The National Gallery in Prague exhibits works by
Gerhard Richter, who is regarded as the most
significant living artist of our times
On April 26, the National Gallery in Prague opens the first retrospective of Gerhard
Richter in Central and Eastern Europe, bringing together more than seventy of his
works. The exhibition has been prepared in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and
the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and is part of the Czech-German
Cultural Spring 2017. Gerhard Richter is one of the most widely recognized artists of
the past decades. His works are also among the most highly prized by international
auction houses.
“Many art critics acknowledge Gerhard Richter as the greatest living artist. The exhibition at
Kinsky Palace and the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia in Prague surveys his nearly sixtyyear-long artistic career. Visitors can see his iconic works, ranging from photo-realistic
paintings to expressive and geometric abstract compositions,” says Jiří Fajt, General Director
of the National Gallery in Prague and curator of the exhibition.
Born in 1932 in Dresden, Gerhard Richter became one of the first German artists of his
generation, who assumed a stance on his country’s Nazi history in his art. Richter was closely
confronted with Nazism in his own family. “However, Richter himself does not see, nor does
he want his work to refer to, German history as a subject matter. Nor does he want his work to
be interpreted didactically or be dramatized in any way,” explains Jiří Fajt.
The post-war years spent in East Germany prepared Richter for his life-long commitment: the
infinite testing of the discipline of painting. The discovery of post-war Western artists, such as
Jackson Pollock, opened up for him the wide horizons of free artistic expression, and led to his
resolute rejection of the dire reality of life in the Eastern bloc, which was reinforced by his trip
to Moscow in 1961. Afterwards, Gerhard Richter immigrated to West Germany and now he
lives in Cologne.
“The purpose of the exhibition is to present Richter’s extraordinarily broad palette of artistic
means of expression and to show visitors a manifold collection of his crucial works of art that
were selected and installed in close collaboration with the artist,” adds Jiří Fajt. Gerhard Richter
is in no way an artist who can be easily classified. He finds inspiration in a broad range of
historical influences, from realism to naturalism, from Impressionism to Pop-Art, from
Conceptual Art to Abstract Expressionism.
The exhibition presents all facets of Richter’s oeuvre: the iconic portraits of his daughters Betty
and Ella painted from photographs, paintings that reflect everyday life as well as historical and
topical social issues, mountain- and seascapes, monochrome grey paintings, expressive
abstract compositions, a series of computer-processed geometric Strips, and his famous
Colour Charts that inspired the assignment of the monumental stained-glass windows for the
Gothic Cathedral in Cologne. The Uncle Rudi painting, portraying Richter’s uncle as a Nazi
soldier, which the artist donated to Lidice half a century ago, is loaned to the exhibition from
the Lidice Collection of Fine Arts. Also on view are sheets from his legendary Atlas – a
collection of photographs he made, newspaper clippings and drawings that Richter
systematically collected as preparatory material from the 1960s.
The main part of the exhibition is installed in Kinsky Palace. The building’s ground floor, with
a new visitors’ area, ticket counter, information centre and art shop, has been refurbished to
accommodate this exhibition project. The palace courtyard acquaints visitors with the timeline
of Richter’s life and guides them to the former horse stables on the ground floor, where the
artist’s self-made film and documentary films about Richter’s oeuvre are shown, such as the
celebrated feature film Painting. The key works of art are exhibited on the second floor. The
nearby Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia hosts the second, more modest, part of the exhibition,
showing the artist’s series of paintings entitled Birkenau that reflect the suffering and horrors
of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, and a monumental glass object capturing an
interplay of light reflection and refraction.
GERHARD RICHTER
1932
Gerhard Richter is born in Dresden. His mother Hildegard was a bookseller and his father Horst a
secondary-school teacher. During Richter’s childhood, the family moved to Reichenau (now Bogatynia,
Poland) and, after the outbreak of World War II to Waltersdorf, a village near the Czech border in Upper
Lusatia..
