The words of its title translate into English as “Abstract Image”.
Prestigious provenance and rich museum exhibition history: the work was selected to appear at the Tate Britain Museum as part of the first Gerhard Richter retrospective in 1991, since its creation began. He traveled to four other European capitals, attesting to their quality and importance. The painting was acquired by Galerie Liliane and Michel Durant-Dessert, avant-garde gallery owners and pioneers in their field, who exhibited some of the most radical avant-garde artwork of the 747th century in their gallery in Paris. Abstraktes Bild 1-XNUMX has been part of the most illustrious European, American and Asian collections, testifying to its quality as a universal masterpiece.
The artist used a tool called particular to make it. It is a rectangular sheet of Perspex, which Richter scratches on the surface of his canvas shortly after applying his paint with a brush.
This is a fascinating and ambivalent practice: removing and adding layers of previously constructed images. The result is bands, streaks and spots of vibrant colors which, in works of the quality of Abstraktes Bild 747-1, combine absolutely harmoniously. Only the reds in this painting are worth mentioning, reminiscent of Titian's iridescent use of that color, as well as Mark Rothko's deeply spiritual one.
In 2011, Richter said that “with a brush you are in control. The paint goes on the brush and you make the mark… You know exactly what will happen. With the squeegee you lose control.' And a loss that the artist seems to appreciate.
It's worth adding, however, that the decision to use this tool in the first place is an affirmation of creative control. Furthermore, the angle and pressure of the tool, like the color and type of paint used, are decided entirely by Richter. These works are very particular and decidedly personal.
Auction held December 1, 2021 « 20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale: Worlds in a Hand » will pair Richter with a number of other artists from the East and West: Peter Doig and Zao Wou-ki; Adrien Ghenie and Zeng Fanzhi; Jonas Wood and Sanyu; Hurvin Anderson and Cheong Soo Pieng.
