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Art & Photography / / Who, What, Why

Gerhard Richter: Panorama— December 12, 2011 —

Defined, without any hesi tat ion, as one of the most impor tantprac t i t ioners in contemporary ar t , as wel l as the most expensive

l iv ing ar t is t , Gerhard Richter has been making paint ings s ince the1950s, when he studied at the Ar t Academy in his

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Text Allie Biswas

Betty, 1977 © Gerhard Richter

Who? Defined, without any hesitation, as one of the most importantpractitioners in contemporary art, as well as the most expensive living artist,Gerhard Richter has been making paintings since the 1950s, when he studied atthe Art Academy in his hometown of Dresden. Born a year before Hitlerbecame Chancellor in 1933, Richter found himself ineluctably connected to ahistory that has become one of the focal points of his thinking and body ofwork. Two paintings in particular sum this up: both from 1965, Uncle Rudidepicts the artist's relative posing proudly in his SS uniform; in Aunt Mariannewe see a young girl holding her nephew (Richter as a baby) who would later besterilised and murdered by the Nazis. It was only after leaving school at fourteenthat Richter began seriously attempting drawing and photography, and in 1961,after crossing over to West Germany, he could start his career properly. It wasduring this period that the artist began making his photo-paintings, for whichhe has become particularly renowned, and met other artists including KonradFischer and Sigmar Polke. Richter has received an abundance of retrospectivessince his first in 1976, including those at the Tate, MoMA, the Art Gallery ofOntario, and Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.

"The exhibition depicts an artist who has constantlyreinvented how to paint and often does so with alarmingskill"

What? Gerhard Richter: Panorama at Tate Modern offers a major overview ofthe artist's career, spanning close to five decades, curated by Nicholas Serotaand Mark Godfrey. In the exhibition catalogue Godfrey states that the show'stitle signals the desire to look at all aspects of the artist's output – a simple yetextremely valuable aim compared to other surveys: "Recently, more attentionhas been given to some periods of his work (the 1960s, the late 1980s) thanothers, and there have also been shows devoted to particular genres. Thisexhibition proceeds from the conviction that all moments of his career speak tous today". Tate's retrospective skilfully reveals all the key periods, such as theGrey Paintings and Colour Charts, the acidic abstract canvases undertaken inthe early 1980s which employed a squeegee for mark-making, and thephotorealist portraits which include two iconic images of his daughter Betty.The series of paintings Richter made which depict the Baader Meinhof gang arealso, rarely, presented, continuing the artist's need to explore part of a historywhich he felt had been both avoided and forgotten by his country. The inclusionof September 2005 – Richter's study of the 9/11 attack – highlights apreoccupation with significant historical moments in general.

Why? As each room in Panorama shows us, here is an artist who is hard to pindown. For someone who holds such art historical stature, consistent style isn'tsomething that can be located. One minute you are looking at a painting of adeliberately blurred grey portrait; next to it will hang a vanitas painting ofcandles. The exhibition depicts an artist who has constantly reinvented how topaint and often does so with alarming skill. And even though terror and deathhave invaded much of the artist's work, there are moments of utter beauty.Whether separate or intertwined, it is there.

Gerhard Richter: Panorama runs at Tate Modern until January 8 2012.

Text by Allie Biswas

Gerhard Richter: Panorama8 images

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