1939
His father Horst was drafted into the army and after being posted to the Western Front, was captured
by the Allied armies and held in a U.S. POW camp until the end of the war. Richter’s uncle Rudi was
killed in the war in 1944; his portrait would later become the theme of Uncle Rudi, a painting Richter
made in 1965.
1945
Richter’s aunt Marianne, who suffered from schizophrenia, was murdered within the framework of the
Nazi eugenics programme. In 1965, Richter painted Aunt Marianne, based on a joint portrait.
1946–1948
Studies at the Higher Professional School in Zittau, where he received an education in stenography.
During his school years, Richter created his first piece of art – a copy of a nude, made from a book
picture, and works for a sign painter.
1950
Works as an assistant stage-set painter in the Zittau municipal theatre and as a sign painter. Decides
to become a professional painter and submits an application (without success) to the Dresden Academy
of Fine Arts.
1951
After another attempt, is accepted to the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, where he studies painting and
mural painting. Moves to Dresden.
1956
Graduates from the Academy of Fine Arts and completes his second mural painting, called Joy of Life
for the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden, executed in the tradition of Socialist Realism. Continues
at the Academy as a teacher.
1957
Marries Marianne Ema Eufinger.
1959
Visits the documenta 2 art show in Kassel, where he sees the work of Jackson Pollock and Lucio
Fontana for the first time.
1961
In March, travels to the Soviet Union. On his way back, puts his luggage into storage in West Germany
and returns to Dresden to pick up Ema. The following morning, they travel to East Berlin, from where
they take the train back to the Western Sector. After eight days in a refugee camp, they move on to
Oldenburg, where Ema’s parents live and afterwards to Düsseldorf. Richter is accepted to the art
academy in Düsselfdorf, where, during his studies, he becomes acquainted with Konrad Lueg (Fischer),
Sigmar Polke and Blinky Palermo.
1962
Paints Table, which initiates his own catalogue raisonné.
1964
First solo exhibitions in Munich, Düsseldorf and Berlin.
1966
Paints his first Colour Charts series and the portrait Ema (Nude on a Staircase) – Richter’s first piece
painted from a colour photograph. In December, his daughter Babette (Betty) is born.
1967
An exhibition is held at Galerie René Block in Berlin, devoted to the victims of the Nazi annihilation of
the population of Lidice, called Hommage à Lidice. Richter takes part in the exhibition with Uncle Rudi,
a painting he later donated to Lidice. That same year, he begins to use glass in his art and makes 4
Panes of Glass.
1968
Creates abstract and figurative works, and begins landscape paintings and the Townscapes series.
Starts working on Atlas – a huge collection of documentary photographs and sketches.
1971
Appointed professor at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy.
1972
Represents Germany at the 36th Venice Biennale and, for the first time, exhibits a series of portrait
paintings under the title 48 Portraits. The Colour Charts series is presented at the documenta 5 art show
in Kassel.
1973
His first solo exhibition in the United States hosted at the Reinhard Onnasch Gallery in New York.
1977
Exhibits at documenta 6 and paints the portrait of his daughter Betty. Meets the sculptress Isa Genzken
and later marries her. On October 18, 1977, three key leaders of the Red Army Faction are found dead
in the Stuttgart prison. In 1988, Richter produced a series of paintings devoted to this event, based on
photographs from the press and police investigations.
1978
Richter is a visiting professor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada.
1981
In Kassel, is awarded the Arnold Bode Prize, produces the first piece for Mirror, a series of mirrors,
which is presented at a two-person show with Georg Baselitz in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.
1982
Marries Isa Genzken. Participates in documenta 7, paints the Candles series, and Skulls the following
year.
1983
Late that year, moves from Düsseldorf to Cologne, where he still lives and works today.
1985
In Vienna, receives the Oskar Kokoschka Prize, one of the most outstanding Austrian awards for artists
producing contemporary art.
1986
The first retrospective of Richter’s work takes place in Düsseldorf under the title Gerhard Richter:
Paintings 1962– 1985. The exhibition travels to Berlin, Bern and Vienna.
