The Heterogeneous and the Process of the Painting of Gerhard Richter PDF

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Essay exploring the work of Gerhard Richter...

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The Heterogeneous and the Process of the Painting of Gerhard Richter

This essay will indicate the heterogeneity of Gerhard Richter’s practice, detailing how he uses blurred and smearing techniques within his work. Whilst his work is all different there is a resonance of similarity between them as well.

Fig 1. Gerhard Richter Ferrari (1964) Oil on Canvas 1447.8x1993.9mm Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Fig 2. Arnt-M. Bokemüller (1964) Photograph on newsprint Unknown

Fig 3. Boris Vladimirski Roses For Stalin (1949) Oil On Canvas 1005 x 1410mm Unkown Collection

The painting ‘Ferrari’, demonstrated in Fig.1 was produced from a newspaper clipping preserved by Richter. He retains clippings and photographs for up to 20 years before he uses them, mostly because of the social events depicted, and people require time to grieve. Fig 2. is the original image that Richter used as reference for ’Ferrari’ and he connotes blurring of the paint with speed. The speed implication also affiliates with a photograph sent through a fax machine because of the dragging and distortion occurred. In turn this could pose as a metaphor for the defiance towards socialist realist painting, which was an influence of West German Art at the time because of sovietised control. This was demonstrated by the artworks included in the Documenta exhibition in 1955, which is an exhibition held in Kassel every 5 years. Because Richter rejected this, his images start out like that of a socialist realist piece (Fig 3.) and the dragging action serves as an act of defiance, blurring the propoganda, creating a warped and a differing sense of reality.

Richter developed this photographic blurring technique and made it his own by refinement. This is displayed in his abstract work as well as his more detailed portraits and still life. As said by Richter: “[...] I steer clear of definitions. I do not know what I want. I am inconsistent, non-committal [...]; I like continual uncertainty.” (Richter, 1995, p.58). He gives us a glimpse into his world of thinking and this is applied to his paintings, demonstrating how his processes are developed due to a non-protective approach to his work, ultimately resulting in the smeared painting technique used in abstraction works. Richter uses varying implements to produce his art, depending on the piece. These vary from small household brushes to large homemade industrial squeegees. All to manipulate the paint into a dragged fashion, this creates a sense of disorder and ambiguity in terms of each layer hiding the predecessor. Oil paint is the only medium in which this technique would work as the paint is allowed to form a skin, this is then dragged, blistering it, letting the previous decisions of paint applied bleed through to the surface.

Fig 3. Gerhard Richter September (2005) Oil on canvas 520x720mm Museum Of Modern Art, New York, USA

His piece demonstrated in Fig 3. entitled ‘September’ relating to the 9/11 attacks was painted 4 years after it happend to allow ‘healing time’ of the public, as referred to with his use of newspaper clippings. The painting then became history-painting rather than a photojournalistic approach (simply depicting an event at the time). Fig 1. is one of his earlier works looking at blurring of images, not historical connotations, which is displayed in his technique of wet on wet dragged painting. This was to link photography and paint, stemming from the desire to include topics of his generation and era; photography did this, whilst the paint served as the perfect medium to encapsulate the feel of the image rather than replicating it.

Fig 4. Abstaktes Bild (726) (1990) Oil On Canvas 2500x3500mm Tate Collection

Just looking at the Fig 4. there is a sense of struggle and drag of the paint. First of all a completed image or a selected cluster of colours is painted onto the canvas then Richter manipulates it with the tools and techniques previously mentioned. The accumulation of paint forms layers and acts as an access point, allowing the viewer to see previous decisions in what colour paint was used and how it was applied, thus inadvertently marking time. The final result of the layers that can be seen work harmoniously with one another which creates a sense of disorientation and chaos. This technique involves the smearing of paint, in a layered composition. However with his portrait paintings (shown in Fig 5.), there is a subtle blur over the image. Both the smearing paint effect and the photographic blur effect are consistent with one another, producing similar effects but with very different processes.

