Gerhard Richter
Atelier

In editions in the media of painting, photography or prints, Gerhard Richter liked to work with the principle of uniqueness or singularity by developing different methods of varying the appearance of a motif in the context of the respective production method. These “unique pieces in series” – an only seemingly paradoxical principle, which is also frequently used in the limited editions published by Block – satisfy the collector’s desire for the unique on the one hand, but above all allow the artist to work experimentally with the specific technique and form of production. The edition Atelier adds this effect of uniqueness to an originally simple limited editioned print. The offset prints in two shades of grey were created from a blurred black and white photograph of Richter’s first Düsseldorf studio at Fürstenwall 204. Richter produced the edition of 150 identical copies as Galerie Block’s contribution to the second graphic portfolio of the Association of Progressive German Art Dealers for the 1968 Cologne Art Market. After seven forgotten additional prints unexpectedly surfaced in February 2017, they were reworked “in edition”. On February 6, 2017, the artist reworked, signed and numbered the seven additional prints, which are little known in the context of Richter’s oeuvre, with pencil and graphite pen, in some cases also with a sharp knife and eraser, individually and in an extremely varied manner. These serial unique pieces combine the media of printmaking and hand drawing, with the use of different drawing media ranging from sparse accentuations to large-scale reworkings. The graphic reworkings create a second, abstract pictorial level that overlays the representational motif.
Text: Eva Scharrer