent blue colour of the work produces a scintillating and illusory effect, evocative of the aqueous. Meanwhile the somewhat frantic horizontal striations echo sloped terrains and hilled panorama. As the artist has stated: "Almost all the abstract paintings show scenarios, surroundings and landscapes that don't exist, but they create the impression that they could exit. As though they were photographs of scenarios and regions that had never yet been seen." (G. Richter, 'I Have Nothing to Say and I'm Saying It: Conversations between Gerhard Richter and Nicholas Serota', Gerhard Richter Panorama, London, 2011, p. 19) Thus it would seem Abstraktes Bild’s beguiling format can be read as a clear configuration of the geological - an inventive and modern reinterpretation of the traditional practice of landscape painting. As an artist trained in the practices of Socialist Realism by the Dresden Academy whereby realism was triumphed and didactically enforced, this work exemplifies Richter’s decision to distance himself from the disciplines of his formal education while also testifying to his hallowed position as a pioneer in German art. Lavishly chromatic, in Abstraktes Bild, Richter’s unparalleled skill as a colorist is radiantly on display. In the piece luminous color collide in multiple variations. Hints of pink, white and yellow trickle beneath the deep brownish surface while rich azure blues and greens collide down the work, undulating in vibrancy and richness. Through his masterly handling of this kaleidoscope of tones, in Abstraktes Bild Richter has created a work which is not only visually sublime but through which surface a number of art historical parallels, from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism can be drawn. As the watery tone holds a similar tranquility of Monet’s water lilies, the mottled and engulfing background of the piece seems to stand as a vestige to Rothko. While making references to canonical figures from the art canon this work also holds a clear allusion to the artist’s own oeuvre. With its slightly suffused lines it echoes the blurred technique in Richter’s photographic paintings whereby one has the feeling
Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (Abstract Painting) 1992 oil on canvas 92 x 82.1 cm. (36 1/4 x 32 3/8 in.) Signed and numbered 'Richter 1992 776-1' on the reverse.
Provenance Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London Exhibited Tokyo, Fuji Television Gallery, 5 European Artists (Baselitz, Clemente, Kiefer, Kounellis, Richter), September – October 1994 Literature Pagé, Suzanne , Jacob, Wenzel, Springfield, Björn, König, Kasper, Buchloh, Benjamin H. D, Catalogue Raisonné 1962 - 1993, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit (1993), Catalogue Raisonné: 776-1 Catalogue Essay One of the most prized and influential figures in Contemporary art, Gerhard Richter’s holds a legacy rivaled by few. His art demonstrates a masterly and experimental approach to oil-painting, fusing tradition and modernity and making for a myriad of interpretations. Oscillating between figurative, constructive and abstract designations, Richter returns to and builds upon his own archive of creative production, continually referring to and assembling techniques with heightened awareness. Born in Dresden in 1932, the artist trained at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1951-1956 before later attending the Dusseldorf Academy between 1961-1961. Having explored a number of styles during his artistic training, Richter rose to prominence in the early 1960s with his photographic paintings, works in which the artist reproduced photographs in oil. Focusing on figurative works throughout the early-part of his career, Richter nonetheless held a clear interest in the abstract, producing a number of non-figurative paintings during these formative years. In the 1980s the artist returned to abstract with a newfound zeal. Created in 1991 Abstraktes Bild marks Richter’s finest period of abstraction. Radiant and lyrical, in the work, sinuous blue columns ripple seductively down the canvas. Behind these seeming vertebrae, rows of scratched lines create a subtle weave- like pattern. Set against a deep, murky background, the iridescent blue colour of the work produces a scintillating and illusory effect, evocative of the aqueous. Meanwhile the somewhat frantic horizontal striations echo sloped terrains and hilled panorama. As the artist has stated: "Almost all the abstract paintings show scenarios, surroundings and landscapes that don't exist, but they create the impression that they could exit. As though they were photographs of scenarios and regions that had never yet been seen." (G. Richter, 'I Have Nothing to Say and I'm Saying It: Conversations between Gerhard Richter and Nicholas Serota', Gerhard Richter Panorama, London, 2011, p. 19) Thus it would seem Abstraktes Bild’s beguiling format can be read as a clear configuration of the geological - an inventive and modern reinterpretation of the traditional practice of landscape painting. As an artist trained in the practices of Socialist Realism by the Dresden Academy whereby realism was triumphed and didactically enforced, this work exemplifies Richter’s decision to distance himself from the disciplines of his formal education while also testifying to his hallowed position as a pioneer in German art. Lavishly chromatic, in Abstraktes Bild, Richter’s unparalleled skill as a colorist is radiantly on display. In the piece luminous color collide in multiple variations. Hints of pink, white and yellow trickle beneath the deep brownish surface while rich azure blues and greens collide down the work, undulating in vibrancy and richness. Through his masterly handling of this kaleidoscope of tones, in Abstraktes Bild Richter has created a work which is not only visually sublime but through which surface a number of art historical parallels, from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism can be drawn. As the watery tone holds a similar tranquility of Monet’s water lilies, the mottled and engulfing background of the piece seems to stand as a vestige to Rothko. While making references to canonical figures from the art canon this work also holds a clear allusion to the artist’s own oeuvre. With its slightly suffused lines it echoes the blurred technique in Richter’s photographic paintings whereby one has the feeling
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