2. Born on February 9th in 1932 in Dresden, Germany
German painter, photographer and sculptor
spent his childhood in Waltersdorf
4 children and has already been married 3 times 1971 to
1993 a professor of painting at the Art Academy in
Dusseldorf
At the moment he is living in Cologne.
FACTS OF GERHARD RICHTER
3. 1957-1961: Richter worked as a Master Student at the academy and he took
government contracts from the GDR e.g. Oil paintings and murals. He had to
leave all his works of art in the GDR and there aren’t still many paintings left
and aren’t either in his catalog.
1961: Gerhard Richter left the GDR and moved to Dusseldorf and studies at the
academy from Dusseldorf until 1963
1963: Richter, Sigmar Polke and Konrad Fischer-Lueg organized in 1963 in a
furniture store the Happening "Living with Pop - A Demonstration for
Capitalist Realism". During this Happening Richter was representing his `grey
photos` for the first time
Soon he was published in a lot of domestic and foreign galleries and museums
1993/94: a comprehensive retrospective, with stops in Paris, Bonn, Stockholm
and Madrid was dedicated to him
LIFE
4. 2002: Richter was celebrated by the Museum of Modern Art, New York
because of his 70th Birthday with a retrospective which was with 188
exhibits the biggest one that was ever dedicated to an artist
Richter is called one of the most successful artist of the present and is
also named ´Picasso of the 21st century
14 Awards
LIFE
5. His early work shows influences of informal art and also pop art
characteristic for his art is: - it deals basically with the painting itself
- it doesn’t fit to a special style
It’s very complex and varied
He paints pictures from photographs of any kind
They stay recognizable in a realistic style, but also covered and painted over.
1972: Richter is chosen to make as the first solo artists the German Pavilion at
the Venice Biennale
He paints a series out of 48 portraits from important German thinkers
like Scientists, philosophers, poets, etc.
Gerhard Richter is one of the most influential and successful artists of the
present.
HIS ART
