Arguably the greatest living painter working today, Gerhard Richter is a master of every style and genre of the medium. Richter is a recognized contributor to pop art, minimalism, neo-expressionism, photo-realism, and abstraction who has made portraits, landscapes, and still-lives. A major retrospective of Richter’s large abstract paintings traveled to two cities in Germany last year, and now New York’s Marian Goodman Gallery hosts his latest experiments with abstraction.
The show opens with a gallery full of large white monochromes, which are really paintings that contain layer upon layer of color overlaid with whites, which, after mixing with the other colors, become grays. Richter uses squeegees and other flat devices to smooth over the surface and veil the action below. Hints of color, especially greens in this series, are still evident.
Smaller paintings, utilizing a wet-on-wet manipulated build-up of various colors of paint, follow and lead into a new series of small poured and pushed-around lacquer-on-glass paintings. A pair of large, dark and dense paintings that holds all of the magic of a swamp shares the space of the back gallery with an equally powerful pair of large yellow-over-red-over-who-knows-how-many-colors canvases and a variety of smaller, but still stunning, works.
A painter who paints nothing at all but still makes works that show something, Richter holds a place of his own with an abstract style that couldn’t be duplicated without still being considered a Richter.
A catalogue for the current show, which runs through January 9, is available from the gallery, while a mongraph of the large abstract paintings, which was published by Hatje Cantz, can be purchased from Amazon
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (910-1), 2009, Oil on canvas, 70 7/8 x 70 7/8 in. (180 x 180 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (908-4), 2009, Oil on wood, 19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in. (50 x 70 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Sindbad (905/1-49), detail, 2008, Lacquer behind glass, Each 11 13/16 x 19 11/16 in. (30 x 50 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (911-2), 2009, Oil on canvas, 78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in. (200 x 300 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Sindbad (905/1-49), detail, 2008, Lacquer behind glass, Each 11 13/16 x 19 11/16 in. (30 x 50 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (907-13), 2009, Oil on wood, 25 5/8 x 22 in. (65 x 56 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Sindbad (905/1-49), detail, 2008, Lacquer behind glass, Each 11 13/16 x 19 11/16 in. (30 x 50 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (906-5), 2008, Oil on wood, 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (40 x 40 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (894-1), 2005, Oil on aludibond, 11 3/4 x 17 3/8 in. (30 x 44 cm), Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Comments (10)
Paul you got this article so wrong it is painful – Richter wasn’t the master of all the genres of Modernist and Post-Modernist art, he attacked them, mocked their styles, and tried to nullify them. He was against ideologies, having been part of the Nazi Youth, and then raised in East Germany, he dedicated his life not to mastery but to wiping out the distinctions you just emphasized in your sales pitch disguised as an article. Richter wrote a whole book about it “The Daily Practice of Painting: Writings 1962-1993.”
Thanks you Bill. These paintings are terrible. The “reporting” is worse.
Bill, I didn’t say that Richter was a master of all the genres of Modernist and Post-Modernist art, I stated that he is “arguably the greatest living painter working today, Gerhard Richter is a master of every style and genre of the medium. Richter is a recognized contributor to pop art, minimalism, neo-expressionism, photo-realism, and abstraction who has made portraits, landscapes, and still-lives.” Irregardless of what Richter has written, in the end his work gets judged by the same criteria and in the same categories as every other artist. And Phyllis, what can I say? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; and I’m certainly not alone in thinking that Richter makes gorgeous works.
Ritcher makes beautiful works, and yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Paul, You are convinced that your viewpoint is right, I disagree, but you go ahead and justify it with something as presumptuous as “Irregardless of what Richter has written, in the end his work gets judged by the same criteria and in the same categories as every other artist.” I guess you look at Roman art, Renaissance art, Socialist/Communist art, and German post-WWII art all with the same eye and same criteria? The term art and artist is problematic too, and you will be fine as long as you stay within a limited circle of readers and cover a small, similar group of artists. Regards, Bill
Bill you won the internet argument prize! enjoy the art.
I’m glad you started the article with ARGUABLY, the greatest living painter….
As a student in the field of Art and Graphic Design, Gerhard Ritcher has made a dent in the modern art history book. With his Photo-Painting with the blur (which is absolutely amazing with to many great pieces to name), Abstract Painting that is inspiring to any new realism/abstract painter, and simply his opinion. He is a significant contributor to The art community and many may disagree with his open voice that was quick to judge any artist, while others respect it. Now to ask you what is good art? Is there good art, a piece that is so mind blowing and unbelievable to one person may be a piece of junk to another, lets use an example of any Jackson Pollock splatter paint would you call that spectacular or a waste of paint and canvass? One person can judge another artist work and disagree with millions but in the long run these artist created a type of art that is pleasing to some peoples eyes. Agree or Disagree but bashing this article only makes you half as classy as Ritcher…
These paintings proves that Gerhard Richter is one of the best living abstract artists in the world.
The Superstroke Art Movement
Bill, you’re an idiot.
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