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Lot Essay
'A picture like this is painted in different layers, separated by intervals of time. The first layer mostly represents the background, which has a photographic, illusionistic look to it, though done without using a photograph. This first, smooth, soft-edged paint surface is like a finished picture; but after a while I decide that I understand it or have seen enough of it, and in the next stage of painting I partly destroy it, partly add to it; and so it goes on at intervals, till there is nothing more to do and the picture is finished' (Richter, 1984, quoted in H.-U. Obrist (ed.), Gerhard Richter: The Daily Practice of Painting. Writings and Interviews 1962-1993, trans. D. Britt, London, 1995, p. 112).
The above photograph of Gerhard Richter's studio from 1981, which includes the present work, reveals the rich multiplicity of the artists output during that period, revealing the different ways in which he was engaging with the process and idea of painting. The artist himself is shown staring at the camera through a reflection in Mirror, a work from 1981. Hanging on the wall behind the painter is a range of Abstracts including the present work Abstraktes Bild while, propped in a corner, is a small Colour Chart. This reveals only a fraction of his output from this period, when he was focusing himself more and more on his abstract painting. For, during the same year, he also created several photorealist landscapes showing mountain scenes and ice floes, and only the following year would also begin his celebrated series of Kerzen, or Candles.
Looking at the lush surface of Abstraktes Bild, which has been built up with layer upon layer of paint that has also been scraped, pulled, dragged and removed in order to allow the teasing glimpses of the colours below, the viewer can see the traces of the wide range of techniques that Gerhard Richter uses when creating his Abstracts. Each layer is like a strata or fossil, and in this painting the impact is particularly acute. Interestingly enough, the back of the painting bears a signature and date from 1972 and close inspection of the underpainted surface in the bottom corner and comparison with a group of works of the same scale from that year shows that this picture was formerly in the series of Rot-Blau-Gelb from that date. As part of his larger analysis and deconstruction of the entire concept of painting, in that series, Richter used the three primary colours, red, blue and yellow as the main basis for a series of abstract compositions where the colours were brushed together in a very thin manner, to create a whole variety of visual effects from the most limited of means.
Here, nine years later, Richter has taken this canvas and re-worked it in his maturing abstract style. Over the original painting from 1972, Richter has used his special tools such as the squeegee to create a gravitational pull down the surface that is largely vertical, giving the main parts of the surface an appearance almost like a waterfall of fiery reds, yellows and pinks. Yet any figurative interpretation of this incandescent accumulation of rich colours is negated by the deliberate diagonal stripes of yellow and blue, a form of effacement which also adds a rich dynamism to the picture, heightening the sense of contrast between the colours of the surface. Beneath the surface, the fossil of the older painting is still visible, working in tandem with the new surface, creating a vivid sense of time in this particular work. In Abstraktes Bild, Richter has added an extra layer to that process by re-engaging with Rot-Blau- Gelb, interacting with it, challenging it and questioning it, adding to it until it reached its final stage.
The above photograph of Gerhard Richter's studio from 1981, which includes the present work, reveals the rich multiplicity of the artists output during that period, revealing the different ways in which he was engaging with the process and idea of painting. The artist himself is shown staring at the camera through a reflection in Mirror, a work from 1981. Hanging on the wall behind the painter is a range of Abstracts including the present work Abstraktes Bild while, propped in a corner, is a small Colour Chart. This reveals only a fraction of his output from this period, when he was focusing himself more and more on his abstract painting. For, during the same year, he also created several photorealist landscapes showing mountain scenes and ice floes, and only the following year would also begin his celebrated series of Kerzen, or Candles.
Looking at the lush surface of Abstraktes Bild, which has been built up with layer upon layer of paint that has also been scraped, pulled, dragged and removed in order to allow the teasing glimpses of the colours below, the viewer can see the traces of the wide range of techniques that Gerhard Richter uses when creating his Abstracts. Each layer is like a strata or fossil, and in this painting the impact is particularly acute. Interestingly enough, the back of the painting bears a signature and date from 1972 and close inspection of the underpainted surface in the bottom corner and comparison with a group of works of the same scale from that year shows that this picture was formerly in the series of Rot-Blau-Gelb from that date. As part of his larger analysis and deconstruction of the entire concept of painting, in that series, Richter used the three primary colours, red, blue and yellow as the main basis for a series of abstract compositions where the colours were brushed together in a very thin manner, to create a whole variety of visual effects from the most limited of means.
Here, nine years later, Richter has taken this canvas and re-worked it in his maturing abstract style. Over the original painting from 1972, Richter has used his special tools such as the squeegee to create a gravitational pull down the surface that is largely vertical, giving the main parts of the surface an appearance almost like a waterfall of fiery reds, yellows and pinks. Yet any figurative interpretation of this incandescent accumulation of rich colours is negated by the deliberate diagonal stripes of yellow and blue, a form of effacement which also adds a rich dynamism to the picture, heightening the sense of contrast between the colours of the surface. Beneath the surface, the fossil of the older painting is still visible, working in tandem with the new surface, creating a vivid sense of time in this particular work. In Abstraktes Bild, Richter has added an extra layer to that process by re-engaging with Rot-Blau- Gelb, interacting with it, challenging it and questioning it, adding to it until it reached its final stage.