Curator's Picks - Gerhard Richter
#1 Betty 1988
Gerhard Richter
Richter's most stunning portrait features his daughter Betty (then aged 10) in a red patterned sweatshirt. The thrill of the painting lies in the mystery of her unseen face and the spectacular play of color, shadow and light that is so unique in the artists work.
#2 Ema (Nude on a staircase) 1966
Gerhard Richter
This famous nude, showing Richter's wife Marianne (called Ema) descending a staircase refers to Marcel Duchamp's painting "Nu descendant un escalier" from 1912 which is a key work of the classical modern. Richter admired and was inspired by Duchamp's distanced and documentary style.
#3 Candle 1982
Gerhard Richter
This beautiful painting from 1982 sold at the October 2011 Christie's auction for an incredible 12 million Euro. The candle stands as a symbol for the quiet protest of the GDR citizens against the socialist regime.
#4 Abstract Paintings
Gerhard Richter
Since many years now, Richter has almost exclusively devoted himself to his large-scale abstract paintings. These are created without any concept- purely intuitively as can be observed in Corinna Belz's movie 'Gerhard Richter-Painting'. These color explosions are pure artistic expression.
#5 Cathedral Window in Cologne
Gerhard Richter
In 2007 Richter unveiled a masterpiece: The new south window of Cologne's famous dome was turned into a 113 square meter large painting made of 10.512 colored glass mosaics.
#6 Uncle Rudi 1965
Gerhard Richter
The painting refers to a photograph taken of Richters uncle, Rudolf Schönfelder, on the day that he was enlisted into the army. As a German painter, Richter early thematized the involvement of one's own family in WWII and the emotional and psychological consequences this often had.
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