GERHARD RICHTER

DRESDEN-BORN PAINTER GERHARD RICHTER

GERHARD RICHTER | IN SERIES

A summit like no other: Davos, 1981, from Richter’s cycle of mountain pictures. (Photo: Fondation Beyeler, Basel)

Gerhard Richter, 18 May until 7 September, in the Fondation Beyeler, Basel.

I have known Gerhard Richter since I visited the opening of his exhibition in Bern in 1986 as an 18-year old schoolboy. From this meeting began a dialogue that has not stopped since. Richter’s work accompanied me almost daily when I was a student in St. Gallen, where a wall-covering abstract painting by him had been mounted in the library. In 1992 I put on the first of my many Richterexhibitions in the Nietzsche House in Sils-Maria. I recorded a great number of our conversations; a selection was also published as a book. But it’s not just between Richter and me that there is a close connection but also between Richter and Switzerland. His stay in Davos inspired him to create various mountain pictures; back in 1966 galerist Bruno Bischofberger showed his work and so, on many occasions, did the director of the Winterthur Art Museum, Dieter Schwarz, who later built up a very good Richter collection. Yet since 1986 there has been no big overview exhibition of his work in Switzerland. That I was given the privilege,, in close collaboration with the artist, to curate this one now is like a dream come true: It is not only the re-viewing of Richter’s works, that so marked my life, but it is also the first big museum exhibition that I have ever put on in Switzerland, my native country.

But: How does one present Gerhard Richter’s work that has been and is to be seen all over the world? The idea came about when I studied one of his five variations on Titian’s Annunciation, in which the subject dissolves more and more in each variation. It became clear to me that Richter’s works – whether it is the October pictures or the clouds or the Colour Charts – can be best experienced when one perceives them as a series or a cycle. Then, through the apparent repetition of the theme, the differences become all the more clearly visible. Even with the grey pictures that, on first viewing, all look the same, the theme turns out not to be the negation of painting at all. In contrast, when one looks at them precisely, one notices straight away that these are totally different pictures. To underline this principle of variation as repetition, hanging in each room we have small-format pictures, in among the series, like counterpoints in music, to make visible the incredibly high number of dimensions that can be discovered in Richter’s work.



There is a catalogue with texts by, among others, Georges Didi-Huberman

and Dieter Schwarz, as well as a conversation between Hans Ulrich Obrist

and Gerhard Richter, to accompany the exhibition


Hans Ulrich Obrist and Dieter Schwarz: Gerhard Richter: Bücher:

Buchhandlung Walther König 2013


Gerhard Richter, 18 May until 7 September, in the Fondation Beyeler,

Basle.


Hans Ulrich Obrist is curator and co-director of the Serpentine Galleries

in London.

THANKS TO http://blog.dasmagazin.ch/2014/05/17/gerhard-richter-series/

GERHARD RICHTER | THE BOLD STANDARD

Gerhard Richter pictured with "4900 Colours: Version II." Photograph: Graeme Robertson

German visual artist Gerhard Richter has exploded onto the fine art scene in recent years. Between major exhibitions, one-man retrospectives, and an impressive representation of his work in the most renowned modern-art museums, Richter is in high demand. Many have even called him “the world’s most influential living painter.”

Born in Dresden, Germany in 1932, Richter demonstrated an early aptitude and affinity for artistry. He attended the prestigious Dresden Art Academy, which limited its students’ focus to the study and practice of Communist Realism. Longing to break free from the restrictive ideology and controlled aesthetics, Richter fled from East to West Germany in 1961. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of abstract artists like Jackson Pollock and Lucio Fontana, whose innovative endeavors and displays of artistic freedom intrigued and inspired him.

Richter began to investigate the potential of space and ideas of perception. He believed the artist faced two obstacles in his quest to convey reality: to first understand his surroundings, and then to portray his world. What transpired in his work was an aesthetic duality, a style that was simultaneously abstract and realistic. He often plays with double illusions, challenging the viewer to look past his original understanding and to look deeper into the painting. The viewer cannot always trust what he is seeing, and must try to change his perception in order to reach a higher level of comprehension.

Richter used this concept in a number of different figurative and abstract modes, including Pop Art, Abstract Art, and Optical Art. He did not adhere to one particular cohesive aesthetic, but drew from many different genres and styles, constantly reinventing his approach to art.

And the public has responded in droves, widening the demand for Richter’s work. Sources approximate that $76.9 million worth of Richter’s art was auctioned off in 2010, surpassing that of any other living artist. The biggest buyers were from Russia and China, though Richter’s market is truly global (with Americans, Koreans, Swiss, and Belgians staking a large claim in his work). Sotheby’s European chairman of contemporary art has said that Richter’s work has been flowing steadily out of Germany since the mid ‘90s. Auction houses aren’t the only ones to see the steady flow of Richter sales, as galleries and private collectors have also taken notice of the increasing demand.

Richter’s candle paintings have proven to command the highest auction bids. One of these sold for nearly $15.8 million in 2008. The series is composed of 27 still-life paintings, where each piece possesses an old-fashioned yet timeless quality. “Richter’s candles are like Warhol’s Marilyns,” says Francis Outred, head of contemporary art for Christie’s Europe.

