Gerhard Richter

First unveiled at the 2007 Venice Biennale, and now on view at London’s Tate Modern, Gerhard Richter’s Cage series pays homage to avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). A long-time admirer of Cage’s work, Richter first encountered his minimalist compositions at a 1960s performance at the Düsseldorf Academy, and then listened to his music while painting the cycle of Cage canvases in 2006. Altogether, the six colossal square paintings showcase Richter’s masterful ability to manipulate texture and colour on a grand scale. The surface of each work is characterised by thick applications of colour, pushed and pulled by squeegee, giving them a tactile quality that invites close inspection. The artist’s technique of layering pigments in a complex web of horizontal and vertical bands establishes ethereal, grid-like structures which are punctuated by rhythmic scratches and indentations, adding depth and movement.

Together with HENI in 2020, Richter re-visited his celebrated Cage paintings to create six limited edition prints. Each print corresponds precisely with one of the paintings, scaled down to a-metre square. Complete sets like the present example are very scarce at auction.