Fig 5. Gerhard Richter Ema (Nude on a staircase) (1966) Oil on canvas 200cm x 130cm Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany

Ema demonstrated in Fig 5. is an example of one of Richter’s portraiture paintings, there is a connection with his abstract work, the blurring effects given are similar. These portraits are done very quickly as everything is required to remain wet at the same time in order to obtain the same drag effect across the entirety of the surface. Interviewed by Rolf-Gunter Dienst, Richter insists that his subject choices are banal as he quotes “[…] I tried to find nothing too explicit, hence all the banal subjects [...]” (Richter 1970 P.54) However his portraits of his family are very intimate and in turn contradict his statement, making the images and paintings have an interesting subject matter because of who the people depicted are and the way they appear. As quoted by Ben Lewis in an article, Richter’s portraits “evoke the melancholy of fading memories and passing emotions.” (Lewis 2009) This is demonstrated by the sombre and blank faces he paints, correlating as to why he may claim them to be banal. The blurring effect portrays a tarnished reality and creates a vicious circle for the viewer, playing upon the desire to comprehend his images completely, resulting in frustration. Backed up by Richter in an interview with Rolf Schön: “[...] You want to understand what you see […] you realize that you cannot represent reality at all – that what you make represents nothing but itself, and therefore is itself reality.” (Richter 1972 P.59). This Image is of his first wife, two versions exist. An original oil painting and 12 cibachrome photographs produced at the same size as the painting.

Richter states “In the photograph, I take even more focus out of the painted image, which is already a bit

out of focus, and make the picture even smoother. I also subtract the materiality, the surface of the painting, and it becomes something different.” (Richter 2004)

Therefore he is solely interested in blur and focus, both within his abstraction and portraits to distort the images and create a sense of ambiguity. There is interplay between the two versions of Fig 5. as the photograph has painterly qualities, whereas the painting has a photographic blurred feel. Richter is interested in making the paintings appear smooth and a sense of perfection but at the same time retaining the texture of the paint as a tool of a paradoxical nature because something cannot be smooth and rough at the same time. This is further backed up by him stating his reasons of the blurring: ” I blur things to make everything equally important and equally 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.” (Richter 1965 P.33). Richter’s blurred effect is featured in his pieces as a result of careful refinement and a vast history as well as major contextual influence. Richter gets to the root of the essentials of painting and combines an array of techniques. He says that he subtracts materiality of the painting and image, however this is yet another example of Richter contradicting himself as physically he is doing the exact opposite and adding materiality by layering up thick paint and manipulating it. Without these processes there would be no photographic blur.

Bibliography Whitechapel Gallery (2003) Whitechapel Gallery [Online] Available from: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/gerhard-richter-atlas Accessed: [27/11/2014 21:51pm] Lewis, B, (2009) Gerhard Richter portraits are ripe with emotion London Evening Standard [Online] 27th February Available From: http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/gerhard-richter-portraits-are-ripe-withemotion-7412929.html Accessed: [25/11/2014 18:49pm] Richter G (1965) Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and letters 1961-2007 In: Dietmar Elger and Hans Ulrich Obrist London,England: Thames & Hudson.(P.33) Richter G (1970) Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and letters 1961-2007 In: Dietmar Elger and Hans Ulrich Obrist London,England: Thames & Hudson.(P.54)

Richter, G. (1972) The Daily Practice of Painting, Writings and Interviews 1962-1993 (edited by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, translated by David Britt). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (P.59)

Richter, G. (1995) The Daily Practice of Painting, Writings and Interviews 1962-1993 (edited by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, translated by David Britt). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (p.58)

Richter, G. (2004) from H. Butin: “Gerhard Richter and the Reflection on Images” in Gerhard Richter Editions 1965-2004, Catalog Raisonne, Hatje Cantz Publishers (pp. 55, 59)

List Of Illustrations Fig 3. Arnt-M. Bokemüller (1964) Photograph on newsprint Unknown [Online] Availablen From: http://www.tribut-an-carl-benz.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Richter-FerrariOriginalbild.jpg Accessed: [25/11/2014 18:13pm] Fig 1. Gerhard Richter Ferrari (1964) Oil on Canvas 57x78 ½ inches Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth [Online] Available from: http://themodern.org/collection/artists/Richter Accessed: [17/11/2014 15:53pm] Fig 5. Gerhard Richter Ema (Nude on a staircase) (1966) Oil on canvas 200cm x 130cm Museum Ludwig Cologne Germany [Online] Available From: http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/rba_c007154_fin_highres.jpg Accessed: [25/11/2014 17:55pm] Fig 4. Gerhard Richter Abstaktes Bild (726) (1990) Oil On Canvas 2500x3500mm Tate Collectio [Online] Available From: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/richter-abstractpainting-726-t06600 Accessed: [25/11/2014 17:34pm] Fig 2. Gerhard Richter September (2005) Oil on canvas 520x720mm Museum Of Modern Art, New York, USA [Online] Available From: https://www.gerhard-

richter.com/en/art/paintings/photo-paintings/death-9/september-13954 Accessed [28/11/2014 16:22pm]...