Gerhard Richter

Galeried Fred Jahn, Munich
Private Collection, Switzerland
Galerie Bernd Lutze, Friedrichshafen
Private Collection, Germany
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Bonn, Kunst – und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Gerhard Richter, December 1993 - January 1994
Carré d'Art, Museé d'Art Contemporain de Nîmes, Gerhard Richter: 100 Bilder, June - September 1996, p. 30, illustrated in color
Friedrichshafen, Galerie Bernd Lutze, Gerhard Richter: Bilder 1972-1996, May - July 1998
Kunstverein Friedrichshafen/Zeppelin Museum, Gerhard Richter: Malerei 1966-1997, March - May 2001, p. 65, illustrated in color
Friedrichshafen, Galerie Bernd Lutze, Gerhard Richter: Arbeiten 1968-2008, November 2011- January 2012

Angelika Thill, et al., Gerhard Richter Catalogue Raisonné, 1962-1993, Ostfildern-Ruit, 1993, Vol. III, cat. no. 715-5, illustrated in color
Dietmar Elger, Gerhard Richter: Catalogue Raisonné, Ostfildern, 2015, Vol. 4, cat. no. 715-5, p. 292, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The colors are bright, fresh and clean. There is very light evidence of handling along the edges. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Executed in 1990 when Gerhard Richter’s work had already attained the international fame maintained to this day, Abstraktes Bild, "21. Nov. 43" (715-5) is an outstanding, visually arresting example of the artist’s body of abstract paintings. The present work is spectacular in its display of a complex interplay of color as the dominating black and maroon bands of paint both obscure and expose entrancing pops of bright and vibrant hues of reds, blues, and yellows. This riveting color application and manner of concealing and revealing results in a dense layering of composition which serves as relic of Richter’s thoughts and processes as he brought the painting to life. Created during the middle of Richter’s seminal 1988-1992 period during which his production of Abstraktes Bilds reached new heights, the present work displays the strength of the series.

Richter’s practice of abstract painting began in 1976, leaving him nearly 15 years to mature his practice before creating the present work. Richter has widely explained his practice of creating his abstract works as quite formulaic. He starts by placing multiple white canvases around his studio and simultaneously works on them all. Paint is then dragged across the canvas with a squeegee, which brings new color and texture to the work each time. Richter repeats this process until he is satisfied with the work. He has spoken on the importance of the squeegee to the painting’s final result, “It is a good technique for switching off thinking. Consciously, I can’t calculate the result. But subconsciously, I can sense it. This is a nice ‘between’ state” (Gerhard Richter in Stefan Koldehoff, “Gerhard Richter. ‘Malerie ist eine moralilsche Handlung,’” Wolkenkratzer Art Journal, April - June 1985, p. 40).

Through this manner, Richter can release his inhibitions, working freely and allowing the work to develop in front of him until he can ‘sense’ that they are complete, resulting in products of their own organic process. This manner of painting results in a substantial layering of paint contributing to the phenomenal complexity of depth throughout the work seen in the interchangeability of light and dark swaths of color that destabilizes our sense of perspective. The present work is perfectly proportioned for the close inspection demanded of this work as the deconstruction of perception punctuates our experience of processing what is in front of us.

Richter has devoted a substantial amount of energy during his prolific artistic career to ‘paint like a camera.’ His process of abstract painting can be likened to an earlier series of works in which he painted from photographs but slightly blurred them while they were still wet. This technique allowed Richter to create an effect that resembles that of an actual blurred photograph. Richter has stated of this process, “I blur things to make everything equally important and unimportant. I blur things so that they do not look artistic or craftsman like but technological, smooth and perfect. I blur things to make all the parts a closer fit. Perhaps I also blur out the excess of unimportant information” (Gerhard Richter, “Notes, 1964-1965,” in DPP, p. 34).

Though the present work is not painted from a photograph, its aesthetic mimics a photographic quality that is accentuated by the out-of-focus sweeping swaths of paint. The dominating black swath of paint across the middle of the canvas results in a blurred or partially-represented composition that is non-identifiable. In this sense, Richter is denying the viewer any ability to see anything conclusive in his work, but rather suggesting that the work’s significance can extend in infinite directions and have innumerable meanings. Suggesting that perception of a painting doesn’t necessarily depend on what can be seen shows Richter’s ability to test the limits of representation and show his unprecedented contribution to our conception of abstraction in the development of art history.