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Lot Essay
Composed of an array of green paints that sweep across the canvas and enshroud an underlying layer of vibrant, peeking oranges, Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild emanates an almost palpable sense of depth and light. Painted in 1992, the subject work is part of Richter’s monumental series ‘Abstraktes Bild’—translating simply to ‘abstract picture’—in which the artist explored the conceptual possibilities of painting through many different series of layers, scrapes, and smears. By applying paint in various manners to the surface of the canvas, Richter created something new; “I want to end up with a picture that I haven’t planned,” Richter has explained about the process. “This method of arbitrary choice, chance, inspiration and destruction may produce a specific type of picture, but it never produces a predetermined picture. Each picture has to evolve out of a painterly or visual logic: it has to emerge as if inevitably” (G. Richter, quoted in D. Elger, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Chicago 2010, p. 312). Varying greatly from his earlier works, much of which centered around order and recognizable source material, paintings like the present example illustrate Richter’s wide-ranging skill set and just how comprehensive Richter’s oeuvre truly is.
Using a squeegee in a technique of his own design, in addition to conventional brushes, Richter paints the canvas only to then deface his marks with a swipe of his smearing instrument. In Abstraktes Bild a base of greens and oranges lay beneath a gradient layer of green. The top coat is obstructed by six vertical strokes that seem to wipe away the surface wash, exposing the rich colors that make up the foundation of the painting. The multilayered strokes create a sense of depth—the more time spent looking at the work, the more dimensions can be discovered. The bursts of orange that peer through the greens emulate a sense of radiance, as if a light is shining from behind the canvas. Manipulating the surfaces of his abstracts, Richter explores them in the same way that he considered the ambiguity of blurring in his 1960s photographic paintings. As with these works, Richter is still captured with the intricacies of surface and the ways in which it can prompt thoughts about the mystery of what lies beneath. Abstraktes Bild focuses not on a concrete subject or theme, but rather showcases the powerful interaction between paint, canvas, and the artist’s tools.
Acquired directly from the artist the year of its production, this work has remained in the collection of Benjamin Buchloh for the past three decades, retaining a stunning vibrance and surface. Fresh to market, and coming from a collection which is exceptionally salient to the artist’s history and legacy, Abstrakes Bild is a testament to Richter’s profound explorations with technique and color on an intimate scale.
Using a squeegee in a technique of his own design, in addition to conventional brushes, Richter paints the canvas only to then deface his marks with a swipe of his smearing instrument. In Abstraktes Bild a base of greens and oranges lay beneath a gradient layer of green. The top coat is obstructed by six vertical strokes that seem to wipe away the surface wash, exposing the rich colors that make up the foundation of the painting. The multilayered strokes create a sense of depth—the more time spent looking at the work, the more dimensions can be discovered. The bursts of orange that peer through the greens emulate a sense of radiance, as if a light is shining from behind the canvas. Manipulating the surfaces of his abstracts, Richter explores them in the same way that he considered the ambiguity of blurring in his 1960s photographic paintings. As with these works, Richter is still captured with the intricacies of surface and the ways in which it can prompt thoughts about the mystery of what lies beneath. Abstraktes Bild focuses not on a concrete subject or theme, but rather showcases the powerful interaction between paint, canvas, and the artist’s tools.
Acquired directly from the artist the year of its production, this work has remained in the collection of Benjamin Buchloh for the past three decades, retaining a stunning vibrance and surface. Fresh to market, and coming from a collection which is exceptionally salient to the artist’s history and legacy, Abstrakes Bild is a testament to Richter’s profound explorations with technique and color on an intimate scale.