Gerhard Richter is a famous contemporary German artist who has become one of the most successful in his homeland. Gerhard Richter’s creativity is not limited to any one style. The artist’s paintings are vivid examples of photorealism and abstract art. Some works show features of minimalism, avant-garde and conceptualism. To better understand the worldview of the painter, it is enough to learn one fact from his biography: when he was still a child, the Second World War began.
Biography of Gerhard Richter
As a child, his mother read him fairy tales and poetry, his father taught him mathematics. During his school years, the boy was comprehensively developed, but even then it was clear that he was a creative person. He had absolutely no craving for the exact sciences. Gerhard Richter’s father was a member of the National Socialist Party, but did not share Nazi ideas. In the artist’s work there are paintings on a military theme, but he considered it wrong to depict the pain of people of that time explicitly, therefore he showed everything in an abstract form.
Gerhard Richter dropped out of school after the tenth grade and began studying painting. Beginning in 1957, he trained in this at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, fulfilling government orders. The painter left Soviet Germany shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall, fled to Dusseldorf in 1961. There he continued his art studies. He also spent a lot of time traveling, communicating with colleagues from different countries.
Gerhard represented Germany at the Venice Biennale.
For the first time in the history of the forum, a whole pavilion was allocated to demonstrate the artist’s works. Gerhard Richter gained fame as the author of unusual paintings. Some of his works in the style of photorealism depict people who, like ghosts, move in space. From such masterpieces breathes with something slightly magical. Paintings in abstract style are no less attractive. These are both original images of nature and the aforementioned military theme.
An unusual stained glass window was created by Gerhard Richter in the Cologne Cathedral. Instead of the images of the faces of the saints, the windows were decorated with multiple multi-colored pixels. Not everyone liked this innovation, and the artist heard a lot of criticism in his address. Other works are also not admired by everyone. Many do not understand the artist’s work at all. Nevertheless, he managed to become one of the most successful contemporary authors.
Gerhard Richter once inspired creative people to make a film. The artist became the prototype for the protagonist. He gave consultations in the process of creating a film, but in the end he did not really like the work. The film “Work Without Authorship” was released in Germany in 2018. Gerhard Richter has received the Oskar Kokoschka, Arnold Bode, Wolf and about a dozen other prestigious awards.
The most famous paintings
Gerhard Richter’s paintings have an enigmatic magnetism, although many are slightly intimidating, especially those associated with war. Among the most famous works:
- Clouds (1970). It’s hard to believe this isn’t a snapshot. The clouds are very realistic. The painting was sold for $ 5.7 million, and after a while it was resold for $ 6.2 million.
- Betty (1977). At some point, the artist was inspired by photographs of loved ones and began to create their portraits. This painting shows his daughter.
- “The Candle and the Skull” (1983) is a kind of reflection of the painter about the frailty of life, about the fact that nothing is eternal.
- “Abstract Painting” (1992) – one of the many works in the style of impressionism. Executed in the period that is considered the pinnacle of the painter’s work.
- Reading (1994). Depicted is a girl reading a newspaper. In her image – tenderness and femininity, in her eyes – attentiveness. Nothing particularly mysterious, unlike many other works of the artist.
Paintings
