Gerhard Richter: Kanarische Landschaften I (Canary Landscapes I): one plate (B. 39), 1971.Heliogravure in colors, on ivory rag paper, with full margins.I. 4 5/8 x 9 in. (11.7 x 22.9 cm)S. 15 1/2 x 19 3/4 in. (39.5 x 50.1 cm) Hand-signed and numbered 35/100 in pencil (there were also 10 hors commerce), published by Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich, framed under glass measuring 21 x 24". Literature: Hubertus Butin 39. Provenance: Phillip's Auction House, New York, Jessica Leigh Collection, Bedford Art Gallery, Brooklyn, New York. Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) is a pioneering German artist renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to painting, photography, and abstraction. Over the course of his seven-decade career, Richter has explored an expansive range of styles, from photorealistic portraits to powerful gestural abstractions, often blurring the boundaries between figuration and pure abstraction. His work is deeply concerned with memory, history, and the role of the image in shaping our perception of reality. In his later years, Richter turned his focus to landscapes, city scenes, and intimate portraits of family, friends, and figures from the art world, all executed with a soft-focus realism. One notable series, Canary Islands (2000), delves into the art-historical tradition of the landscape genre, depicting the volcanic, almost desolate terrain of the Canary Islands. The haunting, uncanny qualities of these paintings evoke a sense of cultural memory and forgotten history, transforming the landscape into a metaphor for prehistory itself. Simultaneously, Richter developed a significant body of gestural abstractions, using a range of techniques, notably his distinctive squeegee method, which involves pushing and scraping layers of paint across the canvas. This method, both intuitive and dramatic, allows for the creation of textured, fluid compositions that emphasize the materiality of paint. Richter’s color-chart paintings, a series of carefully arranged color squares, would later inspire his renowned stained-glass windows, including the 2007 work for Cologne Cathedral and a later series for Tholey Abbey, Germany’s oldest monastery, completed in 2020. Richter’s work has been showcased in numerous major retrospectives worldwide, including at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. His exhibitions have spanned continents, from the Tate in London to the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, and in 2022, a major exhibition was presented at The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. In 2023, the Nationalgalerie in Berlin mounted Gerhard Richter: 100 Works for Berlin, a long-term display featuring major works from the Gerhard Richter Foundation, including his Birkenau (2014) cycle of large-scale abstract paintings. Richter's work continues to resonate with global audiences, and in 2024, his monumental outdoor sculpture STRIP-TOWER (2023) was displayed at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London. Throughout his career, Richter has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, cementing his status as one of the most influential living artists of his generation.

Excellent, Framed under glass. Not examined outside the frame. Beautifully framed in a natural wood frame.

21 x 24 in