Invitation to a press conference | "GERHARD RICHTER. Portraits. Glass. Abstractions."
27 January 2022Gerhard Richter
In addition to a self-portrait of the artist on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, paintings of Richter’s wife, Sabine, and his children Betty, Moritz, Theo and Ella form the main focus of the exhibition. These family images are on display in the first of the three rooms, where they are complemented by landscape paintings Richter associates with emotional memories. The majority of the abstract images presented in the second room were produced during Richter’s most recent creative period. They include the large-format Abstract Painting (Abstraktes Bild, 952-4), which the artist created in 2017 and has himself described as the last painting of his career. In the third room Richter elects to display a selection of his work away from painting in the form of 9 Upright Standing Panes (9 Stehende Scheiben, 879-3), Mirror (Spiegel, 687/5-6) and 4900 Colours (4900 Farben, 901A) as well as the ten-metres-long Strip (Strip, 930-6), which was created in 1989.
Most of the works presented at the exhibition come from private collections and the holdings of the Gerhard Richter Kunststiftung. They are supplemented with exhibits on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Albertina in Vienna, Museum Ludwig in Cologne and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Dietmar Elger, Head of the Gerhard Richter Archive: “The exhibition at the Albertinum was curated by Gerhard Richter himself, and he consciously places the painted family portraits at the heart of his selection. In addition to highlighting the multifaceted nature of Gerhard Richter’s œuvre, the work on display also provides a private insight into the artist’s life. The Gerhard Richter Archive is delighted to be celebrating the artist’s 90th birthday with the opening of this special exhibition.”
Born in Dresden on 9 February 1932, Gerhard Richter went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in his home city from 1951 to 1956. His escape to West Germany in 1961 was followed by a second period of study at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he went on to teach in the role of Professor of Painting from 1971 to 1994. Richter is regarded as one of the world’s most influential contemporary artists, his work acquired and exhibited by leading museums of modern art throughout the globe. The artist’s strong bond with his home city is reflected in a variety of collaborations and gestures, for example his donation of the painting Rock (Fels, 694) to a charity auction in aid of the SKD further to catastrophic flooding in Dresden in August 2002. As such, the forthcoming exhibition celebrates not only Richter’s 90th birthday, but also his commitment to the city of his birth and twenty years of intensive cooperation between the artist and the SKD.
The sixth and final volume of the catalogue raisonné of Gerhard Richter’s paintings and sculptures will be presented at the press conference. It covers the artist’s work from 2007 to 2019, beginning with Cologne Cathedral Window (Kölner Domfenster, 900) and ending with Three Windows for Tholey Abbey (drei Fenster für die Abtei Tholey, 957). Edited by Dietmar Elger. Published by Hatje Cantz Verlag. Clothbound hardback with dust jacket, 528 pages, 700 illustrations, €248. ISBN 978‑3‑7757‑3714‑2.
A catalogue documenting the exhibition will be published at a later date.
Exhibition period
5 February to 1 May 2022
Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Art talks (start time: 3 p.m.)
9 February, 22 February, 15 March, 3 April and 1 May 2022 (other dates available on request)
Concert, 7 p.m. on 26 April 2022, Albertinum
LAYERS - Music meets the Art of Gerhard Richter, with Sinfonietta Dresden and Acantun Kollektiv
