Go See: Gerhard Richter’s Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London through May 31st 2009
May 12th, 2009
Lesende (1994) by Gerhard Richter, via The National Portrait Gallery
Gerhard Richter Portraits currently at the National Gallery in London is the first major exhibition devoted to one of the greatest living painters. The selection of works date from the 1960s to the present including important early black and white paintings made by looking at magazine photographs, private snapshots, and a special installation of his renowned series 48 Portraits featuring images of modern culture heroes such as Wilde, Mann, Kafka, and Stravinsky.
RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page[National Portrait Gallery]
Murdered Aunt, Ghostly Nude Star in Gerhard Richter Exhibit [Bloomberg]
Photos and Fantasy: Gerhard Richter’s Portraits[The Independent]
Groundbreaking Exhibition of Portraits by Gerhard Richter opens at the National Portrait Gallery UK [Artdaily]
The Painted Illusions of Gerhard Richter [The Guardian]
Faces from an Abstract Life [FT]
Gilbert and George (1975) by Gerhard Richter, via The National Gallery
Often regarded as one of the world’s leading contemporary painters, since the 1960s Richter’s work includes photographically derived images and expressionistic abstract painting. Portraiture has always been a primal subject matter in Richter’s work, however, until but recently, exhibitions of his art focused on his abstract work. Comprised of around 35 renowned works lent from international public and private collections, the current exhibition further acknowledges the artist’s superb portraiture. The exhibition is curated by the National Portrait Gallery’s 20th century Curator, Paul Moorhouse.
Ella (2007) by Gerard Richter, via The National Portrait Gallery
Richter borrows from the materialism of Pop Art to create work which reflects upon the everyday reality of the physical world. Even while capturing ordinary subjects, the artist blurs and manipulates his subjects to slightly remove them from the reality in which they once were. His work thus questions the nature of photography, identity, and the way images are perceived.
President Johnson consoles Mrs. Kennedy (1963) by Gerhard Richter, via The Independent
The works are organized chronologically highlighting particular themes which served as sources for Richter’s subjects. Such themes include: The Most Perfect Picture, focusing on the artist’s early use of photographs from newspapers and magazines, Devotional Pictures, examining the use of photographs from family albums, Persistent Uncertainty, the exhibition’s central section which shows how the photographic sources for the artist’s imagery are continually obscured, Art History, which focuses on Richter’s associations with other artists, and Private Images, Personal Portraits, where Richter captures images of his family and of himself.
Betty (1988) by Gerhard Richter, via The National Portrait
Highlights of the exhibition include Richter’s portraits based on the assassination of President J.F. Kennedy, Terese Andeska (1964), Herr Heyde (1965), Gilbert and George (1975), Betty (1977 and 1978), Lesende (1994) and Richter’s portrait of his daughter Ella (2007) exhibited for the first time.
