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拍品专文
"Pictures like that don't do anything to combat war. They only show one tiny aspect of the subject of war - maybe only my childish feelings of fear and fascination with war and with weapons of that kind." - Gerhard Richter
As one of the most important artists of our time, Gerhard Richter has demonstrated a virtuosic command of the medium of painting, making incredible strides in the disciplines of abstraction, as well as figuration. His ghostly Photo-paintings of the 1960’s and 70’s established the artist’s promise as an innovator, while the various series of work that would follow–notably, the iconic Abstraktes Bilds–solidified Richter’s position as one of the most revered artists of his generation. Not surprisingly, Richter’s output beyond the realm of painting is similarly impressive and important, as exemplified by the present lot.
Mustangs is photographic print of a painting that Richter completed in 1964, titled Mustang Squadron. This specific model of plane would have held significant political resonance for Richter, as the Mustang was deployed in the British assault on Dresden in 1945, an event that Richter, a boy of thirteen, witnessed from afar as a faint glow in the night sky. Mustangs demonstrates Richter’s wellspring of creative genius in its elliptical approach to medium and representation: as the original 1964 painting is based on a photograph, the present lot is literally a photograph of a painting of a photograph. However, there is one crucial difference between the original painting and the photograph that Richter has made to represent it: in the original work, the planes are flying level to the ground, whereas Mustangs presents them at a dramatically steep angle, not unlike birds of prey in descent. The result is a sly, provocative subversion of photography as a mimetic or documentary device.
As one of the most important artists of our time, Gerhard Richter has demonstrated a virtuosic command of the medium of painting, making incredible strides in the disciplines of abstraction, as well as figuration. His ghostly Photo-paintings of the 1960’s and 70’s established the artist’s promise as an innovator, while the various series of work that would follow–notably, the iconic Abstraktes Bilds–solidified Richter’s position as one of the most revered artists of his generation. Not surprisingly, Richter’s output beyond the realm of painting is similarly impressive and important, as exemplified by the present lot.
Mustangs is photographic print of a painting that Richter completed in 1964, titled Mustang Squadron. This specific model of plane would have held significant political resonance for Richter, as the Mustang was deployed in the British assault on Dresden in 1945, an event that Richter, a boy of thirteen, witnessed from afar as a faint glow in the night sky. Mustangs demonstrates Richter’s wellspring of creative genius in its elliptical approach to medium and representation: as the original 1964 painting is based on a photograph, the present lot is literally a photograph of a painting of a photograph. However, there is one crucial difference between the original painting and the photograph that Richter has made to represent it: in the original work, the planes are flying level to the ground, whereas Mustangs presents them at a dramatically steep angle, not unlike birds of prey in descent. The result is a sly, provocative subversion of photography as a mimetic or documentary device.