GERHARDT RICHTER - LANDSCAPES AND PANORAMA
On the cover of the Monday, February 20th copy of the New York Times, Gerhardt Richter, one of the world's finest living painters gets a review of his new retrospective show in Berlin. Titled "Panorama," the show is a comprehensive look at the artist's work of the last 50 years and has lengthy lines of fans waiting in freezing temperatures for a glimpse at his famous canvases. But it's not just a case of a well-known artist getting his due, it's also a curious study of how fervent an artist's following can become in the face of a body of work that sees enormous sums paid for it (one painting fetched 20.8 million dollars last November at a Sotheby's auction).
When asked how he feel's about all the hubbub surrounding his work and the public reaction to it, he does admit that it's all a bit "absurd". But the staggering talent simply can't be denied. There is a startling degree of realistic perfection in his work (from a distance, some might resemble actual photographs) while still utilizing a heavy dose of abstraction and modernism. The total effect is one that is can only be described as "Gerhardt Richter."
In stock now at The Field House is Richter's famous 1970 collection, "Landscapes". This is the second re-issue of the book and the first to expand it to include work from subsequent decades. "Panorama" is up through May 13th at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
Blackbird Books - Gerhardt Richter: Landscapes
176 pages
176 pages
DETAILS: Richter's approaches to landscape are various indeed, yet uniquely and recognizably his. The first edition of Gerhard Richter: Landscapes was published in 1998; it quickly sold out, was reprinted in 2002 and rapidly went out of print again. This new edition is the first to expand on the 1998, and brings us up to date with Richter's enduring fondness for this subject.
