Abstract Painting (750-1)

1991

Gerhard Richter

(German, 1932-)

Culture

Germany, 20th century

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

Framed: 260 x 200 x 3.5 cm (102 3/8 x 78 3/4 x 1 3/8 in.); Unframed: 260 x 200 cm (102 3/8 x 78 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1995.74

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The stunning overlapping colors and textures are created by covering each thin layer of paint with a sheet of plastic that was pulled away from the canvas.

Description

Among the most recognized and influential artists working today, Gerhard Richter is difficult to classify because he simultaneously paints in a staggering variety of styles, veering freely from realism to abstraction. Abstractions such as this one have constituted a large part of his production since the mid 1970s. Abstract Painting (750-1) is from a series that Richter created between 1988 and 1991. Beginning with a ground of bright colors, such as red, yellow, blue, or green, he applied additional coats of pigment. He covered each thin layer of paint with a sheet of plastic that was pulled away to create a blend of overlapping colors, textures, and shapes. Richter applied the paint quickly, but the process was time consuming, allowing the artist the opportunity to evaluate and change each work as it evolved. Although this dense composition has no recognizable imagery, it conveys a sense of movement not unlike the experience of looking out of a car window at the landscape streaking past.