1987
On the occasion of the exhibition Gerhard Richter: Works on Paper 1983–1986 on view in Amsterdam,
he publishes his notes on his artwork for the first time.
1988
Creates the 18 October 1977 series and the second portrait of his daughter Betty. Becomes a visiting
professor at the Frankfurt art school.
1991
The first British retrospective is held at the Tate Gallery in London.
1992
Meets Sabine Moritz and marries her three years later.
1993
Creates I.G., a series of portrait paintings of Isa Genzken. The first comprehensive book of Richter’s
letters and texts is published under the title Gerhard Richter: Text, edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
1994
Finishes his teaching career at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy.
1995
Marries Sabine Moritz, with whom he has three children: Moritz (1995), Ella Maria (1996) and Theodor
(2006).
1999
His painting Black, Red, Gold is installed in the Reichstag building in commemoration of the German
reunification.
2002
Curator Robert Storr holds an important retrospective of Richter’s art, entitled Forty Years of Painting,
at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
2005
The Gerhard Richter Archive, headed by Dietmar Elger, is established in Dresden. In reaction to the
terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001, Richter creates September. That same day he
was flying to New York and the plane was rerouted to Halifax.
2006
Makes a series of abstract paintings called Cage that he produced as he was listening to music by the
American composer John Cage.
2007
Richter’s design of a glass window is realized in the Cologne cathedral, which reflects motifs from Colour
Charts. Paints a portrait of his second daughter Ella.
2008
For the fifth time in a row, the German business journal Manager Magazin lists Richter the most
influential living artist in the Kunstkompass ranking system.
2011
Produces Strips, a series of digitally processed paintings. A retrospective exhibition entitled Panorama
opens at Tate Modern in London to mark the artist’s 80th birthday, which is later shown in Berlin and
Paris.
2014
Produces Strips, a series of digitally processed paintings. A retrospective exhibition entitled Panorama
opens at Tate Modern in London to mark the artist’s 80th birthday, which is later shown in Berlin and
Paris.
2015
A two-man show of Gerhard Richter and the Estonian music composer Arvo Pärt is presented at the
Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
2016
Works on several series of new Abstract Paintings, including the series no. 944.
2017
On February 9, the day of Richter’s 85th birthday, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne opens an exhibition
of his latest abstract paintings created in 2016 that are accompanied by numerous works from the
museum’s holdings. From May, the next venue will be Dresden, the artist’s native city.
THE CZECH-GERMAN CULTURAL SPRING 2017
Running from March to June 2017, the Czech-German Cultural Spring marks the 20th
anniversary of the signing of the Czech-German Declaration on January 21, 1997, and is a
part of the strategic dialogue between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech
Republic on both sides of the border. The Czech-German Cultural Spring 2017 is a crossborder cultural initiative organized by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in
Prague, the Goethe-Institut in Prague, the Czech-Germany Future Fund and the Czech
Centres in Berlin and Munich, in partnership with the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs
of the Czech Republic. The exhibition of works by Gerhard Richter at the National Gallery in
Prague is a cornerstone project of the Czech-German Cultural Spring’s programme that also
includes the Eberhard Havekost exhibition on view at Galerie Rudolfinum, regional cultural
events, youth exchange programmes and many other related activities.
In cooperation with
Velvyslanectví Spolkové republiky Německo v Praze
Goethe-Institut v Praze
Ministerstvo kultury České republiky
Česko-německý fond budoucnosti
General partner of the National Gallery in Prague
Komerční banka
Partners of the National Gallery in Prague
The Pudil Family Foundation
Kooperativa pojišťovna
Hlavní město Praha
Exhibition partner
MIURA HOTEL
Innogy
Net4Gas
Wűrth
General media partner
Česká televize
Main media partner
Railreklam
Official carrier
České dráhy
Media partners
Český rozhlas, Art+Antiques, Art+, Artmap, Art for Good, Prague Events Calendar, Monitora,
Expats.cz
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National Galllery in Prague
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