(Revised) Philadelphia Museum Of Art Exhibit: Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter/ Response To Richter

My Top 3

Standing before Gerhard Richter’s 1989 Atem (Breath) at the Milwaukee Art Museum, one can see a towering, hazy, chromatic waterfall of paint that appears to have been pushed, pulled, and peeled back. The intrigue is overpowering, drawing the viewer in for a very intimate look at the surface of the canvas to further see the process, the layers and textures of the paint. It is difficult to discern, are the brilliantly red and orange bits that are breaking through the vapor additive or subtractive? There is a mysterious playfulness to the texture that forces one to suppress the tactile urge to explore. Instead, there is compromise in a game, where the viewer steps back about twenty-five feet to once again observe painting in its entirety. In doing so, a new area of obscurity is discovered, which then warrants a zoom in to observe, only to repeat the process again.

One can keep at this game, this practice of looking at Richter’s abstract work, for quite some time. There is great pleasure in enjoying the character and movement of the paint and the wonderment of the work’s construction / de-construction. When exhausted by the game there are still many questions about technique and context. This prompts the viewer to explore beyond mere visual response, for as constructivists Savery and Duffy state:
Cognitive conflict or puzzlement is the stimulus for learning and determines the organization and nature of what is learned. When we are in a learning environment, there is some stimulus or goal for learning — the learner has a purpose for being there. That goal is not only the stimulus for learning, but it is a primary factor in determining what the learner attends to, what prior experience the learner brings to bear in constructing an understanding, and, basically, what under standing is eventually constructed. (n. pag.)

As for prior viewer experience, Richter may be familiar for his more widely recognized body of work: his black and white photo paintings, begun in the early 1960’s. As part of the Capital Realists, formed with Sigmar Polke and Konrad Fischer-Lueg, Richter sought to focus on the image rather than the reference, a break from traditional painting constrictions. This, coupled with Richter’s personal roots, has placed him as one of the most sought-after living artists. A November 2003 issue of ARTnews declared Richter as one of the most wanted artists (Thomas) and a May 2004 issue of ARTnews stated that Richter was one of the ten most expensive living artists (Thomas). .)

With this thought in mind, one is left with the question: how and where do Richter’s abstract paintings fit in to his body of work? The answer is not so accessible as with the photo paintings. The challenge of the unknown, after seeing Atem in the Milwaukee Art Museum, prompts some digging to uncover examples or dialogue about similar works. Coming up virtually empty-handed, the art world rises to the challenge with Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The show includes two works that bare resemblance to Atem:
• Schwann (2) (Swan [2]) of 1989
• Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting) of 1990
Both paintings demonstrate the same engulfing scale, and both encapsulate the same kind of shrouded manipulation of paint as Atem. The characteristic dragging of paint and the layers that seemed to be peeled back (or not) in focused areas are apparent.

Schwann (2) is likely a first view, due to its placement. It hangs at the end of the gallery as if suspended in mid-air, with particle-like paint gestures floating in static. Again, there is a sense of break-through, but in a less imposing way. The bright, small flashes of pigment are like the slivers of light just after a storm. The storm is the dark grey veil that dominates the center of the canvas. How amazing that, though this painting is so much about blackness, the color prevails. To the left, on another gallery wall is Abstraktes Bild. This painting churns, with murky paint pushing in from the upper right side of the canvas and then directly across. This is intermingled with distinctive pierces of saturated color, but there are also vertical scratches that run deep into the paint texture.

Viewing Schwann (2), and Abstraktes Bild not only provides insight into constructing a greater understanding about Atem, but also begins to put Richter’s abstracts into larger context. Whereas the Milwaukee exhibit only provides artist, title, medium and date, the Philadelphia exhibit provides a story. The wall text explained that Richter, Kiefer, and Polke began to create in a post-Nazi Germany, at a time when visual and written art did not readily address the open wounds of the country. Further research would indicate Richter’s Uncle Rudi died a young Nazi officer, while his mentally disabled aunt was imprisoned in a Hitler euthanasia camp, quite a juxtaposition. All three artists in the Philadelphia exhibit consequently sought to break free of ideologies and reconsider the possibilities of pictorial practice. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter, wall text). Specifically, Richter deals with his own family contrast by remaining quietly, steadfastly protective within his work.

For Richter, that means a shrouding of recognizable associations, beginning with the blurred subjects of the photo paintings and continuing with the abstracts. Looking at the history of Richter’s paintings, the abstracts have always been there, perhaps as an alternate, synchronous expression to the photo paintings, an opportunity to further explore the integrity of medium. Surprisingly, as stated on Richter’s own website, he is not interested in the purity of art, but rather in finding beauty in the ordinary. He
has shrunk from giving a psychological insight into his art, leaving his admirers and critics guessing and at times confused. According to him, his work forms from structures and ideas that surround him, nothing more profound than that. />
As a viewer, one does feel something more profound in the gut, and it is driven by emotion. Perplexity, even frustration is present. It comes from being manipulated, just as the paint, into discovering the form and texture on the canvas. One can really sit with this for an extended amount of time, discovering idiosyncrasies at each turn and having a true sense of wonder about how these moments were created. Simultaneously, the mind connects these visual revelations with quiet, perhaps even supernatural emotions. Something better and brighter is subtlely attempting to push through the dark haze. Like healing, it will not come quickly, but will stay its course. This ultimately is what the viewer attends to: the light within. And it can be interpreted and described in a myriad of ways.

Biography. Official Gerhard Richter website. 21 October 2007

Lewis, Frank C., et al. Building A Masterpiece: Milwaukee Art Museum. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2001.

Savery, John R, and Thomas M. Duffy. Problem Based Learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Constructivist Learning Environments: Case Studies in Instructional Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1985.

Thomas, Kelly Devine. The 10 Most Expensive Living Artists. ARTnews 103.5 (2004).

Thomas, Kelly Devine. The Most Wanted Works of Art. ARTnews 102.10 (2003).