Lot 661 D

“Gerhard Richter overpainted the photographs by dragging the picture plane across the not yet dried paint on the wide squeegee with which he had previously worked on the large-scale paintings. Due to the overpainting, the photographic depiction becomes more intense and provides the observer with further possibilities of perception. In this process, the colour stretches over the photograph like a foreign substance and thus creates a sort of contradiction, distance and severity. While the overpainting contradicts the mood of the subject, it can also, in some cases, reinforce it. In this case, the illusionary depiction merges with the materiality of the paint into a new indissoluble picture unit. For this reason, it is the concluding scrutiny of the work by the artist alone which is decisive. A proportionate number of products were discarded and photos were torn up by Gerhard Richter.” (Dietmar Elger, Gerhard Richter Firenze, Ostfildern-Ruid 2001, n.pag.)