Gerhard Richter, Overpainted photographs

Gerhard Richter has time and again drawn on photographs as the basis for works in his multifaceted oeuvre, and art historians have frequently studied his blurred paintings of photographs. However, Richter has also painted directly on commercial prints in oil. Inspired by the accidental spots and traces of paint on the source material, he produced pictorial overpaintings. These kinds of overpaintings appeared in works as early as his 'Atlas. 'Practically all of these mostly small-format paintings are in private collections and rarely exhibited in public. In these subjects, covered with a painterly veil, Richter continues to prove that he is a “master at keeping his distance,” as Robert Storr once formulated it. This monograph offers a unique opportunity to honor what has previously been a neglected but copious complex of works in the artist’s oeuvre. (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-2243-8) Exhibition schedule: Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, October 17, 2008–January 18, 2009 Centre de la photographie Genève, Genf January 29–March 29, 2009