More of Richter’s most popular works are the “Abstrakte Bilder” series—hundreds of abstract paintings that are, as Richter once stated, “mysterious, like an unknown land.” Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich paid about $15.2 million for a select painting from this series in 2008. Richter’s “Capitalist Realism” paintings from the 1960s have also proven to be highly sought after. Despite the depressing and provocative subject matter of these paintings (Tante Marianne depicts Richter’s aunt, who was sterilized then starved to death by Nazis; Zwei Liebespaare depicts two lovers in compromising form), these pieces have sold for millions as well.

The Richter market seems to be its own breed, with a niche product that plays more like the stock market than the art market. Investors have noticed that the collectors, rather than dealers, drive up prices by stockpiling or underbidding, and since Richter’s work requires a very particular taste, many speculators opt for more commercial and popular art. Regardless of Richter’s niche in the market is small, yet undeniably powerful. With its rich colors and textures, his work presents a powerful dialogue, enticing the viewer to actively engage in the piece. It takes a discerning eye to truly understand Richter’s art, and even more so, Richter himself.

You can contact Kerry at kerry@artandcointv.com

THANKS TO www.artandcointv.com

LONDON ART AUCTION RESULT

Gerhard Richter, Kerze (Candle), 1982 (est. $9.3-13.9 million, realized $16.5 million). All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art sale on Friday evening in London ended the week’s auction blitz with a bang. The sale followed Phillips and Sotheby’s auctions in the same category that both failed to beat low presale estimates. The Christie’s sale was comprised of 47 lots that brought in $60 million, just shy of the $62 million high estimate. Top honors went to the evening’s cover lot- Gerhard Richter‘s Kerze – which was expected to bring in as much as $13.9 million. The artistmade headlines earlier this month when he characterized the art market as “impossible to understand” and “daft” during the press launch of his retrospective currently on view at Tate Modern. If anything, his comments seemed to have whet the already healthy appetite for his work, as Kerze sold for $16.5 million and set a record for the artist at auction. The candle paintings, in which the artist depicts lighted candles in his signature photorealistic style, are the most sought after works in the painter’s oeuvre.

Christie’s Jussi Pylkkanen at the rostrum.
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Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1992 (est. $3.8-5.3 million, realized $5.7 million), via Christies.com
Richter also secured the second highest earning lot of the evening with Abstraktes Bild, which sold for $5.7 million against a high estimate of $5.3 million. The painting last sold at Christie’s New York in 2002 for $1.05 million.



Antony Gormley, Angel of the North (Life-Size Maquette), 1996 (est. $2.3- 3 million, realized $5.7 million)
Six other artist records were set. Bidders chased after Antony Gormley‘s life size maquette of Angel of the North, one of England’s most recognizable pieces of public art. The work is number five in an edition of five. The third maquette in the series sold at Sotheby’s London in July 2008 for $4.6 million.



Martin Kippenberger, Untitled, 1990 (est. $380,000-530,000, realized $2.1 million), via Christies.com



Damien Hirst, Judas Iscariot (The Twelve Disciples), 1994 (est. $760,000-1.1 million, realized $1.6 million)
Sculpture fared well at the evening sale. Martin Kippenberger‘s squiggly lamp post carried a high estimate of $530,000 and was knocked down at $2.1 million, reportedly to former head of Christie’s Contemporary art department Philippe Segalot. The piece was acquired directly from the artist by the selling party. A bull’s head in formaldehyde by Damien Hirst  sold for $1.6 million against a high estimate of $1.1 million. Ron Mueck‘s hyper-real sculpture of a crouched man holding a sweater over his head sold for $947,000 against a high estimate of $900,000. The work carried a third party guarantee.



Ron Mueck, Man Under Cardigan, 1998 (est. $610,000-900,000, realized $947,000)



Ahmed Alsoudani, Baghdad I, 2008 ( est. $385,000-540,000, realized $1.1 million), via Christies.com
The artist record was also set for Iraqi-born Ahmed Alsoudani, whose work is currently on view in his homeland’s pavillion at the Venice Biennale. The painting on offer Friday evening was executed the year after Alsoudani graduated from Yale’s MFA program and carried a high estimate of $540,000. It fetched nearly twice that sum when it was hammered down at $1.1 million (with fees).
The results of the Christie’s sale proved that there is still energy in the market, despite fever-pitched concerns about the economy on both sides of the pond. All eyes are now on the next round of auctions next month in New York. Check back for a preview of the upcoming sales.
-J. Mizrachi
Related Links:
Christie’s Results [Christie's]
Christie’s Once Again Defies the Market, Pulling Off a $60 Million Triumph in Its London Contemporary Art Sale [Artinfo]
Richter $16.6 Million Record Leads Auction Boost to Art Market [Bloomberg]
Richter, Gormley records fall at Christie’s art sale [Reuters]
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artobserved.com

GERHARD RICHTER | OVERPAINTED PHOTOGRAPHS

“Richter has initiated a fruitful dialogue between painting and photography that has resulted in his painted photographs, small-format images taken during his travels, walks or within his own home. Those images that do not fit within his personal album due to their lack of specificity or focus or for being duplicates are subsequently painted. The images that compose the Overpainted Photographs exhibition come from private collections and the artist’s own collection, and they reflect the intensity and perseverance with which Richter has worked on this project from 1989 to the present day.”

images © Gerhard Richter