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Lot Essay
'For about a year now, I have been unable to do anything in my painting but scrape off, pile on and then remove again. In this process, I don't actually reveal what was beneath. If I wanted to do that, I would have to think what to reveal (figurative pictures or signs or patterns); that is, pictures that might as well be produced direct. It would be something of a symbolic trick: bringing to light the lost, buried pictures, or something to that effect. The process of applying, destroying and layering serves only to achieve a more varied technical repertoire in picture-making' Gerhard Richter, 1992 (G. Richter quoted in D. Elger, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Cologne 2002, p. 322).
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild was painted in 1992 at the height of the artist's abstract practice. With his mastery of his signature paint handling technique, Richter choreographs gossamer thin layers of anthracite grey pigment across the surface of the canvas, so thin and almost translucent that they reveal a kaleidoscope of shimmering oranges with flashes of vivid turquoise and fresh earthy greens that lie secreted underneath. This dazzling effect is produced by Richter laying down multiple players of paint, one on top of each other, and then delicately stripping away the layers using a large rubber squeegee. This repeated laying down, stripping away and laying down ensures that fragments of each layer retains its presence allowing the viewer to look through each of the subsequent layers deep into the very heart of the painting.
The artist's enjoyment of the painterly process is self-evident in the luxurious swathes of rich pigment that stretch out across the surface of the canvas gently parting, in places, to reveal the multi-coloured traces of its origins. Seeming to both conceal and reveal at the same time and vying with one another for the eye's attention, these stripes provide a pictorial demonstration of Richter's belief that what we call 'reality' is ultimately a 'fiction,' a mere 'model' for understanding the world, 'I don't have a specific picture in my mind's eye... I want to end up with a picture that I haven't planned. This method of arbitrary choice, chance, inspiration and destruction may produce a specific type of picture, but it never produces a pre-determined picture. Each picture has to evolve out of a painterly or visual logic: it has to emerge as if inevitably. And by not planning the outcome, I hope to achieve the same coherence and objectivity that a random slice of Nature (or a Readymade) always possesses' (G. Richter, 'Interview with Sabine Schtz', 1990, D. Elger, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Cologne 2002, p. 312).
Painted the year Richter exhibited his large scale Abstraktes Bilds to international acclaim at Documenta IX in Kassel, these works represent the pinnacle of his painterly investigations. This work is a continuation of his painterly investigations that began with the blurred and disrupted surfaces of his early grey photo-paintings. The broad vistas of pigment that sweep across the surface of Abstraktes Bild breaks down the arbitrary dichotomy of abstraction and figuration by opening up the surface to reveal to hidden structure of mysterious forms. Considered a master amongst twentieth century artists for his expert handling of paint, this picture in particular demonstrates Richter's unrivalled ability to produce mysterious and atmospheric works that also questions the very nature of painting in the modern age.
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild was painted in 1992 at the height of the artist's abstract practice. With his mastery of his signature paint handling technique, Richter choreographs gossamer thin layers of anthracite grey pigment across the surface of the canvas, so thin and almost translucent that they reveal a kaleidoscope of shimmering oranges with flashes of vivid turquoise and fresh earthy greens that lie secreted underneath. This dazzling effect is produced by Richter laying down multiple players of paint, one on top of each other, and then delicately stripping away the layers using a large rubber squeegee. This repeated laying down, stripping away and laying down ensures that fragments of each layer retains its presence allowing the viewer to look through each of the subsequent layers deep into the very heart of the painting.
The artist's enjoyment of the painterly process is self-evident in the luxurious swathes of rich pigment that stretch out across the surface of the canvas gently parting, in places, to reveal the multi-coloured traces of its origins. Seeming to both conceal and reveal at the same time and vying with one another for the eye's attention, these stripes provide a pictorial demonstration of Richter's belief that what we call 'reality' is ultimately a 'fiction,' a mere 'model' for understanding the world, 'I don't have a specific picture in my mind's eye... I want to end up with a picture that I haven't planned. This method of arbitrary choice, chance, inspiration and destruction may produce a specific type of picture, but it never produces a pre-determined picture. Each picture has to evolve out of a painterly or visual logic: it has to emerge as if inevitably. And by not planning the outcome, I hope to achieve the same coherence and objectivity that a random slice of Nature (or a Readymade) always possesses' (G. Richter, 'Interview with Sabine Schtz', 1990, D. Elger, Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Cologne 2002, p. 312).
Painted the year Richter exhibited his large scale Abstraktes Bilds to international acclaim at Documenta IX in Kassel, these works represent the pinnacle of his painterly investigations. This work is a continuation of his painterly investigations that began with the blurred and disrupted surfaces of his early grey photo-paintings. The broad vistas of pigment that sweep across the surface of Abstraktes Bild breaks down the arbitrary dichotomy of abstraction and figuration by opening up the surface to reveal to hidden structure of mysterious forms. Considered a master amongst twentieth century artists for his expert handling of paint, this picture in particular demonstrates Richter's unrivalled ability to produce mysterious and atmospheric works that also questions the very nature of painting in the modern age.